Issue Winter 2010

Retailer Ed Hardy Uses YCD’s Video and Interactive Mobile Technologies in Australian and UK Stores

Ed Hardy is a wildly successful lifestyle brand launched in 2004 based on the designs of legendary tattoo artist Don Ed Hardy. Based in Los Angeles, the brand is distributed in countless locations in the United States and over 40 international locations including Japan, Brazil, Australia and the U.K. With a huge following of celebrities, athletes and musicians of all genres frequently being photographed wearing the unique designs, the Ed Hardy brand has quickly skyrocketed to become more than just a brand but rather a lifestyle of street couture.

The Ed Hardy retail store design remains true to the brand with the same colorful, edgy, engaging imagery as found on everything else carrying the Ed Hardy label. Currently expanding in Australia and the UK, the brand has found YCD Multimedia’s digital media solutions to be well suited to meet and support their in-store design objectives. Working with Mediaplay, YCD’s channel sales partner in Australia, Ed Hardy has installed YCD solutions in their retail stores in Sydney and London.

With music as a major branding tool and customer engagement and interactivity a focus for their in-store customer experience Ed Hardy found YCD’s unique SMS Jukebox solution to be a perfect fit for their needs. Using YCD’s SMS Jukebox customers can choose from a selection of music and music videos, provided by Mediaplay’s music services, to be played back by simply texting their selection using their mobile phone, thereby engaging the customer and keeping them in the store longer as they wait for their selection to be played. Additionally each site displays Ed Hardy’s signature graphics (skulls, geisha girls, panthers, eagles, etc ) as well as celebrity images, fashion reels and promotions for new product lines and special offers across a mix of 50” LCD screens, 1x3 video walls (using YCD’s MuVi Wall™ solution) and wall projections. At the Rockstar Bowling Bar additional screens are used to display food and drink specials and a separate music zone to suit the adjacent, more laidback, Ed Hardy Vodka Bar. The content is remotely managed, scheduled and updated using YCD|Platform™ guaranteeing consistency and adherence to brand standards. Ed Hardy plans to continue their expansion in Australia and the UK in 2010, and are considering adding additional YCD solutions, such as our interactive touch screen technology, to further round out the interactive customer experience.

Robert Farrell, chief operations officer of Ed Hardy Australia and New Zealand said “We are always trying to push the boundaries on what we can offer our guests in both leading technology and cool interactive experiences. YCD Multimedia, with their suite of digital media solutions, was one of the only vendors out there pushing those boundaries.”