2021 Brand Experience & Activation

FUTURE NEWS

TitleFUTURE NEWS
BrandUNIVERSITY OF ANTWERP
Product/ServiceUNIVERSITY
Category F01. Integrated Campaign led by Brand Experience & Activation
Entrant WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Idea Creation WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Media Placement WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Media Placement 2 WAVEMAKER Waasmunster, BELGIUM
Production WUNDERMAN THOMPSON Antwerp, BELGIUM
Production 2 BV PLAYAR Tessenderlo, BELGIUM
Production 3 RABBITHOLE Antwerp, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Pieter Staes Wunderman Thompson Creative Director
Manuel Ostyn Wunderman Thompson Creative Director
Tomas Van Loon Creation Creative
Patrick Vermeylen Wunderman Thompson Creative
Matthias Berghmans Wunderman Thompson 3D designer
Bas Vaerewyck Wunderman Thompson 3D designer
Kenny Smet Wunderman Thompson Designer
Ynje Degaeve Wunderman Thompson Designer
Andreas De Ridder Wunderman Thompson Motion Design & Editing
Theo Hagtingius Wunderman Thompson DTP
Jan-Bart Debruyne Wunderman Thompson DTP
Lynn Pinsart Wunderman Thompson copywriter
Tine Sinnaeve Wunderman Thompson copywriter
Joeri Quinet Wunderman Thompson copywriter
Evert Van den Broeck Wunderman Thompson Strategy Planner
Dimitri De Lauw Wunderman Thompson Strategic Director
Caroline Bogaerts Wunderman Thompson Performance Marketer
Basel Alakkad Wunderman Thompson Performance marketer
Stephanie Katic Wunderman Thompson Account Director
Valérie Rosiers Wunderman Thompson Account Manager
Ingeborg Van Hoof Wunderman Thompson Agency Producer
Thijs Ter Haar Wunderman Thompson UX/ UI Designer
Jesse Debruyckere Wunderman Thompson Developer
Arnout Deville Wunderman Thompson Chief Thechnology Officer
Bruno Dejonghe Playar Studio founder & executive producer
Bram Van Rompaey RabbitHole Animation RabbitHole Animation

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

‘Future News’ was a creative recruitment and brand campaign rolled into one. The campaign invited students to come and study at UAntwerp while making them realize what studying at UAntwerp is all about. Fake news is everywhere, so we spread ours through many different channels. We aired it like real news, published it on different websites and on all possible social media channels. Students could even bring our headlines to life in AR. By scanning our billboards, they saw the world of tomorrow unfold in front of their own eyes.

Background

UAntwerp is a creative and innovative university. This vision translates in their huge amount of scientific research and in the way they teach their classes. Because they want students to use knowledge as a tool to ‘help shape the future’, which is the university’s baseline. We wanted to bring this baseline to life and show the next generation of students how they actually can have a huge impact on the world of tomorrow.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

UAntwerp published some fake news. Or at least, that’s what it looked like. We wrote triggering headlines that seemed very impossible and spread them just like fake news. But in fact, our news wasn’t fake news, but future news. Every headline was linked to a course at UAntwerp and inspired students to turn it into reality by studying at an innovative university. Later, students could even bring our headlines to life in AR. By scanning interactive billboards, they could unfold the world of tomorrow in front of their own eyes. Once again, inviting them to come and turn this augmented reality into actual reality at UAntwerp.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The next generation of students is very difficult to reach. They get an overload of online information and traditional advertising won’t do the trick. So, we had to grab their attention, but at the same time we wanted to show them UAntwerp isn’t a traditional university, but a place that inspires students to think creatively. So, let’s grab their attention with something that triggers everybody: fake news. Let’s use the same tricks, the same style of headlines and spread it the same way like ‘real’ fake news, before unveiling it’s actually future news that young people can turn into reality.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Fake news is everywhere. So, we spread our headlines just like fake news. We aired it like real news and published it online and on social. Every headline was linked to a university course. For instance; the headline ‘New beer makes teeth brighter’ invited people to study product development at UA, while the headline ‘Belgium recognizes android marriage’ invited them to come and get their law degree. Every headline inspired students to turn this fake news into future news. Then, to invite students to our e-info day, we put our headlines on billboards on the best spots around campus. People could scan the billboards and bring the headlines to life in AR, showing what the world of tomorrow could look like. Then, we invited students to our e-info day. Once again, inspiring them to come and turn this augmented reality into actual reality at UAntwerp.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign got more than 8,5 million media impressions, reaching over 3.5 million people, of which 15% was organic. The campaign got PR coverage in Belgium’s most important newspapers and perception of the university as being innovative grew with 8%. During the campaign, online searches for UAntwerp increased with 111%. All resulting in 19% more leads to the e-info day and 12,5% more university entries compared to the previous year.