THE SOUNDLOUNGE POSTER

Short List
TitleTHE SOUNDLOUNGE POSTER
BrandCRAFTWORK - A BRAND OF AD AGENCYSERVICES
Product/ServiceSOUNDLOUNGE
Category B06. Use of Music Technology and/or Innovation
Entrant BBDO GROUP GERMANY Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Idea Creation BBDO GROUP GERMANY Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Media Placement BBDO GROUP GERMANY Düsseldorf, GERMANY
PR BBDO GROUP GERMANY Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Production CRAFTWORK Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Additional Company IOX LAB Düsseldorf, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Wolfgang Schneider BBDO Group Germany GmbH Chief Creative Officer
Darren Richardson, Ton Hollander BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH Chief Creative Officer
Kristoffer Heilemann BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH Creative Managing Director
Fabiano Oliveira Proximity Worldwide Creative Director
Miguel Chordá, Stefan Vogtländer Proximity Worldwide Designer
Albert Pozo, Marco Diaz Proximity Worldwide Junior Designer
Michel Dold BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH Copywriter
Steffen Gentis BBDO Group Germany GmbH Chief Production Officer / Copywriter
Sabine Bönigk, Valérie Gentis BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH Agency Producer
Bernhard Burg BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH Director Print Production
Michael Koch CraftWork - a brand of ad agencyservices GmbH Producer
- CraftWork - a brand of ad agencyservices GmbH Post Production Company
- nhb studios Düsseldorf GmbH Post Production Company
Thilo Zweihoff nhb studios Düsseldorf GmbH Producer
- TRO GmbH Audio Production House
Juhn Kim CraftWork - a brand of ad agencyservices GmbH Editor
Robert Jänisch IOX Lab Managing Director
Jan Gansow IOX Lab Project Manager
Thorin Hopkins, Simon Richter IOX Lab HW Developer
Mike Bayfield Proximity Worldwide Copywriter
Markus Steffen, Bastian Kohler TRO GmbH Producer
Ric Scheuss TRO GmbH Music Supervision
Bryan Kessler - Composer / Sound Design
Niklas Lemburg, Alexander Link CraftWork - a brand of ad agencyservices GmbH Director of Photography

The Campaign

The language of our target audience is sound. Their work is all about harnessing the power of sound, shaping and crafting it to create a maximum impact. This is what Soundlounge was all about too, but we had to communicate this using a very traditional medium: a printed poster. So we spoke to our audience by first asking them to do what they do best – making some noise. We created the first printed poster that reacts to sound, making the noise they made visible. Every interaction was unique, bring the message alive in different ways according to the sound made. This created an innovative, interactive and entertaining experience that people would also talk about to others. It amplified the reach of the idea by transforming a traditional medium into a digital one.

Creative Execution

On the surface, the poster appears like any other: a simple sheet of paper. But hidden underneath are audio receptors linked to micro-rear projectors. An algorithm analyses the sound frequency and volume to create the perfect reaction to ambient noise, transforming it into graphical impulses that bring the message alive. The posters were placed in the reception areas of leading sound studios and production houses, directly targeting our key audience. They automatically caught people’s attention as they started to come alive with the slightest bit of ambient noise. This invited our audience to interact with the posters even more – shouting, singing, clapping, making music... To amplify the reach we also made a film to showcase the poster and how it works. This was sent to the trade press, who featured it on their online sites. The traditional to digital crossover was complete. The medium really did become the message.

On receiving our video all the leading trade press named our campaign, Campaign of the Day, a week before the event – ensuring that everybody in the sound and advertising industry heard about our event. Registration for it doubled overnight. The reach was further amplified by several groups in our target audience making their own videos, which were shared on social media. This spread the reach even further in the press both in Germany and beyond into Austria and Switzerland. The result: a fantastically successful event attracting everybody who is anybody in the sound and advertising industries, reconfirming Düsseldorf as the place for sound professionals and ad agencies to be. Such was the success of the poster we also had dozens of calls from within the media industry, asking if they could use the technology themselves.

We took existing sound recording and lighting technology and combined it an innovative way to create a unique new medium. This medium didn’t make music but reacted to it (and any other sound) giving life to sound, in response to the rhythm, volume and frequency of ambient noise.

As we only had a very short time to reach people – one week – we needed the poster to work much harder than just simply communicating the message of the event. It needed to create a buzz amongst our target audience, be picked up by the trade press and shared on social media. For this, our strategy was to create something unseen and unheard of to make the maximum impact within the advertising and sound industry. In achieving this goal we would amplify the reach and increase interest and intrigue in the event itself.