We leveraged 100 years of history by connecting their product language with digital language, creating a connected experience with one clear voice. By listening to their design philosophy, we distilled their unique knowledge and thinking into an iconic, minimalist, graphical design language. We cut the clutter and honed small details to create the iconic Bang & Olufsen sense of luxurious simplicity. We undesigned everything. So that what’s left, is outstanding.

Through deep analytics across thousands of pages, we found that the longer customers stayed, the more likely they were to convert. We needed to keep our audience of Creative Curators engaged for longer. To do this, we had to find a unique way to tell our stories. So, we redefined the rules and carved our own category. We shared our rich, interactive, engaging narratives with direct paths to purchase, through lifestyle-led shoppable stories. We like to call it, Slow Commerce.

In August 2018, we spent four days in Struer, Denmark, to immerse ourselves into the world Bang & Olufsen. We trawled the extensive archives, toured the factories, and met the people who make this company truly unique. We picked apart the DNA of Bang & Olufsen to reveal the core of the brand.

We then distilled this thinking and applied it across the brand experience to create an iconic, truly connected design and product language. We applied this thinking to global navigations, anchor links, controls other functional items to mirror the luxurious simplicity that can be found in all Bang & Olufsen products. We created a bespoke brand motion language, that was inspired by actual gestures of human interaction with their physical products. The continuity of language, between product and digital design, gives our audience confidence, guides them through the experience, and offers little of moments of personality and delight.

Just like a physical store, the online flagship store acts like a shop window. The design system allows us to ‘merchandise’ the experience with campaign-led visuals, creating a recognisable thread in key positions throughout the customer journey, across the entire experience.

From the beginning, it’s been a balancing act between brand expression and digital optimisation. You couldn’t have one without the other. Our design approach aimed for both.

Speaking the same visual language creates a feeling of comfort and familiarity with our Creative Curators, whilst importantly feeling like Bang & Olufsen. Because combining product and experience language creates a consistent brand voice. The motion language gives confidence, clarity and guides the user.

We’re not only telling their stories from a brand point of view, we’re also using design to add a level of practically and usability that the space demands. We’re already seeing the huge impact these changes have made.