They scattered pages of a book all over the world, and a search engine came back to life / BING "DECODE JAY-Z"

The problem

At the time, Bing was completely overshadowed by Google in the search engine market, to the point where younger people didn't even consider it an option. Meanwhile, Jay-Z was about to publish his first memoir, "Decoded," but the publisher didn't have the budget for a big promotional push. Droga5 saw a chance to solve both problems with one idea. Microsoft needed to build awareness for Bing and show off its map features, while Jay-Z needed to launch his book—so an unprecedented partnership came together that benefited everyone involved.

The insight

Instead of showing people an ad, get them to actually use the product—the real problem Bing faced was habit. People type "Google" without even thinking about it. So rather than talking about how good Bing was, they needed to create an experience that people couldn't take part in without actually using Bing Maps and Bing Search. And that experience itself had to be something fans desperately wanted to do. The structure of "decoding" Jay-Z's story at the actual places he'd walked perfectly linked fans' passion with Bing's features.

The idea

They took all 320 pages of Jay-Z's memoir "Decoded" and placed each page at a real-world location connected to its content. But it wasn't just billboards and signs—they turned places that had never been "media" before into media: a bronze plaque at the Marcy housing projects in Brooklyn where he grew up, the bottom of the pool at the Delano Hotel in Miami, a plate at a New York restaurant, a pool table, a 1980s Cadillac, the lining of a Gucci jacket, and more. Five to ten pages were revealed each day, and fans used hints Jay-Z himself dropped (on Twitter and the campaign site) to track down the locations using Bing Maps and Bing Search. Whoever found a page got a signed copy from Jay-Z himself, and anyone who solved all 200 puzzles got the right to attend Jay-Z's concerts for life—an almost absurdly generous incentive.

What happened

The campaign ran for about a month, from 10/18 to 11/20, 2010. Visits to Bing increased by 11.7%, and for the first time it ranked among the top 10 most-visited sites. Jay-Z's Facebook followers grew by 1 million, and his memoir "Decoded" stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 19 weeks. At Cannes Lions 2011, it won the Grand Prix in both the Outdoor and Integrated categories, plus a Titanium Lion. Jury president Bob Scarpelli praised it as "bold, innovative, interactive, immersive," saying it was "creating media, not buying it." It was also turned into case studies at Harvard Business School and the Effie Awards, becoming something of a textbook example in the advertising industry.

Afterthought

This one is seriously impressive. What makes it so impressive is that it doesn't feel like an ad at all, yet works as powerfully as any ad could. Bing didn't shout its own name—it wove itself into an experience where fans got completely absorbed in Jay-Z. As a result, people didn't feel like they were "made to use Bing"—they remembered it as "finding treasure with Bing." I think that's exactly the moment when a brand becomes part of culture. And Droga5's sheer persistence is amazing too. Carefully choosing a location for every single one of 300 pages, turning each into its own piece of media, and coordinating between two clients (Microsoft and Random House) and Jay-Z to make it all happen—normally that would be impossible. But because they pulled it off, it's still a campaign people talk about more than ten years later. I want to do something nobody's ever seen before too!

Awards

• Cannes Lions Grand Prix 2011

Tags