THE PROJECT
In the course Messaging Strategy and Persuasive Communications students were asked to collaborate with our peers to develop and present a creative brief and three campaign ideas for a broken brand. Considering the major disruption caused to the camera industry by smartphones, we decided to center our project around the iconic Polaroid brand which has struggled to financially perform and rebrand following their 2008 bankruptcy.
THE PROCESS: POLAROID X PRIDE
Our research provided us with the insight that Gen Z consumers value and reward purpose-driven brands. Inspired by the Polaroid's rainbow logo, we pitched Polaroid x Pride, a campaign celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and encouraging Pride parade attendees to capture life's moments in a tangible way. Composed of three creative parts, the campaign sought to inspire by highlighting meaningful moments in LGBTQ+ history with "The Pride Story" video, invest in the LGBTQ+ community through the Pride Collection in which half of all proceeds would be donated to The Trevor Project , and engage users with Polaroid cameras and photo souvenirs at Polaroid's Pride Booth. With these three parts which I took creative lead on design and messaging, the campaign seamlessly integrated Polaroid products and the Polaroid brand.
THE PROCESS: THEN AND NOW
The story of the Impossible Project — where a community of instant camera lovers saved Polaroid by buying Polaroid's final factory after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2008 — inspired our second campaign, Then and Now. This campaign reminds audiences of the importance of their origins and inspires them to hold onto those moments. Collaborating with a teammate on this campaign's creative, we developed a video storyboard that narrates the story of how Polaroid went from bankruptcy to the product that users love today. Additionally, we curated a social media campaign titled "Friendships: Then and Now." This collaboration with influencers like Denzel Dion and Rickey Thompson calls on Polaroid users to share the stories about how their friendships began along with a Polaroid of them and their closest friend(s). The final aspect of this campaign — the Polaroid Wall — acts as a celebration of community, togetherness, and what the birthplace of Polaroid (Boston, MA) means to them bringing the campaign full circle.
THE PROCESS: POLAROID LIVE
Our final campaign Polaroid Live aims to associate the Polaroid brand with exciting and social moments through a number of musical integrations. Polaroid Backstage, the first aspect of this campaign, calls on viewers to share what music means to them for a chance to meet Billie Eilish backstage at one of her shows and capture those moments with a Polaroid camera. Similarly, the Spotify music video encouragers Polaroid and Billie Eilish's followers to tag @polaroid in exciting moments capture on Polaroid on their Instagram for a chance to be featured in a Spotify music video for Billie's newest hit song. Both Polaroid Backstage and the Spotify music video encourage high-engagement and center Polaroid as a brand prided on spontaneity and community. Finally, I lead the creative of the Polaroid Live Music Festival Experience. Our goal was to design an eye-catching festival stage sponsored by Polaroid at which Polaroid staff walk around and capture photos of festival goers. This campaign demonstrates that Polaroid is a brand not only to be experienced, but also shared.
THE PRODUCT
The product was a 15 minute final presentation that framed Polaroid cameras as a more tangible, meaningful, and exciting way to tell stories than smartphones. This was accomplished through three dynamic campaigns that each included audiovisual, interactive, and nostalgic aspects with our final recommendation being for the company to launch the Polaroid x Pride campaign to encourage our target audience of Gen Z change makers to invest in the brand.
