Developed ‘blue print’ illustrations to inspire an Intel Atom netbook photo shoot – final photos offered to consumer media in Asia Pacific during holiday season build-up

Issue:

• The build up to the holiday season at the end of the year is an important sales period for consumer electronics (such as netbooks) across Asia Pacific. With the arrival of the iPad, the consumer hardware market had become even more competitive and ‘noisy’.

Insight:

• The success of netbooks has been due to the fact they are small, light, portable, innovative and fun. Although the consumer hardware market had become more competitive, nothing has really changed with netbooks themselves, except from the fact that they have got better and better. So, in the run up to the holiday season, there was an opportunity to remind people why they fell in love with netbooks in the first place and shine the light back on their many benefits.

Challenge:

• In order to showcase the breadth of choice available to netbook consumers during the Christmas/holiday season buying period, Intel set out to commission photography that would show the Atom netbook range in an innovative, creative and shopper-friendly way in time for consumer buying guides across the Asia Pacific region.  The final photos would also be used to pitch to consumer and technology publications.

My role:

• Following a creative briefing session with Howorth, a business to business, consumer technology and enterprise technology public relations agency in Sydney, I was tasked with developing  a series of creative concepts that Intel could use across Asia Pacific as the foundation for their photo shoot and photography.
• A key requirement in the creative process was to highlight the small form factors, breadth of range and innovative netbook designs made possible by the Intel Atom processor.

Idea:

• My creative idea was to use the netbook form factors e.g. its angles, shape (when open and shut) and its size, to replace, create or enhance items or situations that can be found or occur in the build up to the holiday season. In doing so, and using a simple illustration style, this would remind or introduce people to the great form factors netbooks have (e.g. small, breadth of range, flexibility, fun or simplicity etc)
• The aim was that the final photos would mirror the simplicity and minimalism of the concept illustrations as well as build on them by placing them in aspirational and modern settings.

Campaign results:

• The photos were distributed to Intel’s PR agencies throughout the Asia Pacific region for use when liaising with consumer buying guides and relevant media publications.
• Photos were made available to agencies in Australia, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines and Singapore.

“Guy’s fresh thinking created some great ideas.  His illustrations formed the platform for some really innovative and consumer-friendly product photography that we used across the Asia Pacific region”.

Paul Thompson, Account Manager, Howorth

Media coverage example:

*Disclosure: I used to work at Howorth before launching my own visual communication practice.