YOUR VOICE, THEIR POWER.

TitleYOUR VOICE, THEIR POWER.
BrandVISA
Product / ServiceVISA
CategoryC02. Use of Audio Technology / Voice Activation
EntrantBBDO JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation BBDO JAPAN Tokyo, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Masaki Honda BBDOJAPAN ECD
Haruko Kuzuya BBDOJAPAN CD
Masahide Yoshimi BBDOJAPAN CD

Write a short summary of what happens in the radio or audio execution or campaign.

Visa, the worldwide sponsor of Tokyo2020, created a special voice app “Your Voice, Their Power”, to encourage the athletes of Tokyo2020 games held without audiences under the statement of emergency by Covid. It was the first case of developing the movie generator from speech text in Japan. The project had been to connect fans and athletes by delivering the “Voices” of support, by transforming your voice into “YOSEGAKI-ART”(a Japanese cheering art)using OK Google audio platform by implementing the generator on its conversation flow. When you had talked the cheering messages to the app on your smartphone of Google audio device, the voice just spoken would display on your screen in the style of “YOSEGAKI-ART”. Then it had been reflected during the games in a landmark digital screen in the terminal station in Tokyo, also in Visa’s website, social posts, and the message T-shirts given to athletes.

Script & Translation. Provide a full English script and translation of any audio.

※It’s the basic flow of conversation between a User and the Google AoG app. The following is an example, and depending on the User's comments, the Google side's response may change, resulting in interactions other than this flow. We developed the app with as many possible conversations flows in mind as possible. ※In addition to the Google AoG digital voice, incorporated the athletes' voices and videos recorded in advance into the user interaction. Google : (The VTR of Sara Takanashi, the Olympic athlete) “I'm Sara Takanashi, a ski jumper, and I'd like to ask you to give a voice of cheer to the athletes who are working hard toward their dreams this summer. Your cheering will give them strength.” (The VTR of Sara Takanashi and some other Tokyo2020 athletes ) “Now, let your voice into their power!” Google: Here's how to participate. After the "beep" sound, you can say a message of support and a preview of the digital YOSEGAKI-ART will be generated on the spot.Your message will be reflected in the YOSEGAKI-ART movie that is currently available on the VISA website. The movie will be updated every week, so please search for “Your Voice, Their Power”. The messages will also be presented to the athletes later as T-shirts. Which athlete would you like to send a message to? User: To Ritsu Doan. Google:(The VTR of Ritsu Doan) “I am Ritsu Doan from Team VISA. Your support is our strength!” Google: Please give the message. User: Go win a gold medal! Google: I am sending this message. Are you sure? User: Yes. Google: ♪〜 (With music, the message you just spoke is generated as a digital YOSEGAKI-ART movie) (The voice of Ritsu Doan) “Thank you for your support. I'll definitely score a goal!" Google: Message accepted. "Your voice, Their Power" will be available as many times as you like until September 30. We look forward to your messages of support for our athletes again.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

Japan, the host country of Tokyo2020 had got divided on whether to hold the games, even after the decision was made to hold it without an audience under a state of emergency by Covid. While the voices against to the Olympics spilled over into criticism of the athletes, supporters were not allowed into the stadiums and their voices of cheers were not heard by the athletes, despite it would be held in their home country. Visa, the worldwide sponsor of Tokyo2020, thought what if could do to make supporter’s "Voices" visible and turn it into power for the athletes, had developed a special voice app to connect fans and athletes, and delivered “YOSEGAKI-ART” via reflecting in a landmark OOH during the games. Consequently, anyone could participate to cheer and create a moment together no matter where you were, just as shown in the tagline “Visa, everywhere you want to be.” 

Please outline the innovative elements of the work

It’s the first case of the movie generator on OK Google app in Japan. Recent years, smart speakers with screens have appeared and “Interactive canvas” made it possible including movie interactions in the audio conversation flow. However, there was only one prior AoG using this, and that was just loading prepared videos. We have implemented a program that not only incorporated videos but also generated programmed animation from your speech text and displayed it on the fly. The generator programs of YOSEGAKI-ART have been stored on a different server from the app itself. Once you have nominated an athlete to cheer for, the program loaded via WebGL, and the message just spoken was generated and displayed on your device. It has been also available for smartphone, so you could cheer at home from your Google Nest hub with your family, or on the spot during the game from your mobile.