From dusty bookstore to glitzy entertainment brand

Not that many years ago, Apollo was a two-three outlet book shop and part of group of companies selling everything from cigarettes to DVDs with no synergy. Times and customer habits were changing fast and something had to be done. Over the course of several years, Apollo reinvented the way people consume content and spend their free time.

By unifying different content and retail brands into a single experience under one roof, Apollo increased interaction frequency by 300%. The new Apollo concept is designed around the desired customer experience, not around the products on sale.

For the company, an increase in the incidence and value of purchases has proven the merit of customer centric service development. The organisational change brought on by service design and a focus on customer value has resulted in a completely new organisation. Today Apollo considers value for the customer as the primary driver for the development of new products and services.

In the words of Mauri Dorbek, the CEO of Apollo, "Being involved from day one, and looking back now, I must admit that we are proud. We have learned and changed our mindset about what we do and why we do it. Changing the focus of our business to our customers’ needs from our products has helped us not just to survive, but to take a huge leap forward. I only wished that we would have had a better understanding at the beginning of our cooperation with Brand Manual, as to where it would lead our brand, our organisation and our business."