Dropbox—one of the first and most familiar names in cloud storage—is hoping to shed its image as a utility in favor of being seen as an incubator of creativity.
In the tech company's first work from agency 72andSunny and production firm Nexus, we see Dropbox illustrated as a collage of more than 100 real collaborations. Included in the examples are work from scientists at the Imperial College of London, designer Barber & Osgerby, food photographer Yuki Sugiura, data visualist Marcin Ignac and the jelly sculptors at studio Bompas & Parr.
The film was directed by Johnny Kelly, who chose people he'd worked with in the past and others he's admired.
"We wanted to show off Dropbox's most unique feature, which is the freedom to work any way you want, with files, people, locations, etc.," said John Boiler, CEO and founder of 72andSunny. "It's the opposite of a walled-in ecosystem of rules and restrictions. Conceptually we were inspired by the idea of a creative snowball, in that, the more freedom you give people, the more interesting and inspiring the outcomes can and will become."
Dropbox marketing vp Julie Herendeen said it's a way to celebrate the 400 million people who use the company's services and to highlight the ways it's expanded and evolved since being founded in 2008.
"Many people think of Dropbox as a safe home for their most important information, but that's really just the starting point," Herendeen said. "While we began in 2008 as a simple way to access your files on any device, today people and businesses use Dropbox to sync, share, create, and collaborate from anywhere. Dropbox gives them the freedom to work however they want."
The campaign, which launches today and will be rolled out through the month, also will feature other films, out-of-home advertising, radio and social strategies, along with some "brand citizenship efforts" still in the works.
Boiler said it's "just chapter one in a much bigger story."
"This was a really pivotal moment to partner with Dropbox to help tell their story," he said. "As they continue to grow and evolve, we see using this platform of 'creative freedom' to full effect with the goal of activating it and really special and meaningful ways."
CREDITS
Client representatives: Kristen Spilman, Patrick Rowell, Sheila Vashee, Julie Herendeen and Preston Hershorn
Agency: 72andSunny
Chief Creative Officer: Glenn Cole
Group Creative Director: Matt Murphy
Creative Director/Designer: Robert Teague
Creative Director/Writer: Claire Morrisey
Senior Writer: Dave Carlson
Designer: Nick Marx
Senior Film Producer: Angelo Mazzamuto
Senior Film Producer: Perrin Rausch
Film Producer: Emilie Talermo
Group Brand Director: Rhea Curry
Senior Brand Manager: Shannon Reed
Brand Coordinator: Zachary Hill
Business Affairs Director: Kallie Halbach
Senior Business Affairs Manager: Lara Drew
Business Affairs Coordinator: Calli Howard
Business Affairs Coordinator: Michelle Fink
Co-Head of Strategy/Group Strategy Director: Bryan Smith
Strategy Director: Brooke-Lynn Luat
Junior Strategist: Gigi Braybrooks
Film Credits:
Design/Production Company: Nexus Productions
Director: Johnny Kelly
Executive Creative Director: Chris O'Reilly
Senior Producer: Isobel Conroy
Production Manager: Lucy Banks
Production Manager: Thomas Cullen
Studio Director of Photography: Matthew Day
Locations Director of Photography: Matthew Fox
Project Lead: Elliott Kajdan
Project Lead: David Walker
Editor (60): David Slade
Editor (30): Nick Gartner
3-D Animation: Eaton Crous
3-D Animation: Joao Monteiro
2-D Animation: Tom Bunker
2-D Animation: James Hatley
Compositing: Bence Varga
Compositing: Pete Baxter
Postproduction: Time Based Arts
Compositor: Sheldon Gardner
Colorist: Simone Grattarola
Music & Sound Design: Human
Mix: Formosa Group
Mixer: John Bolen
Mixer: Hermann Thurmann
Executive Producer: Lauren Cascio
Assistant: Jeff King