Design agency Blur the Lines has launched its first project for Comvita in New Zealand. The Comvita Wellness Lab is a multi-channel immersive experience that aims to connect customers to Comvita’s rich brand story and educate them on the world of bees and honey.
Centred around taste, the experiential store located in Auckland’s viaduct is designed to engage all ther senses and incorporates a boutique 180-degree theatre which hosts premium tasting sessions designed in collaboration with Oxford University gastrophysicist Professor Charles Spence, known for his work with UK chef Heston Blumenthal.
The immersive experience hosted by beekeeper and bee breeder Noelani Waters, takes customers on a journey through flavour, showcasing the influence the natural environment has on honey and how the senses interact to form a rich multisensory perception of flavour.
Founder and Creative Director, Danielle Barclay said the project aimed to challenge the traditional bricks and mortar retail model and create something that was truly world class and memorable.
“Delivering a project of this scale with this level of craft during a pandemic is something I am immensely proud of which was made possible due to the support and commitment to the idea from our client and the passion and expertise of the wider team,” Barclay said.
The physical lab was crafted using local materials and collaborating with local artisans to reflect Comvita's New Zealand heritage, focus on wellbeing and expertise in unlocking natures secrets through science.
The project is truly multichannel with the physical lab being enhanced through an augmented reality experience designed to educate customers on all things bees and transform the space into a forest using real world mapping technology.
Customers can also visit the lab online via a 3D replica of the environment that has been built in a native New Zealand forest for customers to explore and browse.
Comvita CEO David Banfield said his vision was to tell the Comvita brand story is a new way and recreate the future of retail through experiential brand immersion. “Danielle and I had a meeting of minds and wanted to reframe what a retail experience looks and feel like, taking the unique Comvita story to the world” Banfield said.
The Comvita Wellness Lab concept is a prototype experience which will be rolled out to Asia and the USA over the next year.
The new Comvita Wellness Lab is located at 139 Quay Street, Viaduct Basin, Auckland and available to explore online at www.wellnesslab.comvita.co.nz
