Daybreak
AT&T
Issue 26 | March 2013
Agency
BBDO New York
Creative Team
Production credits? Production Company: RSA Films Director: Jon Cassar Director of Photography: Curtis Wehr Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars Executive Creative Director: Greg Hahn Senior Creative Director: David Carter Senior Creative Director/Copywriter: Adam Reeves Creative Director/Art Director: Danilo Boer Executive Producers of Content & Development: Julian Katz/Nicholas Gaul Interactive Executive Producers: Clemens Brandt/Joe Croson Associate Interactive Producer: Emily Cohen
Production Team
Interactive Production Company: North Kingdom Creative Director: Marcus Ivarsson Client Director: Roger Stighäll Producer: Mia Berggren Production Manager: Linda Brockman Senior Art Director: Jakob Nylund Design Director: Robert Lindström Lead 3D Artist: Mathias Lindgren Technical Director: Einar Öberg Designer: Jonas Eriksson Junior Designer: Jim Olofsson
Other Credits
Mobile Production Company: Monterosa Project Manager: Johan Ståhle Creative Director: Carl Bock Technical Director: Anton Holmquist Producer: Katrin Hjelm Lead Interaction Designer: Hannes Wikström Senior iOS Developer: Anders Frank iOS Developers: Anton Holmberg/Andreas Areschoug Senior Android Developers: Andreas Mattsson/Henric Malmberg Interactive Sound Design: Dinahmoe Music House: Visual Music
Date
May 2012
Background
AT&T was responsible for some of the advanced technologies that were making people’s lives better. But people still thought of them as just a phone company. AT&T wanted them to change that.
Idea
The solution was an immersive and interactive story about the magic and power of technology, which took the form of a conspiracy thriller in the manner of “The Bourne Identity”.
Partnering with FOX TV, the storyline of the popular TV show Touch was woven in with the storyline of Daybreak.
The common element to both plots was a mysterious object called a “dodecahedron.” Toward the end of Touch’s first season, as characters in the show and viewers alike began to ask more questions about the object, they were directed to the Daybreak website via a “hacked” commercial that aired during the show’s season finale.
Results
An audience of millions was introduced to Daybreak. On the website, viewers could watch the five chapters of Daybreak’s main story as well as dive into the mythology of the conspiracy on over twenty different linked websites. Throughout the story, characters were using a James Bond-style app that featured many of the technologies AT&T wanted to highlight.
Our Thoughts
If ever you wanted proof that advertising and entertainment are getting ever closer, here’s further evidence. It’s a show based on a show with product placement at its heart, not just to show off the kit but to actually demonstrate how it works.
Of course, for this sort of approach to work, the content really has to be top quality. In other words well written, well cast and well shot.
Not so long ago, marketers thought that online advertising was a cheaper alternative to TV but if you’re going to view content on the diamond-sharp screen of an iPad or a tablet, your production values now have to be scintillating. And these are.
This is how you get people immersed in your brand story for twenty minutes at a time.