As performance athletic wear became more and more of a fashion staple, New Balance had the challenge to re-establish their presence in the sneakerhead community. The product launch of their 574 Sport Sneaker during Men's Fashion Week in New York was the right time for an experiential marketing campaign to reach the true sneakerhead. New Balance asked Set Creative to design and execute a brand activation in a few places across NYC, engaging directly with sneakerheads and meeting them where they live.

Set Creative transformed a classic NYC coffee cart into a mobile retail experience to connect the audience and their lifestyle to the product. Rather than compete directly with large brands doing huge shows, the team looked to the streets for inspiration, ultimately designing a shareable retail experience hidden in plain sight. Guests could come by, grab a coffee and a donut, and a brand new pair of 574S sneakers. From a design standpoint, classic aesthetic of our inspiration, blending iconic New York coffee cart signage with custom typefaces, poster street art and Greek-styled coffee cups to blend together the brand, the product and the activation. Next was strategically selecting locations that coincided with large Men’s Fashion Week shows and parties to draw in millions of New Yorkers and tourists: the beauty of working with a structure designed to be mobile.