Cosmote — Marathon Athens

The Brief

Mimo Labs needed to deliver a standout brand activation for Cosmote at one of Greece's most high-profile annual sporting events. The goal was to turn marathon participants into brand advocates through capturing data, driving engagement, and sending every participant away with a personalised, Cosmote-branded gift they'd actually want to keep.

The experience had to feel effortless for the public and reflect well on Cosmote at every touchpoint.

The Challenge

AI image generation is slow by default, and slow is a problem when a queue is forming at a live event. Off-brand or distorted outputs carried a direct reputational risk for Cosmote in a very public setting. On top of that, creative approval landed two days before go-live — leaving one day to build and ship the entire application.

What I Built

• A touchscreen questionnaire experience designed for public use. A multilingual drag-and-drop journey that guided participants to their personalised artwork without any freeform input, eliminating the risk of off-brand or harmful AI outputs entirely.
• Batch image generation with participant choice. The system generated multiple artwork options per user so that poor-quality outputs never reached a participant's hands.
• A live configuration panel for the on-site team. Administrators could switch AI models mid-event in real time, trading a small amount of quality for speed when footfall surged beyond expectations.
• A prize and fulfilment management system. Win rates and prize quantities were adjustable on the fly, giving the on-site team full control without developer intervention.
• An asset and entry management panel built for slow networks. Optimised image downloads and clean entry records meant the print fulfilment workflow stayed fast even under patchy venue connectivity.
• Automated personalised emails. Every participant received their artwork by email, extending the brand moment beyond the venue.

Stack: SvelteKit, Supabase, a multi-model AI image provider via unified SDK

Go-Live

The activation ran across three days at Marathon Athens. During peak footfall, a queue formed quickly — a sign the experience had genuine pull, and a live pressure test for the system. The on-site team switched to a faster AI model through the admin panel without any developer involvement, keeping the queue moving without disrupting the participant experience.

The system ran without incident across the full campaign window.

The Outcome

• Deployed and live within 24 hours of creative approval, with no reduction in scope.
• Operated across a 3-day live event window without a single reported system failure.
• Admin controls handled a real-time footfall surge without developer support on the day.
• Mimo Labs returned with a second engagement the following year, deploying the same activation for the Athens Half Marathon 2026.

Why It Worked

Creative delays are a known risk in live event production. Rather than waiting on approved assets to begin, Brunyee Studio built all core functionality against a test interface first. When the final UI arrived, integrating it was straightforward because the hard work was already done. Rigorous AI model testing in the weeks prior, the use of reference imagery and mapped prompt logic meant brand safety wasn't left to chance on the day. The admin tooling wasn't an afterthought either. It was designed specifically so that the on-site team could respond to real conditions without needing to call a developer.

When a project is structured this way, a late creative approval becomes a scheduling inconvenience rather than a delivery risk.