Nike Goes the Distance For the Chicago Marathon

In our many years of working with Nike, we’ve learned one thing: They never do anything halfway. For the Chicago Marathon, they had an ambitious strategy to saturate the city before and during the big race. The iconic athleticwear brand envisioned custom in-store merchandising displays, an event-centric Nike By You customization station, a massive building wrap promoting Nike Running, and an off-site pop-up in collaboration with local outfitter Heartbreak Hill Running Company.

The Challenge

The primary challenge presented by this project can be summed up in one word: coordination. Coordination of three simultaneous initiatives being designed and produced at once, coordination with multiple stakeholders within Nike corporate, the local Nike store, and Heartbreak Hill, and coordination to ensure the consistency of materiality, color, brand consistency, and design standards.

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Strategy

As with any ephemeral event activation, there was a need to optimize the budget for a temporary lifespan. A gritty road work motif utilized traffic cones, barricades, and LED lights to incorporate objects encountered along the marathon route. The bright orange color palette maximized the visual impact, while tying both indoor and outdoor elements directly into Nike Running merchandise created for the event.

Design

Working from Nike’s design direction and mood boards, we sourced materials for the 3-pronged activation ranging from galvanized metals to custom paint to gelled lighting—based on needs, availability, and budget. Additionally, we assisted in developing the overall design concept with a clear understanding of their goals and vision for the activation. We created an engaging, on-brand experience for customers across 4-floors of the Nike store and a pop-up next to Heartbreak Hill Running Company along the marathon route.

Production

From direct-to-surface printing and lighting integration to reimagining existing merchandising displays to support Nike’s green initiatives, every department at Bridgewater was involved in the production of this campaign. Our end-to-end capabilities enabled us to respond nimbly, provide value engineering for designs, and offer real-time budgeting and scheduling as well as project management and coordination to deliver this ambitious, multifaceted activation on time and within budget.