Qualcomm: Lifeline [shortfilm]

Credits & Description:

Brand: Qualcomm
Media: Online
Category: Electronics, Technology
Agency: Ogilvy
Geo: United States
Qualcomm: Lifeline
The action-packed short takes place in Shanghai and subtly highlights the cutting-edge capabilities of Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 mobile processor as Kai (Leehom Wang) sets out to rescue his missing girlfriend (Olivia Munn) with the help of their mobile devices. At its core, Lifeline illustrates how a major technology company like Qualcomm is tapping a new entertainment model to demonstrate the power of their product in front of a diverse audience
Advertising Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, USA
Website URL: www.LifelineFilm.com
Chief Creative Officer: Teddy Lynn
President, Content & Social: Mark Himmelsbach
Group Creative Director: Aaron Mosher, David Yankelewitz
Creative Director: Bastian Baumann, Chris Rowson
Art Directors: Andrew Miller, Lauren Van Aswegen
Copywriter: Peter Nordstrom, Dan Winikur, Tim Stiefler
Designer: Robyn Makinson, Weston Doty, Joao Magalhaes, Austin Hoyt
Chief Production Officer: Matt Bonin
Producer, Special Projects: Nicole Severi
Director of Music: Karl Westman
Music Producer: Patrick Oliver
Director, User Experience: Dan Kawasaki
Director, Project Management: Sebastian Aresco
Associate Director, DevOps: Kevin Hamel
Senior Business Manager: Camille Crenshaw
Senior Talent Manager: Daniela Buchholz
Director, Rights Clearances: Gloria Hall
Executive Group Director: Adam Puchalsky
Account Director: Brian Lee
Account Supervisor: Alexandra Andrial
Account Executive: Faith Stonner
Managing Partner, Beijing: Sheng Lee
Associate Account Director: Vanessa Luo
Account Manager: Zora Liao
Senior Account Executive: Zoey Dong
Group Planning Directors: Michael Bruckstein, Mandana Mellano, Sarah Greenfield
Managing Director: Kim Kozma
Media Supervisors: Allison Karr, Amy Fraze
Media Planner: Samantha Sutantio
Assistant Media Planner: Weiwei Yu
Associate Search Director: Ryan Kelly
Managing Director: Clement Tsang
Digital Strategy Partner: Alice Wei
Media Planning Manager : Wynn Kong
Associate Director, Media Analytics: Melissa Gorris
Analytics Consultant: Divesh Brahmbhatt
Production Company: Anonymous Content
Director: Armando Bo
Producer: Vincent Landay
Executive Producer: Eric Stern
DP: Javier Julia
Synopsis:
The challenge was threefold:1. To get consumers to consider the processor in their phone (and not settle for mediocrity) by highlighting features that are only available in a Snapdragon powered device.2. Encourage Qualcomm’s OEM partners to incorporate more Snapdragon features in upcoming devices by showing that consumers are interested in them.3. Do this in both China and the U.S.
Outcome:
To date, the full film of “Lifeline” has been viewed more than 18MM times despite the fact that it is a 30-minute product demo with subtitles. Including ancillary content such as the accompany documentary and trailers, total views have exceeded 99MM.Major news coverage of the film has included mentions in 29 outlets in The U.S. including The New York Times and Fast Company and in China it was covered more than 180 times across major media including Zol, Youku and Sohu.
Campaign Description:
We created “Lifeline”, a 30-minute product demo disguised as a psychological thriller. Kai, a young Chinese man who is the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, wakes up in Shanghai one morning to discover that his true love, an American woman named Emma, has vanished without a trace. Confused and distraught Kai fears she has left him until he receives a mysterious package containing Emma’s phone.Over the subsequent 30 minutes Kai must use Emma’s phone (and many of its differentiated features) to figure out what has happened to Emma, who she really is and get to the bottom of both their relationship and her disappearance. Along the way he will be forced to question his beliefs, his family and his love for Emma.
Relevancy:
Lifeline is a 30-minute Qualcomm branded psychological thriller made by A-List talent from both China and The U.S. that was watched by millions. As a product demo in disguise, it is a perfect example of unskippable content.
Strategy:
The insight was that people now live their entire lives with their phones as their most necessary and valuable possession, and used that insight to demonstrate the differentiating features of a Qualcomm powered device in a compelling way.Competitors all tout specs and, speeds and features, but we demonstrated them in a natural way. Then, upon finishing the film, people were invited to watch an accompanying documentary called “Inside Lifeline” featuring talent from the film and product experts, who explained the role technology played in driving the story forward. In China, more than 65% of the films viewers went on to watch “Inside Lifeline.”
Execution:
Written by Academy Award winner Armando Bo (Birdman) and starring A – List talent from both the US (Olivia Munn) and China (Wang Leehom and Joan Chen), the film was shot on location in Shanghai and played out in both Mandarin and English. It was produced by the Academy Award winning producer of “Spotlight”, “The Revenant” and “True Detective”.The film was launched on iQiyi in China and on YouTube, Facebook and Hulu in the U.S.The film’s talent, and their massive social followings, were used to drive traffic to the film using a range of trailers, posts, and gifs in both languages.