Brand New School Captures the Boston Spirit with Interactive Marathon Campaign for Poland Spring

Brand New School recently collaborated with agency Ryan Partnership to create a philanthropic interactive installation for long-time Boston Marathon® sponsor, Poland Spring Brand 100% Natural Spring Water. Capturing the inspirational spirit of the marathon, the campaign included two video walls with motivating messages and an interactive fundraising effort for One Fund Boston™, the relief organization for people affected by last year’s Boston Marathon bombing. Measured by a “Cheer Meter,” the crowd’s cheers of support were visualized on the branded video walls, all in an effort to raise an additional $10,000 on top of the $250,000 that Poland Spring has already pledged concurrent to its social media campaign, #RaisingSpirits.

“The passion and strength exemplified by the Boston Marathon runners and spectators is truly astounding, and it was an incredibly rewarding experience to create something that could translate that enthusiasm into a truly collaborative fundraising effort,” said Devin Brook, Managing Partner at Brand New School. “Our digital team worked side-by-side with our designers to create not only an intriguing experience, but also stunning visual accompaniment. This form of collaboration is fundamental to the type of work Brand New School produces.”

The 20-foot tall Poland Spring-branded structures served as engagement platforms for spectators, as well as encouragement for the runners. The installation featured a reactive system that combined real-time data from two HD video cameras and a microphone, while projecting animated branding sequences and a running tally of funds raised through the “Cheer Meter” on two 16-by 9-foot seamless video walls.

The experience was built in Unity 3D with Brand New School Director of Digital Justin Bakse and Greg Schomburg leading the interactive design team, as well as technical development. Sean Dougherty oversaw the visual design as Creative Director.

Brand New School prides itself in bringing a unique, design-driven approach to all of its projects, from commercials to interactive campaigns. In addition to the Boston Marathon campaign for Poland Spring, the company has produced award-winning digital campaigns, installations, and commercials for some of the world’s largest brands, including GE, Oreo, Coca-Cola, Toyota, Target, and many more.

Downloads:

Credits:

Client: Poland Spring
Project: “Poland Spring Mile 19”

Agency: Ryan Partnership

Production: Brand New School
Exec. Creative Director: Jonathan Notaro
Managing Partner: Devin Brook
Digital Director: Justin Bakse
Lead Developer: Greg Schomburg
Developer: John Hinton
Creative Director: Sean Dougherty
Designers: Kris Wong, Sean Dougherty
Production Artist: Laurie Waxman
Head of Production: Julie Shevach

About Brand New School:

Brand New School is an integrated creative company that believes in the power of design to tell stories and shape experiences. For over a decade we’ve been at the creative vanguard, telling stories, solving problems and shaping experiences for the world’s most influential brands. Our process prizes collaboration, research, experimentation, laughter, failure, and discovery. We’ve been practicing these principles from our studios in New York and Los Angeles since 2000. While we’re proud of our illustrious history, we’re far more interested in writing the next chapter.