I recently led the pitch that won de-construct the business to create a new digital strategy for Ballantine’s whiskey. Building on their recent ‘Leave an Impression’ positioning, our task was to launch the next phase of the campaign, breaking in 2009. Unfortunately I can’t say much more at this point except that if they are as brave as we’re hoping, you’ll know all about it….

Tennis has evolved. It’s faster. Stronger. Wider. Longer. It’s more demanding now than ever before – physically, mentally, and strategically. The personalities are bigger. Records are established, and then quickly superceded.

‘Shape the Game’ is adidas’ answer to the evolution of Tennis. But the real strength of the idea is that it isn’t just a statement – it’s an invitation. You can shape the game. You can become the next Djokovic, the next Ivanovic.

We were briefed to create a basic product-focussed website, but what we presented instead was a cross-media platform for 2009 and beyond.

Unfortunately budget limitations meant that asset creation was all but impossible and that my involvement could not extend past the strategy stage. As a result all we could deliver was a basic, product-focussed website. But the future bodes well…

Everything Matters is much more than a consumer-facing website. It is the entire comms platform for Panasonic Europe through to 2010. And its the culmination of almost a year’s work which began with the strategy, in conjunction with Vizeum (UK) and Strawberry Frog (NL).

As a website, ‘Everything Matters’ is a content portal. It was created to be a central repository for the various brand stories that Panasonic has to tell, but has not for various reasons. The content can be filtered by the user, and of course the site is fully dynamic and modular.

Awarded the FWA Site of the Day 02.09.2008
Awarded the Interactive Pick of the Day 05.09.2008 by Creativity Online

Both in style and approach, it is a radical departure for Panasonic. There is very little product detail on the site and the soft grey gradients on white was dispensed with for a more tactile, human art direction. Major battles that we fought very hard to win.

The content on the site was conceptualised to be varied in both form and depth – sitting somewhere between a print ad and a website. In other words, some information but with the visceral impact and simplicity of a print ad, aided where possible by interactivity.

It is scheduled to grow massively over the coming 3 years, from world-firsts through to tiny details that make their digital cameras the best in their class. All reinforcing the philosophy that ‘Everything Matters’.

I was the conceptual and creative lead on this project, with a team of 3 designers, 3 flash devs, a 3D animator and a sound designer.

Launch Everything Matters

2007 saw Adidas (global) focus most of their marketing budget on the second version of their ‘Impossible is Nothing brand campaign. de-construct created this destination site to house the inspirational content of Adidas’ stable of world-class athletes including David Beckham and the current men’s 100m World Record holder, Tyson Gay.

Awarded a Gold Clio 2008, Content & Contact.

With deeper user-generated content ruled out by Adidas, we were left with tonnes of video content – courtesy of the ATL agency 180 Amsterdam – but nice films do not a website make. So we set about translating the athelete’s ‘impossible’ stories into a series of interactive games. We also opened the engine up to all users, allowing them to create their own ‘impossible’ games and then embed them in their myspace/blog.

As the Art Director, I was responsible for 3x online shoots in London, Madrid and Los Angeles as well as a team of 8 people including 3x designers, 3x flash developers, 1x sound designer, and the external agency creating the games.

Launch Impossible is Nothing

de-construct was tasked with creating a step-change in the way Panasonic communicates across Europe, by putting digital at the heart of their comms strategy across 2008 and beyond.

Working with Strawberry Frog Amsterdam (ATL) and Vizeum UK (media strategy), our brief was to come up with a platform concept from which every single marketing channel would use as a base – TV, print, digital, PR, POS and retail. The concept had to be true to both Panasonic (in order to sell it internally) as well as the consumer (in order that it is actually relevant and therefore works).

Unfortunately this is an ongoing project and commercial sensitivity means I can not show any work just yet. But stay tuned, its going to be good.

de-construct was engaged by P&G in a 50/50 share research project around the nascent possibilities of interactive outdoor advertising. Unfortunately the project never went into production but these were some concepts illustrating how to use live data feeds to define the creative and drive footfall into the store adjoining the media placement (Boots in this case).

de-construct won a 5-way pitch for the design and strategy of the Sony / Sky PSP video download service, psp.tv.

Whilst the PSP would be the device on which you would watch the content, the interface had to function across multiple devices including the PS3 (TV) as well as a traditional computer. This meant the interface design had to platform independent and truly scalable. In effect, it had to adapt to each new device in the most appropriate way. This was achieved by designing for the most restrictive device first – the PSP – and adding functionality where possible and relevant.Work continues today in collaboration with Neil Brody’s Research Studios. Estimated launch date is Summer 2008.

The Museum of Illustration (MOI) is a concept spearheaded by Quentin Blake, famed for bringing all Roald Dahl’s characters to life. By 2011 they will have a building in London’s newly redeveloped King’s Cross area, but until then, they have a website.

Intentionally austere graphic design allows the diversity of illustrations to come to the fore. The Flash site will use the map paradigm to allow the user to navigate content in a more exploratory way, making use of layouts within layouts within layouts.As the Art Director, I am responsible for the look and feel of the site as well as all video shoots and all creative presentations to client. The MOI continues to be a work in progress. A basic HTML site will be online from November 2, 2007 and the full Flash site will be online in early 2008.Launch the Museum of Illustration

After the extremely successful Da Vinci Code campaign, de-construct was asked to provide speculative ideas for a new CRM system with digital at its heart. We created the idea of Eurostar Live as a way of sharing content across multiple channels – online, mobile and digital outdoor.

We suggested Eurostar should provide city-guide content for both London and Paris from celebrities that epitomise each city, such as Damien Hirst or Jean-Paul Gaultier. Users would be able to download these guides to their mobiles before exiting the Eurostar station. After their break, they would be able to upload their own experiences/photographs of that city into their own ‘locker’. This content would then form part of a larger content pool which could be accessed by other users. Massive digital outdoor billboards at both Eurostar stations would advertise the idea and drive incentives such as free tickets, to encourage interaction with the campaign.

de-construct was asked to pitch the strategy and website for TeamVertu – Vertu’s high-profile sports sponsorship programme, currently centred around the Ferrari Challenge. We pitched an integrated concept where ‘Attention to Detail’ became the overarching message across every facet of their communications – from registration on the website through to the event itself.

Effectively communicating to high-end luxury users is a big challenge, especially online devoid of the usual materials used to convey exclusivity. Our proposal thus revolved around a fullscreen immersive video experience of the Ferrari Challenge Finale in Monza, delivered with ‘Attention to Detail’. Many small video vignettes allow the user to engage with the content they are most interested in – the racing enthusiast can focus on the car and the pit whilst the aspirational networker can focus on the hospitality truck and the interviews. Hotspots in the video would deliver the ‘Attention to Detail’ message by allowing the user to get closer to their chosen subject.

The strategy was modular by necessity – beginning small in 2007 with only the Ferrari Challenge whilst giving flexibility to scale through 2008 as new events were added. Throughout 2008, we proposed ever-tighter integration between the website and the event – such as an online auction, RFID invites and an exclusive on-track ringtone generator that would allow users to create their own unique Ferrari ’signature’.

Unfortunately the project, and the ambitious shoot (2x crews, 4x days, 2x countries) was never realised. However, the final image above gives an indication into how we proposed to shoot the first film.

Our first project, though we did not know it at the pitch, would be to create a physical installation around someone else’s concept of a ‘Motormix’. Leveraging Toyota’s F1 content, and working with Seattle-based sound designer Darrin Weiner, we created this audio/visual experience on an extremely short timeline and with the added hindrance of a non-english speaking installation team in Paris.