Messi Takes Chicago
The Messi Experience
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The Challenge
The Messi Experience was coming to Chicago—one of the exhibit's most important U.S. stops. To succeed, it needed local momentum, regional buzz, and consistent foot traffic across several weeks. But Chicago is a city full of competing cultural events, sports moments, and family-friendly experiences.
To break through, the exhibit needed deep community integration, multichannel awareness, and authentic engagement with Latino audiences and soccer fans across the city.
The Big Insight
Chicago doesn't respond to generic promotion—it responds to community ownership. If Messi was coming to town, the city needed to feel it, see it, and celebrate it in the places where culture actually happens: neighborhood anchors, street art, futbol communities, iconic local institutions, and trusted Latino media. The opportunity wasn't just to promote an exhibit—it was to turn the city into a stage where Chicagoans helped welcome Messi themselves.
The Solution
PACO orchestrated a powerhouse, citywide launch that turned Chicago into Messi's unofficial home turf.
We ignited the hype with high-visibility activations at iconic locations-from Macy's on State Street to _packed Chicago Fire matchdays-creating moments that stopped people in their tracks and funneled them straight to the exhibit. A polished, multi-channel advertising push across OOH, radio, digital, and social ensured the experience was unavoidable, building steady momentum week after week.
To amplify the cultural impact, we activated nearly 50 local influencers whose authentic stories and behind-the-scenes content helped the exhibit explode across Instagram and TikTok. PACO deepened the city's emotional connection to the experience through a collaboration with Chicago street artist Kane One, who transformed the building into a visual landmark with original interior and exterior murals-instantly making the venue a destination worth posting. Meanwhile, strategic outreach to community partners, neighborhood leaders, and local media created true grassroots lift, ensuring the launch didn't just land—it resonated.