Not Normal
Dan Mace is a prolific young film director and Youtuber. He approached us to brand, build out and market his long-standing vision for Not Normal, a global campaign centered around the Not Normal show where he’d make 10 videos, in 10 countries, in collaboration with 10 fans, and build on a Not Normal map where fans could spread ideas and collaborate between themselves. He needed a brand and platform that spoke his vision, connected with a youthful audience and invited them to take action.
BRAND IDEA & ACTIVATION
Dan’s rise to fame has been anything but normal. He wanted to do two things: connect with his fans on a deeper level, and show his global community of aspiring creators, creatives and filmmakers that while the world trains you to chase ‘normal’, happiness and ‘success’ and meaning are found in anything but. The idea for Not Normal was ‘Challenge ‘Conventional’ To Reach ‘Exceptional.’ The logic: your crazier, far out ideas are often the ones worth following, but that following them requires a perspective shift. Real happiness and ‘success’ and meaning comes when we let normal go.
We created a game-like visual identity and language inspired by 2D tower defense and puzzle games to disarm our young audience and make it exciting, inviting and bring a sense of depth and play to the brand. We helped develop the idea of the Not Normal map, and the mechanic: The ‘seed’ concept that asked fans to plant seeds on the interactive map to grow into collabs with Dan himself.
When it came to the digital experience, it was all about creating an immersive Not Normal world that users could spend real time on: planting seeds, reading, liking and commenting on other seeds, and sharing what they love. The website—home for the Not Normal map—is really where our game-like visual identity came to life.
Collaboration and participation is at the core of everything Dan does—and this was the perfect example, and the perfect way to get closer to his audience.
Beyond the digital experience, we stayed on as campaign partners for activation, creating and negotiating sponsorship packages with the likes of Epidemic Sound, Skillshare, B&H Photo, Rode and more, we developed and executed a multiplatform micro-content strategy and aided in script and ad writing wherever needed.
The Not Normal campaign received over 25,000 entries. It took Dan to New York, to Los Angeles, to Mumbai, Tokyo , Taiwan and more and garnered collaborations with the likes of Casey Neistat, Jason Silva, Peter Mckinnon and Jacqueline Fernandez.
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Huge thanks to Dan, his team, our collaborators, our sponsors, and everyone who took part in the Not Normal Show along the way.
