Globe Telecom brings the GEN3 fever to Makati
The country’s central business district set to experience world-class retail with a new Globe GEN3 store in Greenbelt
SHOPPING, AS with anything, is all about experience.
Stores that could impress most, provide the highest level of service, and offer the widest array of products would often emerge as winners in the hearts of discerning consumers.
But for leading mobile brand Globe Telecom, the ultimate goal is not just to satisfy customers, but to elevate that experience by hatching the next big innovation that would not only address one’s changing demands, but also sustain that element of excitement.
The highly-touted Globe GEN3 store, for instance, goes beyond being a mere station for paying one’s postpaid bill, or in some cases, a pick-up area for one’s newly released or repaired handset. It is one that is set to revolutionize the way local telco firms do business with its customers.
A never-before-seen innovation, the Globe GEN3 store introduces an entirely different world where only efficiency, reliability and comfort define the business-something that consumers deem as “musts” in this ultra fast-paced world.
And this is the retail experience that Globe is bringing to the country’s biggest business district and financial hub when it recently launched the Globe GEN3 store in Greenbelt 3 in Makati. Grand in scale and epic in design, the opening of the two-storey store will allow the busy people of Makati to experience extreme ease in doing business with Globe through faster transactions and enhanced customer service.
“The Greenbelt GEN3 store is very special because it’s the first to open in Makati. We’ve always been challenged by a lot of people in Makati when we explain to them the concept of the GEN3 store. We have to tell them to go and see the one located in SM North Edsa but nobody wants to go and travel one and a half hours from Makati. At least now we have something here in Greenbelt,” Globe Telecom President and CEO Ernest Cu said during the store launch.
“Greenbelt is actually very special to Globe, as it was the very first GEN2 store we remodeled in our system. I can still distinctly remember our former Chief Operating Advisor Peter Bithos commending us for the wonderful store and the great job we have accomplished, prompting him to ask us how many of this store we have, and then I said only one. Since then, we have proceeded to actually roll out the concept to more Globe stores nationwide because it gave us tremendous success which led us to be the leading postpaid brand for many years now,” Cu recalled.
Digital lifestyle
The new Globe GEN3 store is strategically located at the heart of the Makati central business district, which is currently home to some of the country’s biggest offices, retail establishments and corporate headquarters. Prior to its remodeling, the Globe store used to be just average in size that had the usual desk-and-chair setup on one side, and a display of the latest gadgets on offer on the other.
This time however, Globe made sure that its store mirrored everything that is exciting and engaging in the socalled digitally-driven lifestyle as it allowed customers to indulge in a highly distinct, exclusive experience and showcased the unique culture that comes with a technology-defined future.
“The GEN3 store concept is very special because it is a sort of coming together of the many concepts that Globe has put together. From the concept of a great network, a great brand, and great partners, to allowing our Filipino compatriots to actually experience what the digital lifestyle means. This store, which has seen the convergence of the handset, the network, the apps, and the content partnerships that we have with NBA, Spotify, HOOQ and Disney, will allow customers to really see how technology can change their lives,” Cu explained.
“This is our fourth (GEN3 store). Only a month ago, we launched the largest Globe GEN3 store in Cebu and in the first week that the store opened, it was already breaking the record of the other stores, (proof) that the format has really been embraced by the public,” added Globe Head of Stores and Retail Transformation Management Joe Caliro.
Apart from Greenbelt, the three other GEN3 stores are located in SM North Edsa, Cagayan de Oro and Cebu, all of which have been steadily attracting customers who are seeking for a more rewarding, pleasant and convenient shopping experience for their digital lifestyle needs. A true eye-candy, the Globe GEN3 store is bedecked by colorful displays and installations that are made flexible and reconfigurable to al- low the stores to regularly transform and always keep fresh the environment, thus giving customers enough reason to return.
“But what’s interesting about the GEN3 store design is that what you will see in the store will be changed after three months. The innovation that Globe is looking at is truly to use the space as a retail space and not as a telco space because we are a company that offers content. The days of SMS and texts are gone so you have to immerse the customers in that context and provide them with digital connectors and accessories along with the apps,” Caliro explained.
Dynamic, functional
Designed by Tim Kobe, founder and CEO of Eight Inc., whose most famous work is the Apple Store in New York, the Globe GEN3 store space proves to be both dynamic and functional, and is set to bring to life the customer’s digital lifestyle needs. Devoid of the usual constricting walls, the Greenbelt GEN3 store gives one the freedom to explore the best and the latest trends in digital space.
“I’m coining this as the most beautiful store in the Philippines. It’s really been a challenge to do this two-storey store and we could have not done it without the partnership with Tim Kobe and Eight Inc. Inside the store would be a lot products and not just digital connectors or items that other retail stores are already selling. We are specifically searching out for products that have not been launched in all of Asia or a product that isn’t anywhere else in the Philippines and make it available in our store,” Caliro noted.
Similar to other Globe stores, the Greenbelt branch also features a series of movable frames that can be reconfigured for an event, utilized to make an announcement or slid out to create four different zones, each of which has its own unique character and story that is sure to suit the customers’ needs, whims and demands. The four major lifestyle zones will serve as windows to what technology can do and will likewise feature solutions that Globe offers.
The four zones, which are expected to further fuel customers’ passions in Music, Entertainment, Life and Productivity, are expected to cater to the needs of music aficionados, sports enthusiasts, busy businessmen, and those whose lifestyles are beyond the ordinary. These zones will likewise feature the latest trends in products, lifestyles, and even in business, and put on display the latest devices, applications, digital connectors as well as services that contribute to an elevated and interactive customer experience.
“Each of the GEN3 store is a product of our team’s mission of giving our customers the best differentiated service that only Globe can provide. We ensure that we have maximized every corner of this new store to give everyone who walks in a chance to discover and learn something new every time,” Caliro shared.
More stores
Meanwhile, each lifestyle zone is curated to feature topnotch roster of content - from the best music on Spotify, to the in-demand movie and TV titles on HOOQ, and even the latest in mobile gaming such as Clash of Clans. Veering away from the usual display of smartphones and postpaid plans, the Greenbelt GEN3 store illustrates mobile and broadband technologies as connected and experiential solutions. Apart from these, the GEN3 store also serves as a space for up and coming personalities to tell their stories as each zone will soon feature trailblazers from different industries.
“There are a lot of things that you can experience at the GEN3 store, and products that you can’t get anywhere else. Currently, GEN3 is the only store in Asia to carry the Zagg machine, a revolutionary device that customizes industry standard screen protection for almost all available smartphones, tablets and even smart watches,” Caliro shared.
Globe will be opening one more GEN3 store before the year ends and will also start the construction of the very first Globe Iconic Store, which is set to be the biggest and grandest Globe store. The pioneering design will feature a bridge that will link two Globe stores from opposite sides.
“This is the mothership. When a brand around the world reaches the status of Nike or Coach, it also reaches the status of having the privilege to stand alongside brands of the same league. And this gives one the right to open an Iconic store, a store that makes a statement that ’you have arrived’. In the case of Globe, it’s about providing digital lifestyle and making it experiential. We are going to soon open the Iconic store at Bonifacio Global City which will transform the area and will allow one to experience the digital lifestyle in person, large and wide,” Caliro concluded.