The Cube
Issue 13 | December 2009
Agency
BBDO New York
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer: David Lubars, Chief Creative Officer: Bill Bruce, Executive Creative Director: Greg Hahn, Executive Creative Director: Mike Smith, Copywriter: Adam Reeves, Art Director: Brandon Mugar, Director of Integrated Production: Brian DiLorenzo, Content Producer: Nicholas Gaul
Production Team
Interactive Agency: The Barbarian Group, Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks, Director: Noam Murro
Date
October 2009
Background
The HBO Imagine campaign is the embodiment of the HBO philosophy—to be the pre-eminent source of entertainment experiences which change perspectives, defy expectations and challenge the status quo.
The centerpiece is HBOimagine.com, an online universe where users can dive headfirst into an interactive story and a game-like experience that deepens the more they explore. There are over 41 pieces of content, including short-form and long-form video, audio files, news stories, letters and images, all connected to each other, revealing more of the big picture with each click. Users can navigate the story by unlocking and viewing the content.
Idea
HBO Imagine is also being realized in a multi-city outdoor installation called The Cube, a unique, new storytelling device that offers four different perspectives on the same scene simultaneously. In telling the same story from four distinct points of view, each side of the cube stands alone as an engaging film, and as one piece of a larger puzzle. As viewers move around the cube, they watch the story unfold but it is only by watching the story unfold from multiple sides of the cube that they can begin to see the bigger picture.
The HBO Cube features two films, ‘The Heist’ and ‘The Affaire’, each 2 minutes long and played on a rotational basis. At the end of each film, viewers are encouraged to go online to continue the experience.
Results
Not yet known
Our Thoughts
At the heart of this idea is the website, where there are 41 interconnected pieces visitors can explore. I gather David Lubars thought it would take visitors days to link them all together but most managed to make all the connections in mere hours. The Cube is not just a brilliant way of replicating the online experience in an outdoor environment but a way of generating much talk, which in turn drives more people to the website and the whole immersive concept of dimensional stories rather than narratives that simply unfold.
A brilliant bit of positioning has not just allowed the creatives to be innovative but has demanded it of them.
Go to www.directnewideas.com to see the videos.