Intel: ONE MILLION VOLTS ALWAYS ON, AN ULTRABOOK™ EXPERIENCE

Credits & Description:

Advertiser: INTEL
Agency: VICE MEDIA
Category: Best Use of Live Events and/or Stunts
Advertising campaign: ELECTRIFIED: ONE MILLION VOLTS ALWAYS ON, AN ULTRABOOK™ EXPERIENCE
Communications Director: Alex Detrick (VICE Media)
Senior Designer: Annie Rosen (VICE Media)
Account Manager: Barnett Zitron (VICE Media)
Global Activation Director: Jonathan Hunt (VICE Media)
Global Director Of Co-Marketing: Elizabeth Broers (Intel)
Communications Associate: Juliette Eisner (VICE Media)
Account Director/Communications: Fay Sliger (VICE Media)
Associate Activation Director: Kareem Ahmed (VICE Media)
Global Co-Marketing Manager: Melissa Beers (Intel)
Account Director: Kim Persse (VICE Media)
Global Co-Marketing Program Manager: Rob Rollinger (Intel)
Executive Creative Director: Thalia Mavros (VICE Media)
Media Relations: Alison Wesley (Intel)
Illusionist: David Blaine
Chief Creative: Eddy Moretti (VICE Media)
General Manager: Hosi Simon (VICE Media)
V.P. Of Sales/Marketing Group/Director Of Partner: Johan Jervoe (Intel)
Senior Communications Manager: Rory Ahearn (VICE Media)
Director Of Experiential Marketing: Ross Mcgraw (VICE Media)
Chief Strategist: Spencer Baim (VICE Media)

Effectiveness
We blanketed the world’s newsstands, televisions and online media for nearly two weeks, resulting in 1.4 billion+ earned media impressions. We introduced international audiences to the Ultrabook through an innovative global event and coverage in arts, entertainment, technology and pop culture press in more than 18 countries worldwide. Intel and the Ultrabook were credited with conceiving and controlling the performance in over a third of global media coverage. ELECTRIFIED garnered 349.4M social impressions on Twitter and Facebook, surpassing our 23.6M social impression projections. ELECTRIFIED added 22,684 UBX Facebook fans (+30%, 1,248 followers (+55%, and 2,823 (+1085 Ultrabook Experience YouTube subscribers. #ELECTRIFIED and event-related chatter generated 29,672 tweets during the event. 61,978 Facebook users engaged with ELECTRIFIED posts during the event. We surpassed all of our goals for ELECTRIFIED, including video views across global platforms (Goal: 3.7M, Actual: 10M).

Execution
We leaked a trailer online on September 24. We secured embargoed exclusives with top-tier outlets: The New York Times broke the story on October 2, and a curtain-raiser segment aired on Live! With Kelly and Michael on October 5.We hosted an international press conference on October 2: Blaine and an Intel executive demonstrated how the Ultrabook would control the performance.We issued a global press release on October 2.We issued a media alert to generate coverage of the October 5 launch.We seeded photos, updates, and celebrity attendance details to press to continue coverage from October 5-8.We activated global pop-up Ultrabook stations October 5-8 and generate additional media coverage in each market. We issued a media alert on October 8 to capture coverage of Blaine emerging from the performanceWe monitored press coverage and worked with outlets to credit Intel and the Ultrabook for controlling the performance.

Relevancy
Intel needed a global campaign to introduce young people around the world to the Intel-inspired Ultrabook. We brought Intel together with master illusionist David Blaine to create an epic, global performance event, which was controlled remotely by people around the world using the Ultrabook. We crafted Intel’s most aggressive earned media campaign to date, seeking to credit Intel and the Ultrabook in global media coverage of what was a highly recognizable event dominating media markets, including those beyond our initial targets, around the world for nearly two weeks.

Strategy
Our PR strategy was two-pronged: generating coverage of the event itself in arts, entertainment and pop-culture press globally, and ensuring Intel and the Ultrabook were properly credited for controlling the performance. We leaked a mysterious trailer online, held a sneak-peak press conference, secured exclusives for top-tier press, and activated pop-up Ultrabook stations in select cities worldwide to generate additional global media coverage. We incorporated Intel and the Ultrabook’s essential role at the forefront of all our messaging, press outreach, and interview opportunities. Throughout the three-day performance, we constantly monitored coverage and worked with media outlets to properly credit Intel and the Ultrabook.

Client Brief Or Objective
Our mission was to introduce the Ultrabook to a global youth audience through broadcast, print and online media coverage.We aimed to secure media coverage across arts, entertainment, and pop-culture press, especially those outlets that did not traditionally cover Intel or its products. We researched broadcast, print, online, and audio media outlets in each of our target geographic markets – US, UK, China, Japan, and Australia – to determine outlets covering arts, entertainment, technology, and pop-culture popular among 18-24 year olds, and aimed to secure coverage in those which had never, or rarely, covered Intel or Intel products.

Campaign Description
Intel partnered with renowned illusionist David Blaine to create a performance event in New York: ELECTRIFIED: One Million Volts, Always On. The mission: introduce the Intel-inspired Ultrabook to young people all over the world.For three days and three nights, Blaine stood inside a towering globe, surrounded by one million volts of electricity emitted by seven Tesla coils – all manipulated by the audience through the Ultrabook. Communications launched one of the year’s most high profile earned media campaigns, beginning with a cryptic online trailer teasing the event, drawing millions of viewers and luring over one hundred TV, print, digital and audio reporters from around the world to a press conference the following week, kicking off a two-week news-cycle. We secured exclusives with The New York Times and ABC’s Live! with Kelly & Michael. Both were immediately followed by coverage from scores of top-tier outlets. We generated tremendous media coverage in Tokyo, London, Sydney, and Beijing by setting up pop-up Ultrabook stations in each city, allowing audiences to control ELECTRIFIED remotely.Media documented the event with: previews anticipating the event; visuals of the Ultrabook igniting Blaine’s performance; “man-on-the-street” interviews; news anchors and celebrities using the Ultrabook themselves; and live count-down of the finale. ELECTRIFIED was one of the most recognized global events of the year and the most successful earned media campaign in Intel’s history, resulting in 1.4 billion+ impressions worldwide. Intel and the Ultrabook were credited with controlling the performance in over a third of total earned media.