Nike knows how to be relevant

I recently took a trip to Italy and was fortunate enough to be there during two major sporting events. The first was the Giro d'Italia, a major 3 week cycling grand tour of Italy. I was fortunate enough to ride some of the same stages (I was cycling across the country) as well as meet Lance Armstrong, watch the final stage in Rome, and the awards ceremony, which saw Russian, Denis Menchov take the overall general classification win. That dude is amazing.

The other sporting event I was in Italy for was the UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United. I wasn't able to attend the game but I was able to see some of the aftermath. Arriving in Rome's Termini train station the morning after the game I found a Nike store that was already outfitted in a giant window display featuring a photo of the Barcelona team celebrating their victory and the line "Great Men Made Rome Great."
This window display had so many good things going for it. It was timely (the image was of an event that took place not more than 12 hours before) and the message was relevant to both the consumers and the location. Plus, it was in the Termini train station, one major transit hub in Europe.

That was another thing I learned from this trip. I have always read about and seen photos of brands who dominate an entire transit station, but being from the United States, I had no real perspective on just how massive an impact that could have since the biggest stations I am used to are ones like New York's Grand Central station or L.A.'s Union Station. In Europe, the big transit stations are like train stations and giant shopping malls all rolled into one with 24 hour foot traffic. Transit station domination in a major European hub is a serious undertaking and one that is sure to get noticed.