STORYTELLING
The account was Verizon. I was the creative director for the digital manifestation of their Powerful Answers Campaign. Much of that work was about promoting their little known sustainability and STEM education efforts. The toughest challenge during that tenure was how to craft a story around their very unsexy Networkfleet technology. Basically, we needed to create something compelling about how this obscure piece of tech they developed helps trucks emit less carbon.
Sifting through case studies, I found one that sparked. In one Californian town the Verizon technology actually reduced carbon emissions of their municipal trucks significantly, in a town with a culture that I knew a lot of people could relate to.
To this day, it remains one of the best pieces of advertising work I feel I’ve created. The story is cool because it’s a little bit about surfing. And a lotta bit about a father and daughter’s love of the environment. And, it has Ethan Hawke as the narrator (yeah, I got to voice direct him!) But what makes it striking is it shows just how human, how authentic, and how emotional even a dry technology case study can become.
Verizon Powerful Answers I Network Fleet Technology
The budget was tight on this. How did we reign in costs? I was both the writer and the creative director, and one of our agency producers directed it, and because of that, I got to co-direct, as well. You may wonder how did we get Ethan Hawke to narrate on such a tight budget—he was already under contract with Verizon, so we got to use him at no cost.
To complement the video we created a fully immersive web experience to highlight the technology on the Powerful Answers website.
And some banners to round out the story.
The Verizon Foundation I STEM EDUCATION for Girls
As part of Verizon’s commitment to provide free STEM education to girls, The Verizon Foundation holds an annual app challenge. The students learn coding to create their own app that addresses a challenge in their community. The winners are invited to Washington, DC to meet the President, as well as Bill Nye and Neil DeGrasse Tyson. We got to go and film their experience and learn more about their app, which they designed to help teens cope with anxiety and depression, especially around gun violence.
What story is complete without a full complement of …more banners!