May saw HBO create an immersive experience in New York City’s 45 Grand event space promoting its new documentary ‘What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali’.
The pop-up opened its doors to promote the release of the much-discussed documentary narrated by Ali himself, helmed by Academy Award-winning director Antoine Fuqua and executive produced by Maverick Carter and NBA super star LeBron James.
Inside the experiential space, created with specialist agency Team Epiphany in association with HBO’s Multicultural Marketing group, the pop-up exhibition featured the various threads of Ali’s life as covered in the documentary and which aimed to symbolize what Ali stood for most of his life: his athleticism, activism and oratorical skill.
At the heart of the space, which the creators said took three to four months to pull together, was an installation that aimed to capture the essence of Ali the man.
Designed primarily to provide immersive experiences and photo moments, the pop-up offered a range from eye-catching and emotional imagery, curated artwork, quotes and comments, as well as directional speakers targeting audio within and around the space.
Symbolic of his career as such a skilled fighter, a boxing ring sits at the heart of the pop-up, while another room is set with a wall of vintage 1960s and 1970s televisions with Ali’s speeches piped in and another room features audio of two poems that he wrote.
The most fun part of the installation was in an upstairs loft area. There, a cameraman filmed attendees as they pretended to be in a boxing ring facing off with a tough opponent. The resulting video was then emailed to the participants.
The two-day pop-up experience offered an immersive and photogenic event which enabled boxing fans and sport and cultural historians to celebrate the life of Muhammad Ali ahead of the documentary’s premiere and share it through social media.
The event converted the space, into three dedicated spaces that highlighted different aspects of Muhammed Ali’s life including:
The Athlete: Detailing Ali’s journey to become the greatest boxer of all-time through his many entertaining knockouts against formidable contenders.
The Activist: Showcasing the sheer magnitude and cultural impact of the work Ali did outside the ring.
The Orator: Visual and auditory displays of Ali’s profound and powerful words and his supreme confidence in expressing his views.
An opening night party on the Friday spearheaded the PR push with the media, social influencers and special guests invited ahead of the public accessible viewing on Saturday and Sunday.
The launch party also included serving guests a special cocktail created for the event called ‘The GOAT’: made from tequila, aperol, pink peppercorn, lemon juice, pineapple and sage.
“HBO really wanted to create a space that celebrated Ali and that also spoke to what the documentary is about. It’s the first documentary where the entire thing is narrated in his words. There’s no other talking heads, it’s just Ali,” explained Epiphany Marketing VP Jane Kim-Smith.
“The space is split into those zones. The activist space is a symbol of his stance on the Vietnam War.” That space consisted of a set of old fashioned press microphones with picket style signs protesting the war and urging civil rights, as its backdrop. A model of one of Ali’s lockers was decorated with vintage photos of the champion and large video screens played the trailer for the upcoming documentary on loop.”
In addition to the pop-up, other strands of the promotional campaigns included a March online and on-air teaser,
followed by the official trailer in April,
as well as supporting social spots from executive producers LeBron James and Maverick Carter.
‘What’s My Name | Muhammad Ali’, a two-part documentary which chronicles the extraordinary life of one of the 20th century’s most iconic figures and explores Ali’s challenges and triumphs through recordings of his own voice, debuted on 14 May on HBO.
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