Local Theory Creates Multimedia Message
for Nokia at Cannes Lions Festival
Integrated campaign for Nseries
evolves into MTV documentary
New York, NY - December 20, 2007 - Local Theory, an integrated production company that specializes in creating digital, mobile and branded content for advertisers and ad agencies, worked with Nokia on the concept and execution of a large scale integrated content campaign at the 2007 Cannes International Advertising Festival for the Nseries line of phones. The content created as part of that campaign will be rolling out internationally on December 20, 2007 when a half-hour documentary, Short Film Shootout: Cannes debuts on MTV networks around the world and on mtvU here in the U.S.
As a major sponsor for the Festival's Young Creatives Film Competition, Nokia sought to highlight the creative aspects of its N93i phone, which features a high-resolution camera capable of shooting both still and video images.
The Young Creatives Competition at Cannes Lions is an opportunity for creative teams from countries across the globe to compete against each other to conceive, shoot and edit a public service spot in 48-hours, based upon a creative brief they receive when they arrive in Cannes. As a main sponsor of the competition, Nokia's Nseries N93i camera phone was an integral part of the process.
"We took a simple sponsorship and turned it into an integrated content platform," comments Howard Pyle, partner and creative director at Local Theory. "Our goal was to create content and use it to activate and expand the audience for Nokia."
The MTV Cannes documentary grew out of the overall campaign Local Theory executed at the festival. On site at the Palais des Festivals, the company created an interactive mobile content installation on an 80-foot wall that allowed visitors to interact via SMS and to access streaming videos of each of the teams competing; the videos were also available on Nokia's website and YouTube.
"Viewers at Cannes could go up to the installation and interact with it, learning more about each team. At the same time, each team's peers back home were able to watch what was happening to them on the web," says Pyle. "Everyone was connected."
The brief the teams had to execute was to create a P.S.A. for MTV Switch, MTV's global climate-change awareness campaign. It was delivered by John Jackson, MTV's Director of Public Affairs and the cable network's guiding force behind the MTV Switch campaign.
Pyle, who collaborated closely with Nokia's Jean-Pierre Lespinasse, manager of Nseries' global sponsorships, and the editors and producers at New York's Outside Editorial, which edited footage on-site in Cannes, immediately saw an opportunity to extend the reach of the Nokia project and forge a deeper content partnership with MTV.
"We pitched John on the idea of covering the work of the teams in order to create a documentary on the experience," says Pyle. Jackson said yes and the program began to take shape. The Local Theory crew expanded its coverage and shot 20 extra hours of footage, which was edited by Outside's Jerome Wilson. The resulting program, Short Film Shootout: Cannes, is slated to run as part of the global launch of the MTV Switch initiative.
"When we got to Cannes, we thought we would just post viral videos, but part of our philosophy at Local Theory is to take advantage of the potential for different forms of media to reach people in different ways, and create appropriate content for these channels," Pyle adds. "We had the interactive portion of the Nokia package, which allowed viewers to learn more about the creatives, the Nokia N93i and MTV's message, but now, through the MTV Short Film Shootout documentary, we're able to reinforce that message by giving more depth and insight to the story."
Short Film Shootout: Cannes credits
Client: Nokia
Agency/production company: Local Theory
Director/Creative Director: Howard Pyle
Executive Producers: Howard Pyle, Jonathan Stern
Producers: Lindsay Cook, Kirsten Johnson, Michelle Accorso
Camera: Stephen Kozlowski, Mathieu Ravey
Editorial company: Outside Editorial
Titles and Motion Graphics: Will Weems
Editors: Jerome Wilson, Jeff Ferruzzo (viral videos)
Music: Elliot Hoffman
Additional footage provided by Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival
About Local Theory
Local Theory is an integrated production company specializing in branded content and integrated marketing campaigns. It specializes in merging online, viral, mobile, broadcast and traditional media. For more information, go to www.localtheory.com.
Media Contact:
Howard Pyle, Local Theory, 646-386-9600 x701,
Anthony Vagnoni, AVagnoni Communications, 973-493-8736,
