The Beauty Inside
Intel + Toshiba
Issue 27 | June 2013
Agency
Pereira & O’Dell San Francisco
Creative Team
Chief Creative Officer PJ Pereira Executive Creative Director Jaime Robinson Creative Director Jason Apaliski Copywriter Neil Ramanan Art Director Chaz Whitworth Executive Agency Producer Jeff Ferro Film Producer Elisa Moore Senior Interactive Producer Erin Dahlbeck
Production Team
Client Services Director Gary Theut Management Supervisor Henry Arlander Account Executive Lisl Schilperoort Director of Strategy Nick Chapman Strategy Director Justin Cox Director of Media Strategy Josh Brandau Media Supervisor Dan Beer Media Strategists Liz Bell, Pete Fishman Business Affairs Director Xandra Ess Business Affairs Manager Angela Eddleman Production Intern/Fan Consultant Corey Lenhart Music Dustin O’Halloran Sound Designer Robert Feist at Ravenswork
Date
August 2012
Background
Intel and Toshiba were looking to improve brand perception and purchase consideration among an 18-34 year old audience. Research showed this target saw technology as a tool for allowing them to see, do and share more of what they care about. In fact, 75% of 14-29 years olds viewed computers as more of an entertainment device than their TVs.
Pereira & O’Dell created a story of a romance that blended entertainment and social media, making the Intel/ Toshiba laptop a main character in an interactive narrative. This allowed both brands to showcase their product in a way that fitted naturally into their audience’s social media lives.
Idea
‘The Beauty Inside’ was the story of a guy named Alex who woke up every day as a different person. He was always the same person on the inside, but on the outside he was not. When he met Leah and fell in love, everything changed for him. He knew he would see her again, but she would never see him.
Because Alex’s appearance changed every day, all fans—male or female— were invited to audition to play him. This allowed them to engage and star alongside Hollywood big shots. Audience members also played Alex throughout the experience on his Facebook timeline via photos and videos, contributing to his narrative every step of the way.
One character in the story, constantly present, was Alex’s Toshiba Portégé Ultrabook with Intel Inside, which he used daily to chronicle his changing appearances and attempts at a meaningful relationship.
Results
A total of some 4,000 people auditioned on Facebook to play Alex. A total of 26 Alexes were cast, from fans all over the world including Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Philippines, Canada and Spain. And an additional 50+ Alexes were selected/ featured on the Facebook timeline.
The first of six episodes began airing on August 16, running each Thursday. With 70 million views, 96,000 likes on Facebook and a remarkable 97% approval on YouTube, ‘The Beauty Inside’ wowed and attracted new fans as well as auditions to play Alex throughout the 6 week series.
Our Thoughts
Different people with the same name has become something of a meme lately. But entirely serendipitously, I think. Cheil London’s idea of getting 143 people all called David Bailey to take photographs with a new Samsung camera is a very different sort of idea to this one of 26 different Alexes.
For starters, the Baileys were all real people where the Alexes were all one fictional character. But what a great storyline, a man condemned to live behind a thousand different faces. Less interesting plot-lines have taken millions at the box-office. It’s a bit like ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ written by Audrey Niffenegger and turned into a movie that grossed $101m.
The key question, of course, is, did all these likes and fans add up to bigger and better bottom-line results for Toshiba? No-one seems to want to say.