NEW BALANCE: RUNNING ART MEETS STREET CULTURE
New Balance
/ OVERVIEW
US school bus becomes Munich's running community hub – where personal motivations turned into art and strangers became a crew.
SOOH WHAT
August 2022: The European Athletics Championships come to Munich – and New Balance wants to return to its running roots. After years of lifestyle focus, the brand needed to be perceived as what it truly is: a top-innovative running brand with genuine sports credibility. NB had equipped various German champions and wanted to leverage this momentum.
The challenge: Part of the planned digital activation (including TikTok) was cancelled as unsuitable. The freed-up budget needed to flow into an analog guerrilla activation that generates real consumer-focused brand awareness – local, tangible, different from the already booked classic OOH.
The brief to SOOH: Create a cool activation during the European Athletics Championships (15-22 August) that positions New Balance as an innovative running brand, without pushing a specific product or integrating retailers. The brand should become experiential – on the streets, with real runners, with real impact.
We had just 6 weeks for concept, planning, and complete execution. But that wasn’t the only hurdle: the final location decision came just 5 days before the event start. A timeframe only achievable through maximum flexibility and existing connections to all co-creators.
SOOH SPECIAL
/ STRATEGY
SOOH WHY?
Our strategic approach: Participation instead of presentation. Rather than just showing New Balance, people should actively co-create the brand. The insight: Real runners don’t run because of a shoe – they run for personal, often emotional reasons. We wanted to make these “Reasons to Run” visible and elevate them to art.
The idea: Running Art – a growing, collective art installation where Munich runners share their running motivations, which an artist transforms live into art. The concept combined four elements:
Quote Wall – a participatory element that activates people to share their personal “Reason to Run”
Art Wall – live painting by artist Agnes Maria Lindner, who transformed the best terms into “Running Art”
Daily Runs – daily runs along the coolest routes in the city, starting directly from the bus
Night Run + After Run Rave – the community moment as finale
Despite all the short notice, the location was a strategic stroke of luck: Container Collective in Werksviertel – Munich’s hottest urban district, where creative scene, start-ups, and running community converge. Not a sterile pop-up store, but an authentic hub in the heart of the city.
The twist: A US school bus as mobile brand base, surrounded by tents, art walls, and running vibes. “WE GOT NOW” as a stat
SOOH SPECIAL
/ EXECUTION
SOOH HOW?
For one week, the white US school bus served as a running hub for Munich’s running community – right in the middle of Werksviertel, with quote wall, live painting, and daily runs starting directly from the bus.
The Quote Wall was the icebreaker: “What is your reason to run?”. A simple question on a black-and-white canvas. Promoters proactively engaged passersby: “Tell us in one word, preferably in English – JOY, FREEDOM, ESCAPE. Whatever moves you.” The collected terms were captured on the wall and served as input for the artist.
The Art Wall was the centerpiece: Agnes Maria Lindner transformed the best “Reasons” into live art on a modular 2×3 meter canvas. The artwork grew successively throughout the week, with each day bringing new terms, new colors, new stories. The live painting sessions became events themselves: people stopped, watched, discussed their own running motivations.
The hub itself was more than an installation: black tents as chill areas, NB-branded stools, slim frames with product info, and a weekly run schedule. Daily runs started from the bus – always with 15-20 runners exploring the coolest routes in the city. The bus functioned as product showcase and changing room, while the entire setup created a relaxed festival atmosphere.
The grand finale: The night run on August 19th with around 40 participants, all equipped with fluorescent “WE GOT NOW” shirts that glowed in the dark. After the run, DJ Stefanie Raschke created the after-run vibe – deliberately understated, but with perfect sound. Running together, celebrating together, wrapping up the week together. Marketing spectacle? No, this was a community event.
The biggest challenge? Everything was ready, only the location decision came 5 days before start. In the end, the team stood together and we had THE SPOT.
SOOH WOW!
The New Balance Running Hub became the go-to destination for Munich’s running community during the European Athletics Championships. The bus turned into an eye-catcher in Werksviertel, with live painting sessions consistently drawing crowds during peak hours.
Daily runs brought together 15-20 runners exploring the city’s coolest routes. The night run finale gathered around 40 participants in glowing “WE GOT NOW” shirts – community over marketing mass.
The final artwork now hangs in New Balance Headquarters in Düsseldorf – lasting proof of a week when individual running motivations became collective art. Despite location approval coming just 5 days before start, we delivered exactly what New Balance needed: real brand awareness on the streets, not in the feed.
SOOH SPECIAL
/ BEHIND THE SCENES