Supermarket chain FreshChoice and creative agency Dentsu Aotearoa have collaborated on a unique project: creating a pop-up supermarket aisle in the middle of the bush, for athletes in an endurance event.
Imagine you’ve run, walked, or crawled, more than 50km through some of New Zealand’s most isolated and punishing terrain. Hunger is striking, electrolytes are low, and your blisters are forming blisters of their own.
You turn a bend and see something. No, it’s not a mirage – it’s a supermarket aisle, stocked with anything and everything you need to reach the finish line.
This was reality for 450 runners who recently took on the Kepler Challenge, New Zealand’s premier ultra-marathon, which took place this past weekend near Te Anau.
Built specially to fit the Kepler Track, the FreshChoice ‘Aid Aisle’ was positioned 51km into the race and was met with bewilderment from exhausted (and some delirious) runners, then elation when they learned they could help themselves to anything. Flat soft drinks, salty goods, chafing cream, energy bars, fresh fruit, even fresh socks were in stock and all for the special price of $0.
Runners could take whatever they were craving, or have it packed and delivered to them at the finish line to fuel their post-race celebrations, although one runner’s request of “a fresh pair of legs and some counselling” unfortunately could not be fulfilled.
Dentsu Aotearoa’s Head of Talent and Activations Alex Barlow says, “Traditionally, ultra-marathon aid stations are simple, stripped back, and offer runners the basics they need to get to the finish line. But for taking on a challenge as extreme as the Kepler, we felt FreshChoice’s aid station had to be equally as extreme.”
Like anyone who enters a Great Walk of New Zealand, FreshChoice’s Aid Aisle had to be designed to pop up and disappear without leaving a trace to the environment; so the team propped the reusable supermarket shelving above ground level to protect the track, used recyclable signage throughout, and carried everything in, and out, by hand.
FreshChoice Head of Marketing, Travis Tompsett says, “FreshChoice have been a proud sponsor of the Kepler Challenge for eight years, and as a sponsor, we’ve behaved exactly as you’d expect: teardrop banners, branded hoardings, t-shirts, etc. With the advent of FreshChoice’s new brand platform: ‘That’s Shopping Different,’ we asked ourselves what does ‘Supporting Different‘ look like? We know how difficult the Kepler challenge is for any runner, and wanted to show our support to this incredible community but we needed to execute through the lens of ‘Different’.”
Dentsu Aotearoa Creative Director, Rob Longuet, says, “We wanted to create an experience that spoke to the runners, lifted their energy levels, and their spirits when they needed it the most. That’s why every touchpoint was important to us from the “Chafe-Week” wobblers to the instore music and manager announcements.”
Kepler Challenge runner Paul H. commented, “Brilliant, many many thanks for your support. Just loved this. It probably cost me a couple of minutes, but who cares about that when it put such a smile on my face through to the end.”
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