National Geographic: KILLING KENNEDY

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Digital Design
Category: Online Digital Design
Advertiser: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Product/Service: TV PROGRAM/WEBSITE
Agency: MULLEN Boston, USA
Client: NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL
Product: TV PROGRAM/WEBSITE
Entrant: MULLEN Boston, USA
Type of Entry: Digital Design
Category: Online Digital Design
Entrant Company : MULLEN Boston, USA
Advertising Agency : MULLEN Boston, USA
Production Company : SOUNDTRACK Boston, USA
Chief Creative Officer: Mark Wenneker (Mullen)
Chief Digital Officer: Stephen Goldblatt (Mullen)
Executive Creative Director: Tim Vaccarino (Mullen)
Executive Creative Director: Dave Weist (Mullen)
Design Director: Richard Hart (Mullen)
Creative Director: Jon Reil (Mullen)
Creative Director: Jon Ruby (Mullen)
Creative Social Integration: Amy Nagy (Mullen)
Senior Creative Technologist: Kenji Ross (Mullen)
Designer: Marc Lassoff (Mullen)
Writer: Kelly Mcauley (Mullen)
Designer: Hannah Peckham (Mullen)
Art Director: Sam Mullins (Mullen)
Creative Technologist: Stefan Harris (Mullen)
Creative Technologist: Joe Palasek (Mullen)
Senior Experience Designer: Mark Boroyan (Mullen)
Content Writer: Caroline Roberts (Mullen)
Production Designer: Gabe Weinberg (Mullen)
Director: Emile Doucette (Mullen)
Associate Creative Director: Nicole Berard (Mullen)
Brief Explanation:
KennedyandOswald.com had to be a responsive, cross-platform site offering users the opportunity to take a quick glimpse or a deep dive into the Killing Kennedy story. A key challenge was telling this story in a compelling way. We also had to align with the television script so users could sync in real time with the broadcast, all while keeping the site immersive enough to be explored independently. We had to find a way to make this well-known historical event rediscoverable and break through the chatter that was surrounding the assassination's anniversary.
Describe the brief from the client:
National Geographic Channel believes in exploration and discovery, and sometimes that means taking a closer look at a well-known and oft-told story. With that in mind, they challenged us to create an interactive destination that would complement its docudrama, Killing Kennedy, and stand out amidst the media chaos surrounding the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination.
Design Process:
For KennedyandOswald.com, our goal was to make the dividing line between creativity and technology indistinguishable. We focused on the user experience first, creating an interaction mechanic that’s also a narrative device. A top priority throughout the project was to not just create another parallax site, but a responsive, cross-platform experience where the scrolling functionality actually intertwined with the story.
Results:
Within the first two weeks of launching, the site garnered more than 150K unique visitors. During the two-hour TV world premiere of Killing Kennedy, nearly half of all visitors interacted with the live-sync technology, a new National Geographic Channel record. Visitors spent an average of 1 hour on site. Additionally, the site has already been used as a classroom teaching tool and an industry example of how technology can influence a narrative.