Before the start of this year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament, Nike sought to shine the light on its new Nike Court collection with a premium tennis experience, the execution of which was anything but traditional: build a full-size regulation tennis court on highly trafficked Canal Street.
Devised to be a surprise pop-up, the sportswear brand purposefully did little to no media outreach for the five-day event, which ended on Sunday, opting instead to let happenstance take its course. “The goal was to create something that would have an impact and create a media, as well as influencer, moment,” said Tom Bussey, founder and principal at Production Glue, which oversaw overall infrastructure, creative management, execution, and stage production. “This was meant to be an amplified, hyped-up version of what you see on a public court by the Hudson River.”