Uniqlo and the importance of Activity

on October 24, 2007

This weekend I was out to buy a phone in Akihabara. Check it out:

It has a ridiculous amount of features, just as it should be: GPS, G3 internet, email, sms, global coverage, glowing skin, video chat, camera and a little keyhanger that blocks the phone when out of range (the thing is hooked up to your creditcard thats why).

When I was in this big electronics store I was wondering why all the people working there are screaming there so much. As you might notice, they only do it on the ground floor, close to the doors. While I was signing up my contract I found it very annoying. IRASHAIMASEEEEEEEEEE (SHUT UP!). Now, I'm pretty easily agitated but I'm pretty sure that other people were also annoyed by it. So why do they do this?

After thinking about it and after listening to my girlfriend's superior rationale I came to a conclusion. The reason they annoy the hell out of you is because they want to show liveliness and activity. Basically it's a competition between stores who can generate the most lively appearing store.

That same day I ran across a new store of my favorite chain, UNIQLO. Uniqlo is a clothing store chain that sells cheap and minimalistic clothing. In this new futuristic branch they call UT they have a very elegant solution to attract activity:

They have huge light scrolling marquees that have all kinds of words on it inputted by the users of their clothing. In the store itself you have display walls that render clothing-human relationship tagclouds with personalized messages! How's that for clothing 2.0!? :)

Also, while searching the above picture I came across an interesting subculture: taking a picture of someone jumping in and around a UNIQLO store. Long tale baby!

Oh YEAH!