MICROSOFT ONENOTE | Collective Project | 2015
Not an Ad, but Story-Doing / Microsoft OneNote "Collective Project"
Showing college students an ad just doesn't land. So Microsoft stopped making ads and instead "did" the story of a student trying to change the world.
The problem
College students are deeply skeptical of advertising. With free tools already everywhere, Microsoft needed to move people's hearts before it could even ask them to download anything.
The insight
Not storytelling, but story-doing. Actions speak louder than words. Finding a young person who's actually trying to change the world and shining a light on them works better than throwing money at the problem.
The idea
Albert Manero was a student 3D-printing prosthetic limbs and giving them to children for free. Microsoft gave him OneNote and let him share his work through it. Then came the biggest surprise of all: they arranged, at no cost, for him to meet Robert Downey Jr., which helped launch his project, Limbitless Solutions, onto the world stage.
What happened
The video earned over 2 billion impressions, and Limbitless Solutions received more than 660 requests for prosthetic limbs from around the world. The campaign won Gold and Bronze at Cannes, plus two Bronzes at the One Show.
Afterthought
Without ever talking about the product, the value of the product still came through. All Microsoft did was spread the word about Albert's work. Story-doing: showing rather than telling. There's no more convincing way to do it.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2015
