The stores, a warm nest of light.

The importance of the sales pointin the marketing chain.

Intro

Please don’t call them stores: they are social gatheringplaces, islands where to spend a couple of relaxing hours, quiet corners where to escape, or faceted modern windows where you can show off. They are even sales points where, you can buy things, but above all, they are metaphysical spaces to enjoy with the eyes. To understand concepts, breathe in trends, find people who understand you, either behind or in front of thecounter. Art galleries where the pictures are handbags and purses, stores where the apparently helter-skelter goods cost a fortune, remodeled train stations, mazes to wander through, theatrical sets where the curtain opens on furnishings that play the leading role. For each company the sales point, along with the building display areas – and even more than them – has become a crucial part of the relationship with its customers, a fundamental link in the marketing chain. The moment in which the company puts the value of its own brand into the field, it reveals itself, not only to the staff, but to the huge world of the clientele. The fundamental importance that the sales point acquires in the modern concept of brand marketing goes through a dialogue of voices: on the one side there is the architect, on the other the lighting designer. Different, yet complementary figures from whom we demand a sprite of cooperation and unity of inspiration because designing a space and illuminating it along with its contents are two different brush strokes that color the same canvas. A culture, a philosophy, an idea become reality in what we see and primarily in how we see it. Fine jewelers teach us that a 10% variation in the color of a diamond can reduce its value by 40%: and the product, the direct projection of the brand and its reliability is the most valuable diamond in every company’s strong-room. The role of light in conveying the brand and its values was recently the topic of a conference at the La Sfacciata Lighting Academy: a tangible building sign of its growing importance and of the subject’s international appeal. But, let’s try to get a better focus on our topic. The sales point can draw customers starting from the outside (a renovated, historic building, a piece industrial archeology restored to new life, or even a neutral space that was designed in an original and recognizable way specifically for the brand). Up to that point light is a decisive factor for visitor interest. Starting from the outside and display window lighting to conclude with the most complex and

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1-2 Bang&Olufsen, Udine, Italy 3-4 Guess Store, Turkey. 5-6 Mercedes Showroom, Frankfurt, Germany.

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