Diñho
Predictability isn’t effective. Unpredictably is.
June 21, 2002
Shizuoka, Japan
2002 FIFA World Cup Quarterfinal
Brazil vs. England. Crunch game.
David Seaman, England’s legendary goalkeeper, was standing a bit too far from his line. Ronaldiñho (Little Ronaldo) saw it. No one else did.
From 40 yards out, he took a free kick. Everyone expected a cross. Instead, he lobbed it into the top corner, over Seaman’s outstretched hands. Silence. Shock. Was it a mistake? A fluke? No. It was pure Ronaldiñho’s unpredictable genius. Seaman never recovered from that goal.Brazil went on to win the World Cup.
Thanks Diñho.
Unpredictability comes from a sharp, strong DNA that is waiting to explode.
Unpredictability is turning on a dime, but like a ballerina.
Unpredictably cuts through chaos like a hot knife through butter.
Unpredictability knows how to take a sad song and make it better.
Unpredictably is the magnet that attracts like minds.
Unpredictability is the spark that lights the flame and turns it into a bonfire.
Unpredictability makes data dream of being unpredictable when it grows up.
Unpredictability doesn’t dream but does.
Unpredictability is the pulse that keeps you alive, and kicking.
〰️
Unpredictability comes from a sharp, strong DNA that is waiting to explode. Unpredictability is turning on a dime, but like a ballerina. Unpredictably cuts through chaos like a hot knife through butter. Unpredictability knows how to take a sad song and make it better. Unpredictably is the magnet that attracts like minds. Unpredictability is the spark that lights the flame and turns it into a bonfire. Unpredictability makes data dream of being unpredictable when it grows up. Unpredictability doesn’t dream but does. Unpredictability is the pulse that keeps you alive, and kicking. 〰️
Nike livestrong
It’s About You
Nike is more than just sport. It’s about human courage to overcome the odds. When we got the big Lance Armstrong brief, doing a big spot was the easy thing to do. Instead, we came up with “It’s About You.” — a fully integrated, highly awarded campaign that tied together many different pieces: An inspirational film series, a Lance Armstrong spot, print, out-of-home, and “The Chalkbot” (where the world saw people’s words of memoriam, hope, and courage chalked onto the roads of the Tour de France). Nike sales increased 46% during the campaign.
Netflix
Backstories
Netflix wanted to feature the greatest icons in the history of music for the launch of their music documentaries genre. So, maybe, big stars should tell big stories, right? Wrong. A musician is a human before being a musician. It is the human that makes the music. Once you know that backstory, the real stuff, the pain, the joy, the triumph behind it all, that is when you appreciate not just the music, but the musician even more. A song is someone’s story first, and a song afterwards.
Coca Cola
VideoGame
How do you make a big, cultural brand like Coca Cola bigger? By working through newer, younger subcultures. Like, Grand Theft Auto (GTA). With Coca Cola’s “Video Game”, we offered a twist on the traditional GTA plot which features characters causing mayhem and destruction. The spot, which was part of the “Coke Side of Life” campaign, showed the tough guy paying for his Coke instead of stealing it, and thus transforming the bleak landscape into a bright, harmonious one. Instead of simply layering the spot with a “nice soundtrack”, we reimagined the song “Give a Little Love” from the movie Bugsy Malone to further enhance the Coca-Cola brand values.
Fiat 500
Life Is Best When Driven
Cars in America are mostly about sheet metal, offers and discounts. We saw the FIAT 500 as a canvas for the creative class of emerging expressionists. And so began a campaign with too many executions to track. Art and music events, TV shows, editorials, collabs, CRM, online contests, social media, and tons of experiential so people could touch the brand and feel part of the story. The idea was to populate and encourage social conversation through different channels rather than make a few grand ad-like statements. The iconic Cinquecento after all, is a canvas, a passionate emotion — not just a car. This entire 360+++ campaign was launched quite unlike any other launch and resulted in a case study. First bookings on social media > personal email updates from the Head of FIAT USA > real time visual updates of individual cars at every stage of production > films featuring the customers during the waiting period > music video that led them to the final delivery status.
Lincoln Motor Company
The Music Selfie
The Lincoln Motor Company believes every person is a unique individual. We thought every person should have a unique sound during America’s biggest music night — The Grammys. We came up with a first: An algorithm developed together with a large team of digital and music professionals that literally translates facial features into a music track. We called it the Music Selfie Experiment. After its launch during The Grammys broadcast, it earned over 63 million impressions, 316,000+ visitors, 257,000+ completed selfies and an unprecedented 81% completion rate, commanding a staggering 55% of all social traffic. That was ten times more than the Grammy's official automotive sponsor, Hyundai.
Samsung
The Developer
Why settle for one celebrity when you can feature two amazing ones with great effect? That was our “why not” thinking for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear spot. Filmed on the streets of Barcelona, the spot is set in a desolate urban landscape, where a mysterious developer appears. As street kids watch him from the shadows, he uses his Samsung devices to spearhead a secret project. Enhancing the mysterious narrative was Lorde’s newest and hottest hit, “Royals”, sung by kids in a beautiful musical-like rendition; with the lyrics matching up appropriately to the reality of having "never seen a diamond in the flesh" i.e. Lionel Messi aka the “Developer”.
Converse
Invisible Game
Converse wanted to re-establish its leadership position as “The First School” of basketball, by leveraging its authentic heritage of innovating performance footwear, evangelizing the sport, and staying true to its fundamental “early days of the game”. This was a position no other brand could own. “Invisible Game” distilled basketball to its very essence through a visual narrative that was stripped clean of all but the ball and hardwood court. It reconnected viewers to the soul of the game. As a change from most sports brands of the day, we chose to exclude celebrities. We focused on the raw, true nature, the grace, athleticism, and originality of the great game.
Levi’s
Chase
Extravagantly bold Levi's Type 1 jeans for bold people. Can we have cool, young people doing cool, young things? Nope. Let’s have a rising GongFu star (who was trying to make it big in the western world à la Bruce Lee) stand his ground while being chased out of town by nasties in an updated quirky, weird, zombie-like Wild Wild West.
Levi’s in Asia is quite unlike Levi’s in other markets. In places like Japan, Levi’s is a fashion brand, a youth brand. Maybe stuff like that needn’t always be based on insight or precedent but rather, an intention of setting trends? Hey, as a young person, did you want to follow trends or set them? Here’s an example of setting trends in the blossoming age of social media and youthful expression.
Nissan
Gangs
A difficult brief from Nissan Europe who were going through budget cuts during the 2007-2008 subprime mortgage crisis. Their solution? Let’s do two spots for the price of one. Our solution? Let’s do one blockbuster spot regardless if it was for two very differently priced vehicles. Let’s recreate “West Side Story” with opposing gangs of urban cars. The result was a “car dance off” with choreography akin to Martha Graham or Debbie Allen.