This month, kubik has reached the big 4-0. Celebrating four decades of crafting unforgettable experiences, kubik has been at the forefront of bringing brands to life. From our humble beginnings in 1983 to our expansive global presence today, our journey has been nothing short of remarkable. Take a look back on our legacy and explore what’s new with kubik below.
A Look Back at kubik’s Legacy:
- 1983: The year it all began. While the world witnessed the beginnings of the internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call, kubik, then known as Exhibits International, was born in Sam Kohn’s Toronto kitchen. From a modest team, we’ve grown to a family of 350 spread across two continents and four countries.
- First Decade: Our collaboration with corporate giants like Disney and Nike set the tone for our future endeavors. From celebrating Mickey Mouse’s 60th birthday to executing Nike’s groundbreaking World Cup Parks campaign, our first ten years were filled with milestones.
- Second Decade: In our second decade, we laid roots across the ocean and opened our first branch in Amsterdam. We also began our long love affair with automotive events and signed one of our longest-standing clients, Nissan. Our Dutch team enters its 10th anniversary, expanding our global reach and creating some truly unique pavilions for clients at the Volvo Ocean Race.
- Third Decade: Rebranding as kubik, we moved our Canadian headquarters and welcomed maltbie, a renowned museum firm, into our family. Together, we embark on two major projects with world-famous architect Frank Gehry. The Biomuseo in Panama and renovations to the Art Gallery of Ontario. kubik also takes on its first aviation client, Bombardier. To celebrate 30 years in business, kubik expands again and opens its first U.S. office near Washington.
- Recent Years: Our foray into the aviation sector, the creation of iconic projects, and our innovative solutions during the pandemic era have solidified our reputation as industry leaders.
B4 — Backyard BBQ Birthday Bash!
On September 8th, our Toronto team transformed our end-of-summer BBQ into a grand birthday celebration. The afternoon was filled with joy as we marked this significant milestone. A heartfelt thank you to all who joined the celebration, those who breathed life into the festivities, and our dedicated volunteers who managed the various stations. Special appreciation goes to Sam, Elliot, and Adriano for bravely taking the plunge in the dunk tank and helping raise $300 towards the $700 total for Women’s Habitat. We were also delighted to have Paul Blasutti and Marta Frackowiak from our Amsterdam office with us.
Past Project Highlights
NIKE PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: World Cup Parks
Global Experimental Event
Locations: London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Madrid, Seoul, and Tokyo
Nike’s gungy soccer campaign was one of the most incredible guerilla marketing and brand activations ever. The locations for the events were diverse. One day’s setup was an old train terminal in Madrid, the next a tanker ship in Rotterdam. Each environment invited young athletes to participate and bring to life the beautiful game of soccer in unexpected ways.
kubik worked on 5 continents and in 10 different languages to execute the Nike Parks during the World Cup and Euro Cup tournaments. Locations were scouted and then transformed, making each setup unique and cost-effective. In a pre-smartphone era, kubik created buzz and anticipation by flooding the streets in each market with temporary spray-painted graffiti, stenciled Nike athlete portraits, and Nike scorpion football logos.
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NISSAN PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Nissan Studio
Retail – Hybrid Solution
Locations: Local Shopping Mall
Nissan needed a solution to bridge the gap between online and retail, and kubik delivered Nissan Studio, a unique hybrid experience bringing the showroom directly to your living room.
A custom landing page and web portal were built and integrated into the existing website. Live experts provide bespoke individual product information sessions or pre-scheduled group sessions streamed via the web. In the first 3 months, Nissan had 1.49 million visitors; 46,000 attended group sessions and 1,453 chose a one-on-one session.
View projectPUMA PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Volvo Ocean Race
Sponsorship Activation / Retail Solution
Location: Several Ports along the race
Alongside our partners, a unique brand experience was developed for the PUMA sailing team that travelled from coast to coast to coast. In total, we went to 10 ports of call from Boston to Singapore and reached over 2.4 million people.
This project pulled on design, engineering and fabrication, logistics, and event execution for each PUMA CITY pavilion across the entire Volvo Ocean Race circuit. The shipping container modules provided hospitality, retail, and brand activation spaces in multiple footprints.
View projectBIOMUSEO PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Exhibit Creation
Museum & Visitor Center
Location: Panama
Biomuseo tells the story of Panama’s natural history and how it changed the landscape of the planet. The museum welcomes half a million visitors annually and raises money for conversation projects in the region. The museum space is an impressive 30,000 sq. ft. of artifacts, dioramas, and interactives.
The galleries include 65 sculpted animals, plus 30 birds, and supporting angled plinths. Each sculpture is anatomically accurate, and visitors can get up close and personal with the art. All elements are engineered for strength, lightness, and ease of installation.
HP PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Customer Welcome Center
Branded Environment
Location: Palo Alto
As HP Inc. planned for the historic split from HO Enterprise, they realized that they needed a new home to welcome guests and showcase new products and ideas. The Customer Welcome Center (CWC) was kubik’s answer to that need. A visionary space to present the HP spirit of innovation.
The CWC allows HP to host numerous visitors monthly, with flexible areas that can be utilized to tailor the experience. There is a central ‘solutions theater’ that is surrounded by product playgrounds for printing, home office, rapid manufacturing, and other HP business units.
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LEGO HOUSE PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Museum & Learning Center
Branded Environment / Museum & Visitor Center
Location: Billund, Denmark
With our experience in creating the world’s premiere museums and galleries, LEGO invited kubik to assemble a dream team of engineers, developers, and technology partners to help bring this iconic experience to life.
The unique 12,000 m2 creative universe that is LEGO House, is built of 21 huge white bricks stacked on top of each other. It features four fully interactive play areas, a gallery with LEGO creations, and a large history exhibition.
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TIKTOK PROJECT HIGHLIGHT: Collision Con Exhibit
Trade Show
Location: Collision Trade Show
The social media giant wanted to spread its wings and show people that TikTok is also the place to track trends on anything you love. From #MovieTok and #SportsTok to #FoodTok, it’s all on TikTok and kubik brought the experience live to Collision Conference!
Multiple custom-built themed photo/video capture booths were created in an inexpensive and eye-catching open-concept design. In four days, the booth saw 10,000 visitors and made 500+ impressions each day.
View projectHere’s to the next 40 years of creating, innovating, and inspiring. Cheers!
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