EIGHTEEN MONTHS TO A PODIUM FINISH

C4 Sports is a custom apparel manufacturer that markets its clothing to multi-sport (triathlon) racers around the world. With their appointment as the apparel supplier to the Challenge Family global series of races, it became necessary to up their game. We developed consistent branding, retail pop-up, web concepts and apparel designs that took them beyond the realm of retail gypsies and presented them as the up-and-coming apparel brand that they are.

WiredPente was commissioned to help them with all aspects of this task, beginning with the development of the brand and the war cry “Never Look Back”, a reference to both the racer’s mentality and the weekend warrior ethos.

Pop-ups that popped

Work then moved to the application of its identity to the various iterations that the concept required. A big part of the brand’s off-line marketing takes place at events so step one was a pop-up retail concept that could adapt to many different configurations while retaining the brand’s look and feel. We also needed a system that allowed us to adopt the client’s brand as easily as it it did ours.

The Challenge business alone takes C4 to approximately 30 events all over the world every year, so in addition to flexible configurations, we needed solutions that could be easily packed and shipped anywhere.

Apparel that looks as good as it performs

Cycling gear has never been noted for its understatement. Collecting souvenir jerseys is almost as important as the race itself. When the size of an event justifies it, custom event-specific gear is designed and manufactured for it. In many cases, this requires that the designer researches the background of the venue to give the final design relevance.

The need for a higher level of quality

While the regular line is already above average in terms of quality of materials and construction, C4’s team felt that there was a market for a higher quality extension as an adjunct to the main brand. We developed the Mercury brand in answer to this need. The intent is that this marque and the product that carries it will occupy a space within the pop-ups and online wherever there is a higher end luxury segment to their market.