The Brief
The northstar awards is dentsu’s annual awards programme designed to recognise their outstanding talent and the incredible work they produce - all whilst connecting people across the organisation which spanned 72,000 people worldwide.
We were tasked with designing an online awards show that was anchored in dentsu’s employee value proposition: an invitation to the never before, whilst creating a ‘One dentsu’ experience - uniting people globally across regions and practices.
We needed to capture the magic of an awards show in an elegant and fun way, that would be accessible and engaging for dentsu’s diverse network across the globe. With 8 awards categories, designed around the company’s values: the 8 ways - the event was an opportunity to educate and inspire employees, shining a spotlight on the people who live the values through and lift the organisation forward, whilst celebrating the work that has pushed the boundary to the never before.
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What We Did
The show came together as a 45-minute online event, complemented with offline experiences in the form of watch parties in offices across the globe. We kept content succinct, unique and varied - to deliver an online experience that would engage employees and keep their attention for the duration of the show.
Inspired by dentsu’s brief and a series of unique illustrations produced by Dentsu Creative Portugal, we ideated and created ‘The land of the never before’ - an illustrated world with 8 kingdoms each representing one of dentsu’s 8 values and the 8 awards categories.
Each kingdom was hand illustrated, animated, and complemented with sonic branding - creating a suite of impactful assets which sat at the heart of the show design. Evoking feelings of optimism, hope, and abundant creativity - this visual approach created a point of difference and intrigue away from your typical awards show and made it feel ‘uniquely dentsu’.
The introductions to each award were filmed using 2.5d virtual production technology to bring our illustrated world to life and put dentsu’s show hosts at the heart of innovation.
Our process shaped the way the project was delivered, with three clear work streams: Content, Experience and Broadcast, enabling our team to work in a lean, specialised and efficient way whilst integrating into dentsu’s wider project team over the course of the12-week project timeline.
We were involved from start to finish- from ideating the initial creative concept, through to scripting, storyboarding, illustration & animation, filming, editing, sound design and delivery of the event livestream.
The Result
The event was successfully delivered across multiple time zones, with over 6,000 employees joining virtually and others coming together in person for watch parties hosted by senior leadership across the globe - from Toronto to Johannesburg, to London to Tokyo. The show brought to life dentsu’s core values and was a true celebration across dentsu.