NEXT LEVEL LEARNING WITH MICROSOFT

TitleNEXT LEVEL LEARNING WITH MICROSOFT
BrandMICROSOFT GLOBAL
Product / ServiceTECHNOLOGY
CategoryC03. Illustration
EntrantBRAINS DESIGN Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Entrant Company BRAINS DESIGN Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Advertising Agency BRAINS DESIGN Sydney, AUSTRALIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Jason Cockrum Microsoft Corp Director Audience Marketing, WorldWide Education Industry
Jane Mackarell Microsoft Australia Windows Product Marketing Manager, Education
Paul Randazzo Microsoft Australia Audience Marketing Manager
Sean Tierney Microsoft Corp Director of Teaching & Learning Asia
Aidan McCarthy, Microsoft Corp Director Teaching & Learning WW
Travis Smith Microsoft Australia National Education Specialist
Dof Dickinson Brains Design Head of Creative Services
Troy Smith Brains Design Art Director
Jane Bennett Brains Design Account Director
Iain Dall Brains Design Designer
Nigel Allen Brains Design Animator/Editor
Sebastian Danta Brains Design Animator/Editor
Andrea Innocent Jacky Winter Illustrator

Brief Explanation

To build relationships and sales, Microsoft wanted to demonstrate to K-12 teachers and principals how their technologies engage students and transform learning. They knew they had a lot of solutions for learning, and that these could quickly become overwhelming or dull if simply presented in a brochure or website. What they wanted was a ‘story’ that tied them all together, highlighted their benefits and demonstrated the total Microsoft value proposition to the education market.

The Brief

Microsoft is a global technology company that develops, manufactures, licenses, supports and sells computer software, consumer electronics and personal devices and services. Since its early days Microsoft has always been committed to education, proving special licensing for schools, as well as a suite of targeted products and services that empower teachers and students to collaborate, create and learn in imaginative, engaging ways. Microsoft is the world's largest software maker measured by revenues. It is also one of the world's most valuable companies. The budget for this K-12 education project was AU$70,000.

How the final design was conceived

We collaborated with the Microsoft education team to tease out the value proposition behind their products, and we investigated research findings into how students learn. This launched our idea that ‘learning happens in moments’ and that we needed to capture these moments on an animated student learning journey. This led to us nutting down the tagline together – ‘learning for everyone, every moment, everywhere’. Back at the agency we brainstormed the journey, eventually settling on ‘save the bees’ because it was environmentally important and relevant as well as visually appealing. We developed the script, as well as animation style to suit the vibrancy of the Microsoft brand and our audience of students and teachers. A storyboard was refined with Microsoft’s input. Vector illustrations were developed for animation in AfterFX. We selected a bouncy sound track and recorded a ‘mid Atlantic’ female voice that was culturally acceptable if the animation was used in other countries. We also created options with and without captions to suit media use

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

The animation launched Microsoft’s Next Level Learning to 6000 educators at Edutech. According to Microsoft “The simple messaging and animation allowed the Microsoft in education value proposition to be understood by educators where brand perception has shifted from a traditional tech company to one that empowers educators to engage with students in meaningful way.” The animation was used to drive traffic to Australian Teachers Blog, creating a 50% increase in traffic over the 4-week period. It has received21,343 views on YouTube to date. The animation style was so appealing it became the theming for a state-wide roadshow reaching 500 attendees.