Activation

Après Equinox

Naming, Concepting, Video

The ask

Equinox was putting barrel saunas on the roof of Hudson Yards for the winter of 2019/2020.

My job was to concept, name, and brand this exciting activation.

The name

There was no distinct direction given to name and brand the activation.

So I came up with several to present to higher-ups: The Strøm (Nordic inspired), The Lodge (ohh, cozy), The Thermalounge (high-performance much?). You can see the full presentation here.

However, one thing that was mentioned several times in our briefing: après ski.

The choice seemed obvious. Après Equinox. And that’s what they went with.

The concept

Inspired by Nordic tradition. Tailored to your regeneration. Après Equinox is a winter activation that’s based on contrast therapy—hot, cold, hot. You’d sit in the barrel saunas, dip in a cold shower, and then bask in a heated pool.

In order to bring this concept to life, we needed a tone of voice—elevated, luxurious, a little tongue-in-cheek. And we needed to shoot it.

The shoot

Given the tight timeline, we had to be agile and scrappy. Taylor Cruthers was on board.

On the terrace of Equinox Hudson Yards, on a freezing cold December day, we shot the entire flow of Après Equinox. Barrel saunas to the cool shower to the heated pool.

And yes, that meant our talent had to spend a good amount of time in the cold air in a bathing suit. The things one does for #content.

The result

Our creative rolled out over social to wide acclaim and, with some of our partners in PR, to the media at large.

It was one activation I’m still fiercely proud to be a part of. On a tight timeline, we came out hard with a fully baked concept for Equinox’s activation that made the whole winter a lot hotter 🔥.