Title	ODE TO THE FUTURE
Brand	MERCK KGAA
Product/Service	ALWAYS CURIOUS
Category	E12. Excellence in Music / Brand Partnership
Entrant	FISCHERAPPELT Hamburg, GERMANY
Idea Creation	FORK UNSTABLE MEDIA Hamburg, GERMANY
Production	FORK UNSTABLE MEDIA Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company	FISCHERAPPELT Hamburg, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Paul Taggart	Fork Unstable Media GmbH	Creative Director

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

A marriage of art, science, and technology, the work entertained and inspired B2B audiences across the globe, thanks to a unique listening experience and vibrant installation piece – composed and devised by acclaimed artist, Mira Calix. Its passionate original score, performed by a group of Britain’s most innovative classical musicians, evokes the curiosity and emotions of audiences in equal measure.

Background

Situation: 2018 marks the 350th anniversary of science and technology company, Merck. But instead of looking back on its long and successful history, the company focused on the future – celebrating the innovations and collaborations that will define the next 350 years of human progress. Brief: Create an online campaign, which celebrates the next 350 years of science and technology – placing Merck at the heart of an exciting and inspirational collaboration. Objectives: The key objective was to inspire B2B audiences across the globe to explore and share personal visions for the future of science and technology on an accompanying campaign microsite.

Describe the creative idea

Recording the heartbeats and physical movements of six unborn babies, we set the scene for a very special musical tribute to collaboration – one of the cornerstones of human curiosity. Together with artistic partner (Mira Calix) we experimented with the recorded data to compose a unique Ode to the Future - an inspirational piece encouraging B2B audiences to share their thoughts on the future of science and technology with peers across the globe.

Describe the strategy

To raise awareness for the Merck brand–and shift existing company perceptions from classic pharmaceuticals to vibrant science and technology–our strategy was simple: Inspire B2B audiences by documenting what’s possible, when curious minds from diverse fields come together. This presented audiences with an opportunity to share personal visions with peers across the globe – further boosting brand awareness among leading industry figures.

Describe the execution

In their 15th to 33rd week of pregnancy, we used ultrasound technology to scan and capture the individual movements of six unborn babies. A data-sonification specialist transformed the resulting information into audio frequencies – forming the basis for Calix’s musical interpretation and accompanying visual installation piece. Performed by classical musicians, the ode is influenced by the living space of our unborn collaborators – with a classic percussionist creating atmospheric sounds on water. The ode was used as the soundtrack for a campaign film, documenting the unique collaboration that gave life to our original score. A series of video advertisements/placements attracted audiences from social and business networks to the campaign microsite. There they could watch the film in full, find out more about artist Mira Calix, and submit personal visions to an interactive 3D ripple pool – inspired by fascinating contributions made by a global network of science and technology influencers.

Describe the outcome

The project got people curious with… 38 million total video views 260 user generated visions (including three from Nobel prizewinners) An average microsite visit-time of 3 minutes and 46 seconds 5.57% Click-through-rates for display video ads 111m impressions worldwide via paid media Most importantly, the project left a lasting impression on science and technology audiences – inspiring them to stay curious, and pursue collaborations in the search for future innovations.