Retainer or project? Read the shape of the work
A proposed article, drafted by JaringLeads from VMID’s own project posts: what recurring work looks like, called a retainer or not.
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The short answer
A retainer is a rhythm of work before it is a word on the work.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
Uluwatu Lace’s post from 2023, titled VM Retainer Base, sets out monitoring for the brand’s 21 store visuals across Bali and a visit to the stores every month.
Nike Indonesia’s, from 2019: six months alongside the Nike VM team, working with 10 stores every month to the VM guidelines from Nike’s head office.
None of Lumine Jakarta’s posts uses the word retainer. Its June 2021 post, for the “Less is Beautiful” theme, calls it “the 4th time in a year” VMID had helped transform the store’s VMD theme.
Mondial Jeweler’s 41st anniversary post does not use it either, and closes by thanking the brand for its trust “in the last four years”.
Read side by side, the word retainer sits on some of this work and not on the rest. What the posts share is the return visit, not the name.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
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What changes when the work repeats
Four recurring jobs from VMID’s posts — two with the word retainer on them, two without.
Twenty-one store visuals across Bali, and a visit every month
VMID’s retainer post for Uluwatu Lace, from 2023, lists the duties for the monthly visits: displaying and rearranging the products, helping highlight the product campaign, filling a checklist and making a mock-up for the window displays.
At this scale the work is written as a list of duties for every visit rather than a design for one moment. That is the shape a retainer takes.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
“Uniformity in display and consistency in store ambiance, all starting from the window display area, followed to the sales space, and to the cashier area.”
Find it in Uluwatu Lace projectsA retainer session that began with a product series and its guidelines
For Masshiro&Co. in 2022, the post describes receiving the XOXO series product and guidelines from the brand’s team, then displaying the products and designing the window display from the product details — with the freedom to do the styling and product grouping.
A retainer fits the point where a brand has its own guidelines and needs the styling carried out against them, one visit after another.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
“By using a VM Retainer Basis service, brands can manage schedules for store visual management and styling more flexible.”
Lumine Jakarta: a fourth theme in one year, never called a retainer
VMID’s 2021 post for Lumine Jakarta at Plaza Indonesia covers design, production and installation for the “Less is Beautiful” theme. The brief came from Lumine’s Singapore team: three colours only, and items no longer in use turned into props for each VMD stage. VMID then made mock-ups for each stage, installed to the mock-up design, and reported as the last step.
A post from 2022 adds that VMID had worked with the brand on the VMD for its Plaza Indonesia flagship “in the past two years”.
A theme that changes this often is a retainer in everything but the name; the open question is only whether it is planned as one.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
“Consisting of design, production and installation, this is the 4th time in a year that we’ve helped them transform their VMD theme.”
A window theme whose next one is only a modification
Voila.id’s Jakarta and Surabaya windows for October and November 2022 used a Minimalism & Background Colors theme: box-shaped pedestals combining solid materials with acrylic, and a hanging cloth behind the mannequin and product display. The post adds that the December theme was already prepared.
The same year, a separate Voila.id post is titled Retainer Basis Program: regular visits by a dedicated VM team, and a report at the end of each session.
One brand, both shapes in one year: windows planned as a sequence, and store upkeep planned as visits.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
“As part of our commitment to helping brands achieve production efficiency, the following theme will only have minor modifications to the colors and structure.”
Find it in Voila.id projectsVoila.id
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Before you choose
Four questions to answer before you call it a retainer or a project.
Proposed questions, read from VMID’s posts — to be confirmed by VMID
How many stores, and how often
Uluwatu Lace, 2023: 21 store visuals across Bali and a visit every month. Nike Indonesia, 2019: 10 stores every month over six months. Lee Cooper Indonesia, January 2018: a six-month maintenance service just finished, with store visits as far as Semarang, Surabaya and Bali.
From you — The store list, and how often each store needs someone there.
Who sets the direction
Lumine Jakarta, 2021: the brief came from Lumine’s Singapore team. Mondial Jeweler’s 41st anniversary theme was chosen by its VM Manager. Nike Indonesia’s visits worked to the VM guidelines from Nike’s head office.
From you — Who writes the brief or the guidelines, and who signs off the result.
Whether the next change builds on this one
Voila.id, October 2022: the following theme to have only minor modifications to the colours and structure. Lino & Sons, Gandaria City 2018: a backdrop that does not cover the wall from ceiling to floor, making future replacement or installation much easier.
From you — The moments already on your calendar after this one.
Who keeps it standing between visits
Lee Cooper Indonesia, January 2018: VM training for the brand’s team, a VM checklist for its reporting system, and VM coaching. Voila.id, 2022: a report at the end of each session.
From you — Who looks after the displays in each store on the days no one visits.
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The projects behind this article
The other posts this article was read from — find each one in the archive.
Find it in Nike Indonesia projectsNike Indonesia
Find it in Lee Cooper Indonesia projectsLee Cooper Indonesia
Find it in Voila.id projectsVoila.id
Find it in Lumine projectsLumine
Find it in Mondial projectsMondial
Find it in Lino & Sons projectsLino & Sons
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Also worth reading
Peak-season windows: work back from the store date
Christmas, anniversary, Chinese New Year, Valentine and Ramadan windows from VMID’s own posts — and what they say about the time between brief and store.Proposed article — reading to be confirmed by VMID
Read the articleJewellery windows: design the riser too
In jewellery the riser is designed, not just bought. What VMID’s jewellery posts show when you line them up.Proposed article — reading to be confirmed by VMID
Read the article
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Who is answering
Not a printing vendor with a blog. We design it, build it, install it in the store, and train the people who keep it standing — and the projects behind every article are open on this site.
Draft — to be confirmed by VMID
VMID (PT. Menata Ritel Indonesia) has been a full-service visual merchandising agency since 2016, working across Indonesia and into Asia — more than 1,000 projects for over 100 brands.
08/ Start a project
Tell us the stores, and how often they need someone.
That is enough to start working out whether it is a retainer or a project.
Some of what the brief asks
- brand & retail category
- city
- type of work
- number of stores
- when it has to be live