Journal 12.3
Freedom on four wheels. That’s what you’re really buying when you buy a car. You’re purchasing unlimited possibilities, you’re telling the horizon that you’re coming to get it, and you’re promising the map that its dark corners won’t stay dark for long.
Retail Experience
At the same time, you’re also buying convenience; no more reliance on public transportation, the “peoples’ chariot” that adheres to a schedule and also forces you to do so. And the mind boggles at just how many options there are. You’re spoiled for choice when buying a car.
No matter your taste, your needs, or your budget, there are multiple options to satisfy every need. Buying a car is thrilling. Buying a car is fun.
At least, it used to be.
What was once exhilarating has become routine. Cars have become a commodity like any other. It doesn’t have to be like this. Polestar knows of a better way.
Where Enthusiasm Meets Expertise
Polestar Spaces are staffed with product experts: car nerds with encyclopaedic knowledge and infectious enthusiasm. This allows the customers to explore the products at their own pace, knowing that there are professionals on hand to answer any questions. Buying a car is a massive decision. Staffing Polestar Spaces with product experts removes the pressure from this decision, and replaces it with enthusiasm. A winning equation.
Keep It Central
With the staffing question answered, Polestar turned next to the actual locations of the Spaces. Location is another way of communicating a brand; you don’t find stores selling decorative glassware in a city’s financial district, just as you don’t find a hunting supply store in the lobby of a hotel.
Not only that, the Spaces should be accessible. You go on a pilgrimage to a holy site, not to buy a car. Polestar Spaces are located in city centres, solving the accessibility issue while ensuring the brand is in good company. The first Polestar Space, of which there will be 60 worldwide, is located on Øvre Slottsgate in central Oslo and will be throwing open its doors in 2019.
With the opening of this Space, Polestar will have a physical representation both of the brand itself, and a retail concept that exemplifies what’s possible in the world of automotive sales.
exemplifies what’s possible in the world of automotive sales.
We’re interested in building relationships, and having a two-way exchange of information.
Eye-Level Engagement
“We want to treat the customer with enthusiasm and eye-level engagement,” says Polestar business strategist Mats Blomberg. “We’re interested in building relationships, and having a two-way exchange of information.”
Polestar is a digital brand. Everything, from product education to purchasing the car itself, can be done online. However, there is always an option for those who prefer an away-from-keyboard experience, and the Polestar journey from start to finish will be tailored to that customer’s specific needs and preferences, intuitively and without undue pressure.
“We steer people into their preferred stream," continues Blomberg, "it’s important for us to be transparent, and to let the customer decide for themselves.”
Subtlety and respect for the customer are Polestar hallmarks, and they extend beyond the retail sphere. For instance, they are also defining characteristics of Polestar event appearances.
Stands that Stand Out
A Polestar stand is what happens when you strip away the unessential, and remove everything that gets between the people and the product. The cars are the reason we’re here. Why obscure them?
As with the Spaces, the stands are staffed with product experts. These events are a convergence of cars and the people who obsess over them. To have anyone other than car obsessives working the Polestar event stands would be to miss the point entirely.
Polestar event stands exist to showcase the car, and embody the same minimalist design principles as the products themselves. They encourage a calm, respectful appreciation of the cars, with product experts on hand in order to answer questions.
There are no slogans or lifestyle statements in a Polestar event stand. Just the product that everyone is there to see: the car.
The Way Forward
Polestar is determined to make buying a car fun through respectful interactions with customers; offering tailor-made experiences and eye-level exchanges of knowledge and information.
If people are introduced to the brand at an event, it should feel the same as if they visited the configurator or a Space in a city centre: minimalist, well-designed, with experts on hand and the product in focus. Buying freedom on four wheels, the Polestar way.
