House Of Innovation in Paris
Olympic campaign for Nike
Under the motto “Air for Athletes”, the largest campaign to date was created in Nike’s flagship store | satis&fy realized complex arena installation and unique consumer activation.
“Faster, higher, further - together”
The Olympic fire is burning. In the French capital, in the hearts of the athletes and also at Nike. Purely metaphorically speaking, of course.
Because at the House of Innovation (HOI), it’s always about fueling the fun of sport and competition with perfectly fitting fitwear and equipment. Nevertheless, something special was needed for the Olympics. “Air for Athletes” is the motto under which Nike launched its sophisticated campaign for the event. Of course, the biggest sporting event in the world is right on the doorstep of the House. Every detail has to be right, so it’s okay to take inspiration from the traditional Olympic motto “citius, altius, fortius – communiter” (“faster, higher, further – together”). Or specifically the guiding principle of this year’s Games: “Games Wide Open” (French: ‘Ouvrons grands les Jeux’).
HOI Wide Open: The largest and most complex retail campaign that the House of Innovation has ever seen was set up on the 2,400 square meters of sales and exhibition space. The focus was on four brand new sports shoes: the Pegasus 41 and Alphafly 3 models as running shoes, Mercurial Vapor – top-class soccer footwear – and G.T. Hustle 3 for basketball players who love and live their Olympic discipline.
House of Innovation Paris
Since the opening of the flagship store on the Champs-Élysées in 2020, satis&fy has stood, walked and powered alongside the international sporting goods manufacturer Nike. Regularly changing campaigns transform every visit to the store into a journey of discovery, often crowned by a unique consumer activation. satis&fy not only embodies the one-stop solution in the technical field for Nike, but has also become a consultant and expert in retail design and construction.
While various agencies creatively interpret the client’s visions, the experts at satis&fy keep an eye on the implementation. Technical and legal framework conditions are checked and compliance with them and the obtaining of approvals are ensured. In addition, satis&fy coordinates external service providers and is responsible for the realization of various special constructions, with a particular focus on sustainability.
Complex and still “airy”
Straight into the arena: just like the athletes in the competition, the visitors also entered the HOI.
Directly behind the entrance was one of the centerpieces of the campaign: the Air Arena – a multifunctional workshop, meeting and show room that satis&fy had planned down to the last detail. Four bleacher stands illuminated by LED strips were grouped around the so-called metaphor pedestals in the center of the area, which visualized the advantages of the four sports shoes using symbols.
In addition to the meaning of the metaphors, the production of the pedestals was of course exciting for satis&fy. The four symbolic elements inside were produced using a 3D printing process. Pixel-controlled LED strips support the metaphorical effect. They could be controlled individually and generate impressive waves of light that attracted the attention of visitors. In addition to the arena, the platforms could also be found on the other levels of the HOI, reminding visitors again and again of the most outstanding features of the sports shoes.
But the shoes can do even more. Above all, they ensure that no one really “runs out of steam”. satis&fy produced 20 innovation cubes, which were embedded in the Bleacher stands and emphasized the special features of the models in a graphically and technically impressive way. True to the motto “Air for Athletes”, the focus was on the air and foam units integrated into the shoes. Each stand was dedicated to one of the four models. A 12-meter-long Nike LED logo shone above them.
Air-leben - Visitors could test shoes live
From the arena, we moved on to the next highlight. The A.I.R. Immersive Room was a first-class try-on experience. Before entering the futuristic cube, visitors decided which of the four shoes they would like to try out. The experience then started depending on the model chosen.
- 100 lamps of the Magic Dot XT model from Ayrton
- Touch-sensitive floor
- An ultra-high-resolution LED wall
- Fully mirrored interior facades with simultaneous transparency from the outside (spy mirror)
Those were the technical details. The effect?
Welcome to infinity – on 4×4 meters. As soon as the customer entered the cube, the moving lights linked to the sensory floor guided him to the optimum position. Meanwhile, fog was fed into the cube, which, together with the 100 light cones and the fully mirrored walls, created a fascinating infinity effect. But before customers could lose themselves in infinity, the LED wall came to life and guided them through the world of the chosen shoe. In keeping with the metaphor, shoe-specific light patterns took over the room, supporting the audiovisual content on the LED wall and the participants’ completely immersive experience. Finally, there was still time to test the shoe within the cube itself. Not just “walking on air”, but “winning on air”.
Interfaces work - humanly and technically
While uncanny valley studio came up with the concept for the experience and provided the digital content, the experts from satis&fy ensured that the technical components such as the LED wall, moving lights and touch floor functioned smoothly and interlocked seamlessly. Last but not least, satis&fy was also responsible for the store installation of the activation, which at almost five meters high is one of the largest ever at HOI.
Electrifying: During the campaign, Nike released the “Electric Pack” – a new color pattern that combines the legendary ostrich print with a striking new performance color. And of course, the HOI itself also had to try out the new design: From the floor to the wall paneling, satis&fy threw the HOI into the Electric design – while the campaign continued. Wandverkleidung schmiss satis&fy das HOI ins Electric Design – while the campaign continued.
„For campaigns with many interfaces, the exchange between the different disciplines is particularly important.As a permanent partner of Nike at HOI, we are involved in the campaign planning at an early stage and have worked with the design agencies for a long time and often, so even such complex experience journeys can be realized without much friction. That makes us proud and the customer happy,” Julia Böge, Project Manager satis&fy.
Details complete the campaign
The Victory Runway behind the arena provided another show moment. In a collaboration between Nike and artist Imruh Asha, a limited edition collection inspired by Nike Air was created that stands for speed, energy and freedom of movement. This was symbolized, among other things, by a suitably dressed mannequin sprinting down the fully mirrored runway – towards victory or take-off. In keeping with the airy campaign motto, not only did the runway float, but the product niches around it were also made to look like they were flying thanks to subtle underfloor lighting.
While the action-packed moments were concentrated on the first floor, the other floors focused on the products without distraction – but of course with appropriate staging. The Metaphor pedestals could be found on both the women’s and men’s floors, where they could be admired in detail and at leisure, together with the shoes they represent. The design elements of the mirrored surfaces were also taken up again. While satis&fy’s involvement in other campaigns is usually concentrated on the design and implementation on the first floor of the HOI, this time its expertise was also increasingly called upon for the other floors.
Weitere Kampagnen im House of Innovation
Photos: Tom Morgan