| Title | TWEETING SONAR |
| Brand | LION |
| Product / Service | BEER |
| Category | B01. Use of Social Platforms |
| Entrant | DDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Entrant Company | DDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Advertising Agency | DDB GROUP NEW ZEALAND Auckland, NEW ZEALAND |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Damon Stapleton | DDB Group New Zealand | Chief Creative Officer |
| Shane Bradnick | DDB Group New Zealand | Executive Creative Director |
| Chris Schofield | DDB Group New Zealand | Creative Director |
| Haydn Kerr | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Creative Director |
| James Conner | DDB Group New Zealand | Senior Art Director |
| Christie Cooper | DDB Group New Zealand | Senior Copywriter |
| Scott Wallace | DDB Group New Zealand | Group Business Director |
| Jonathan Rea | DDB Group New Zealand | Senior Account Manager |
| Rupert Price | DDB Group New Zealand | Planning Director |
| Liz Knox | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Operations Manager |
| Sheetal Pradhan | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Producer |
| Jason Vertongen | DDB Group New Zealand | Lead Designer |
| Jim Pachal | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Designer |
| David Woon | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Designer |
| Cameron Crosby | DDB Group New Zealand | Lead Developer |
| Braden Wikohika | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Developer |
| Steve Hoeksema | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Developer |
| Michael McMillan | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Developer |
| Parker Mason | DDB Group New Zealand | Digital Planner |
| Rosie Grayson | DDB Group New Zealand | Agency Producer |
| Alex Lawson | Zenith Optimedia | Group Business Director |
| Kate Gamble | Zenith Optimedia | Senior Planner |
| Henry Rowley | Zenith Optimedia | Senior Planner |
| Sophia Quilian | Zenith Optimedia | General Manager |
| Nick Boulstridge | Zenith Optimedia | Head of Digital |
| Robert Kay | Zenith Optimedia | Digital Planner |
William Trubridge is a 15x world-record breaking New Zealand freediver. Despite this he was relatively unknown in his home country. So we decided turn his next world record attempt into a live national sporting event. Although freediving is not a spectator sport, we wanted the whole country to see the dive, so we decided to broadcast it across every possible medium. Not an easy task when it was taking place 102m underwater, 13,257km away. So we created a tweeting sonar, that combined sonar and twitter to send updates to digital billboards in busy inner-city areas in real time.
Using a combination of simple technology, we found a way to broadcast an inaccessible sport in real time by sending the very first tweets from 102m underwater and displaying them live on digital billboards. Helping us turn the dive into the most watched New Zealand sporting event of 2014, with more New Zealand viewers than the most watched All Blacks game of the year and the Fifa World Cup final.
Digital billboards seemed like the best way to broadcast the dive outdoors. But New Zealand laws make it impossible to display video footage on these billboards, only allowing still images that change out every 8 seconds. Our tweeting sonar was the perfect solution. Made from a converted fishfinder, it floated above William as he dived and used sonar to work out his depth, then automatically sent that depth along with a description of what was happening, through twitter to the digital billboards in real time.
New Zealand is a tiny isolated country so we idolise our countrymen who take on the world, and rise to the top of their discipline. We knew that with the right platforms to broadcast the dive, we could stop the country. We had already teamed up with NZs most popular morning news show to broadcast the dive on TV and online but because it was happening at 8am we also needed to engage those who were on their way to work. So we booked digital billboards in inner-city areas and on main commuter streets for the 4minute dive.