Introducing 8-BITS: stories and campaigns to inspire
alison.bracegirdle
A few months back, we started 8-BITS #WEARECREATIVE, a monthly inspiration session with our strategy, creative, editorial, design and future tech teams. Strategy starts off with platform updates then each team submits two pieces of socially and creatively brilliant work, equalling 8-BITS. We debate about new projects from around the world. We question narratives, cultural point-of-views and how technologies work creatively or not. It’s an opportunity to get together, challenge ourselves, and pick up exciting inspiration for our clients.
April: Surprising platform experiences
April has been a rough ride for social: from the Cambridge Analytica investigation to Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance in front of the US Congress. We left the scandal and memes to the tabloids and focused on what truly matters right now: great storytelling and unforgettable experiences (like these two multisensory VR experiences Somani or Senskis). Here are the highlights:
What is it?
Velocity Frequent Flyer is the loyalty program of Virgin Australia Airlines. It makes money when people transfer their credit card reward points to Velocity and then use them for flights. Problem was, not enough people trusted that Velocity was the best place for their points. To change their perception, the campaign made a point about the responsibility all brands owe their customers. Enter the fictitious intern who accidentally gave away not a million, but a billion points.
Why we love it?
People like it when brands cock it up. But they prefer it even more when they come clean. Velocity used this as an insight to demonstrate they could be trusted. It’s just refreshing when advertising doesn’t take itself too seriously and answers the brief indirectly.
What is it?
On the 12th of March: WORLD DAY AGAINST CYBER CENSORSHIP, Reporters Without Borders Germany created a digital loophole to evade censorship. Five acclaimed independent journalists from five countries suffering from strict government censorship teamed up with Musical Director Lucas Mayer to turn 10 articles that had previously been censored into 10 uncensored pop songs.
Why we love it?
It used a popular, emotional social platform to reach a very interested audience, hungry for their uncensored message.
What is it?
A Gucci Hallucination, the Spring Summer 2018 campaign imagines paintings that feature imagery from classic artworks with characters dressed in the collection’s colourful and printed designs.
Why we love it?
It’s a beautiful visually exciting experience, helping to tell a story rooted in art and culture; artist Ignassi Monreal used the opportunity to bring the Old Masters to a much younger audience. Since Alessandro Michele has taken the reign chez Gucci, we’ve seen a cultural richness exploding through their comms channels each season.
What is it?
A showcase of work by coders who are pushing the boundaries of web technology in the categories of AI, Android, AR, WebVR, Voice and Arts & Culture.
Why we love it?
Each really cool and engaging experience blends art with technology available in users’ phone/browser. There are new projects added all the time and it’s a great hub to always come back to and see what’s new. They’re fun to play/explore whatever your age or tech knowledge.
What is it?
Real-time 3D human mesh reconstruction from a single image, from a team at UC Berkeley. What it actually is: Human Mesh Recovery (HMR), an end-to-end framework for reconstructing a full 3D mesh of a human body from a single RGB image.
Why we love it?
In contrast to most current methods that compute 2D or 3D joint locations, it allows to produce a richer and more useful mesh representation that is parameterized by shape and 3D joint angles.
Your bit
Reality doesn’t have to be so straight, whether its campaigns, art, technology or advertising. Often it’s when we answer the brief with something completely unusual, in an unsuspecting platform, execution or immersive experience that we capture the imagination of our audience. Don’t be afraid to meet expectations with a bit of fantasy, flourish and fantastically unknown wonders.
