LENOVO SEIZE THE NIGHT
A cinematic film to launch a laptop, before anyone else was doing it.
Lenovo's IdeaPad Ultrabooks needed a launch moment in a category nobody was paying attention to. We made a five-minute film instead of a product spot, cast five millennial archetypes, and ran it as the centerpiece of what Lenovo called one of the largest coordinated marketing campaigns in its history.
THE CHALLENGE
Ultrabooks arrived as a category nobody had asked for, thin laptops competing with the MacBook Air with an audience that wasn't listening. A spec-led launch would have disappeared into the noise.
WHERE I CAME IN
Built the demo into the plot. Seize the Night followed five young tech geeks, the mastermind, the mixmaster, the artist, the programmer, and the engineer, as they pulled off a spectacular nighttime stunt. The laptop moved from character to character, and each handoff dramatized a different feature without a single spec on screen. Cast the brand platform instead of explaining it. "For Those Who Do" was the line. Five millennial archetypes actually doing something was the proof. Sold it, then handed it off. David Ekholm and I concepted the film and sold it through, then oversaw ACDs on our team who produced it, coordinating across Saatchi LA and Saatchi London. Made the ending a competition. A global "Film Your Own Ending" contest with Campus MovieFest put student filmmakers to work on alternate endings, which only works when the thing you've made has a story worth continuing.
ROLE
Creative Director (with David Ekholm), Concept, Creative Direction, Multi-office Team Leadership
CLIENT: Lenovo
AGENCY: Saatchi & Saatchi, New York
IMPACT
Centerpiece of "The Book of Do," which Lenovo called one of the largest coordinated marketing campaigns in its history
Ran on TV, print, and online across seven markets: US, UK, Germany, Russia, China, India, Japan
Spawned a global "Film Your Own Ending" competition with Campus MovieFest, drawing 15 student teams across seven countries with $30,000+ in prizes