Usher x Tidal
Interactive video campaign
I enjoyed this project immensely. Not just because I teased colleagues by playing Usher's music on repeat in the office. But because the purpose of the experience was to campaign for social change.
The brief was to use the launch of Usher's single 'Chains' to raise awareness of victims of social injustice. The AKQA Sao Paulo office had concepted the experience but needed support from the London office to craft it. The concept was to to force people to face up to the victims of social injustice by stopping the music video if the user looked away from the screen.
Our colleagues in Sao Paulo briefed the London team of UX and creative web developers to bring the concept to life and nail the experience. I was tasked with mapping out the campaign over two phases. I approached the challenge by first understanding the background to Usher's social initiatives. In 1999, the singer had founded a youth mentoring foundation. This led to Usher's involvment in campaigns to end poverty and injustice, which were also happening at the same time as the launch of the experience. From this point it became clear to me that the song was part of a bigger mission. I sketched out various ways to integrate content and deliver a connected experience.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has given me the incredible opportunity to work on a project from sprint 1 to launch. My team was tasked with redesigning the .com with a brand new responsive look and feel in time for the release of the next model, Dawn.
My goal was to drive engagement with the audience and generate leads by capturing prospective customer details.
I approached the challenge by immersing myself in the content available online and offline. From dealer manuals to brand books, I read it all. Eventually, I found all the nuggets we needed to build a story and capture the imagination of car fanatics and high net worth individuals alike. We needed to recreate the atmosphere of walking down the production line at Goodwood through the content on the website.
Awards
During the creative web development of the facial recognition tool, I assisted in guerrilla testing around the office. The technology had to reach the confidence level desired to work despite glasses, beards, and hats covering the face.
When the experience went live, we were overwhelmed with the media coverage it received. The video garnered more than 500 million earned impressions. Usher performed the song at a TIDAL x 10/20 Amplified by HTC concert, with proceeds benefitting groups that promote social change.
Gold awards in the Social Good and Digital/Mobile categories at the CLIO Awards 2016
Gold Pencil award in the UX/UI: Web category at the One Show Awards 2016
Most buzz-worthy campaign winner at the IAB Showcase Awards 2016
Gold award in the Website Design category at the Drum Design Awards 2016
Silver award for Experiential Design: Interactive Film at the Ciclope Awards 2016