Verizon - The Met Unframed

Maybe the coolest project I’ve ever worked on.

Situation

Due to COVID-19, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City had to close its doors to the public for the first time in over 100 years. At the same time, Verizon was rolling out our 5G network, a transformative technology. But unless you’ve tried 5G yourself, it’s tough to get a sense of how groundbreaking it really is.

The Brief

The Met’s mission is to connect people to creativity, knowledge, and ideas. Verizon’s goal is to make our 5G network relevant for everyone who was stuck indoors. Together, we had an opportunity to use the power of 5G to make The Met’s art accessible for anyone, anywhere.

Objectives

  1. Get as many people as possible to connect to The Met’s artwork virtually.

  2. Differentiate Verizon 5G by showing how it transforms the way people interact with art.

The Idea

The Met Unframed redefined how people experience art. We made a 6.1-inch screen more engaging than a 20-foot canvas.

More than just a pairing of content (The Met) with distribution (Verizon), this was a merger and collaboration that blended the medium and the message.

We built a new way for people to “walk” the halls of The Met in a 360-degree immersive mobile experience. We rendered over 30,000 sq. ft. of museum space into 13 never-before-seen galleries with 46 interactive works of art to give visitors the same incredible feeling of being in the museum. We gave new meaning and context to some of the world’s most famous art pieces using 5G technology.

Each art piece contained an educational game that unlocked art for visitors to take home on loan in AR. Of course, we made it easy to share on social. Because who wouldn’t want to show off a Met masterpiece like Van Gogh’s Wheatfields in their kitchen?

Results

The experience garnered over 1 billion impressions (over 93% earned media). And we averaged over 20,000 visits per day from over 153 countries during our five-week campaign—more than The Met would average pre-pandemic.

  • 76% of respondents (customers and prospects) who visited The Met Unframed said “Verizon innovates in ways that make my life better,” 2.3x more than the general public.

  • 60% reported that the experience improved their perception that Verizon enables them to do new things (a key internal metric).

  • Visitors were 2.4x more likely to see Verizon as a 5G leader.

The Met Unframed showed how 5G wasn’t just an incremental improvement. It transforms the way people interact with the world’s most famous art.

Awards

  • Cannes Lions (1x Silver, 1x Bronze, 5x shortlist)

  • Effie Bronze

  • ANDY Gold (Craft)

  • One Show (1x Gold, 1x Silver, 2x Bronze, 7x Merit, 1x shortlist)

  • ADC Awards (1x Gold, 1x Silver, 2x Bronze, 4x Merit, 5x shortlists)

  • Clio Bronze (Digital/Mobile Design)

  • Webby Awards

    • People’s Voice Winner - Websites and Mobile Sites

    • Nominee - Branded Content

  • Shorty Awards (5x shortlist)

  • New York Festivals (Gold 2x, Silver 2x, Bronze 4x, Finalist 9x, Shortlist 3x)

  • D&AD Awards - Shortlist (Immersive Experiences)

  • The Drum Awards (Winner 4x)

  • Campaign Experience Awards

    • Gold - Virtual Experience (Business to Consumer)

    • Bronze - Outstanding Creative Idea

    • Shortlist - Digital Experience

  • Campaign Tech Awards

    • Best Response to Change Using Tech

    • Best Use of Experiential Tech

  • FWA of the Day - February 18, 2021