Columbia Sportswear x Star Wars — a national retail activation across four major cities, turning a product launch into a cultural moment that became the #1 PR story in Columbia’s history.
Star Wars is more than a franchise — it’s a global cultural institution. From the films and the music to the memorabilia and the fan communities that have built up around it for decades, few entertainment brands carry the kind of devotion that Star Wars inspires.
So when Columbia Sportswear — a global leader in outdoor gear and apparel — partnered with Star Wars to release an exclusive jacket line inspired by the garments worn by the cast of The Empire Strikes Back, the launch needed to be an event in itself.
Columbia brought Elevate in to make it one.
Elevate’s Experience Leaders were stationed at Columbia retail locations in New York City, Chicago, Seattle, and Portland — playing Star Wars music, running Columbia and Star Wars trivia, facilitating prize giveaways, and engaging with the lines of enthusiastic fans waiting for their shot at the collection. While Columbia’s retail teams focused on operations and customer service, Elevate kept the atmosphere electric.
The result? The #1 PR story in Columbia’s history. Their all-time highest single-day sales traffic. Millions of social media impressions. And over 1,000 entries for the Star Wars jacket giveaway.
Columbia didn’t just need someone to stand in a store and hand out prizes. They needed a team that could turn a product launch into a genuine brand experience — one that deepened the connection between Columbia, Star Wars, and the fans who love both.
Activate a major retail product launch simultaneously across four cities — creating an exciting, personalized experience for customers that drove brand awareness, social engagement, and sales, while freeing Columbia’s retail teams to focus entirely on operations and customer satisfaction.
We stationed Experience Leaders at each retail location to own the atmosphere from the outside in — music, trivia, giveaways, and genuine one-on-one engagement with fans in line. Columbia focused on the transaction. Elevate made sure what happened before and around that transaction was worth talking about.
Experience Leaders deployed simultaneously across four major U.S. cities for a single-day national retail activation.
That’s not a stat that happens by accident. It happens when a product launch is treated as a cultural moment — when the fans waiting in line feel like they’re part of something, not just queuing for a jacket.
Over 1,000 people entered the Star Wars jacket giveaway. Columbia’s social media channels lit up with millions of impressions. And at the end of the day, Columbia’s retail locations had recorded their highest single-day sales traffic ever.
For the fans, it was a great day to love two iconic brands at once. For Columbia, it was a record-breaking launch. And for Elevate, it was a reminder of what’s possible when a brand trusts you to own the experience and get out of the way.
Whether you’re planning for 50 or 5,000, we design, plan, and produce events that people actually remember.
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