Benetton’s Live Windows honoured

Fashion retailer Benetton took home the top retail award at the digital creativity exposition

2012 Digital Signage Expo, held in Las Vegas last week. The brand’s Live Window’s Project, created by Benetton Group’s research laboratory Fabrica, received the Gold Apex Award in the retail category scooping the price ahead of Sony Stores and Fresh.

Benetton Live Windows is a network managed centrally by Fabrica, and its cutting-edge software architecture connects with 10 Benetton flagship stores around the world in real time, including London, Moscow, Shanghai, New Delhi, Milan, Barcelona and Munich, and over the coming weeks, the network will expand to include Paris and New York.

The concept revolves around the store window, which is the first point of contact between the brand and its customers. This means that the space is no longer occupied by mannequins, but by enormous high-definition video walls playing the company’s ad campaigns and product offerings. The content did vary slightly by location, allowing it to be tailored for each city’s local audience, and the windows also included social content with interactive elements to further the shopper’s interactive experience.