VECTOR LIGHTS

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TitleVECTOR LIGHTS
BrandAUCKLAND COUNCIL IN COLLABORATION WITH NZTA AND VECTOR
Product / ServiceAUCKLAND COUNCIL IN COLLABORATION WITH NZTA AND VECTOR
CategoryB03. Use of Print / Outdoor
EntrantCOLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation COLENSO BBDO Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production MANDY LIGHTS Sydney, AUSTRALIA
Production 2 ASSEMBLY Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 3 CONTENT BOUTIQUE Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production 4 FRANKLIN RD Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Nick Worthington Colenso BBDO Creative Chairman
Maria Devereux Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Kim Ragan Colenso BBDO Creative Director
Billy Worthington Colenso BBDO Copywriter
George Howes Colenso BBDO Art Director
Olly Boden Colenso BBDO Group Business Director
Anna Cernis Colenso BBDO Project Director
Hamish Steptoe Colenso BBDO Designer
Paul Courtney Colenso BBDO Chief Operating Officer
Hamish Mortland Colenso BBDO Producer
Amy Pollok Colenso BBDO Planner
Paul Gunn Colenso BBDO Head of PR & Activation
Adam Prentice Auckland Council, Strategic Partnerships Strategic Projects Director
Sara Cairney Auckland Council, Communications & Engagement Senior Specialist - Publicity & Marketing
Richard Llewellyn Vector Head of Corporate Comms
Iain Butler Vector Senior Communications Specialist
Beth Johnson Vector Customer Communications Manager
Richard Neville Mandy Lights Director/Designer
Clint Dulieu Mandy Lights Technical Designer
Jonny Kofoed Assembly Director
Clare Bone Assembly Producer
Clare Bone Assembly Producer
Ben Buchanan Assembly Animator
Dan Mace Assembly Consulting Director
Leonel Zarpelon Assembly Animator
Matt Wilson Assembly Lead Developer
Elliot Stronge Assembly Developer
Celine Giovanni Assembly Developer
Jonathan Mihaljevich Franklin Rd Producer - Music
Mahuia Bridgeman Cooper Franklin Rd Composer/Sound Design

The Campaign

The Auckland harbour bridge was a tired and forgotten utilitarian structure that sits in the heart of Auckland and is visible for more 30km around the city. We decided to transform it into a highly visible, global landmark that stood for sustainability. Using 96,000 individually controllable LEDs, powered by the same cutting-edge battery technology Vector offers for homes, we celebrated the potential of renewable power through carefully considered lighting design. It was important this didn’t feel like a one-off event, but instead a turning point for Auckland’s energy future and an on-going project. Our target audience was very broad – Aucklanders primarily, but also a broader New Zealand audience – as our country’s environmental future affects us all.

Creative Execution

To unveil Auckland’s new landmark – the bridge of lights - to the country, we created a choreographed celebration of solar. A 6-minute audio-visual experience took viewers on a journey though Auckland’s rich heritage and Maori legends centred around the sun. The story is retold through an intricately designed lighting display, where we created a typographic sheet of every possible shape the bridge could make, to build a beautiful yet restrained lighting design. The lights were accompanied by a music track that was broadcast live through speakers and through a radio simulcast on New Zealand’s most prominent radio stations. The music was composed using audio samples taken from the bridge itself. The story and audio weaves in NZ’s cultural diversity, referencing Maori, Chinese, Indian & Polynesian culture. Our Prime Minister and Auckland’s Mayor attended launch night, where they congratulated Vector for supporting New Zealand’s leadership role on sustainability.

Our 6-minute launch show reached 5.4 million people in a country of only 4.5 million – garnering international media attention, as well as drawing Auckland’s Mayor and the Prime Minister to the event. Tens of thousands lined the shores, jumped in boats and tuned in live to see the unveiling of the new solar powered landmark. Vectors website went from 60 daily visits to 24,000 on the night of the launch. An increase of 40,000%.

The Vector Lights project aimed to communicate the country’s 100% renewable energy goals, and launch a smart energy partnership between Auckland Council and Vector. As the country’s largest energy provider, we have an extremely important role to play in reaching that goal. To communicate this to the country and show Vectors commitment, we turned a tired and forgotten structure into what is essentially a kilometre-long, permanent billboard site – a communication tool to represent sustainability.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Our target audience was very broad – Aucklanders primarily, but also a broader New Zealand audience – as our country’s environmental future affects us all. We chose a launch date of Saturday 27 January on Auckland Anniversary weekend; knowing our event would be a highlight during a time when Aucklanders were looking to celebrate. We chose to engage children and parents with an educational competition mechanism because communicating our sustainability message to future generations was imperative. At the same time, to the rest of the public, we promoted the event as a spectacular celebration of energy through a sound and light show.

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