To turn the flagship New Balance store into the most talked about place at the Australian Open, we turned it into the only place (other than centre court) to secure the autograph of star player and New Balance ambassador, Coco Gauff.

We used her contractual one-hour appearance at the store to teach a sharpie-wielding robotic arm to replicate her autograph. Then for the two weeks of the tournament, anyone could get their purchases from the store personally signed by the star herself. Driving sales. Foot traffic. And talkability online.

This ace idea was full steam ahead with robotics engineers, store architects and builders all ready to make it happen… until the idea was presented to Coco. And she just said “no”.