Creating the Bridgestone Performance Institute
Bridgestone was an Olympic Top Sponsor for the 2016 Summer Games and needed a performance-themed experience that would drive engagement and raise brand awareness. As Creative Director, User Experience at Razorfish, I conceptualized and directed experience strategy and design for the Bridgestone Performance Institute, which housed three distinct experience pillars within an overall campaign concept.
The Performance Institute was a mobile-first experience that introduced a unique way of navigating through performance stories. These stories were meant to inspire and use the concept of “performance” to engage the audience with the Bridgestone and Olympic brands.
Rather than treat this as a one-time project, I strategically approached this as a scalable platform design where future campaigns such as the Winter Olympic Games, NFL, Indy (Firestone) and NHL partnership campaigns could live. In addition to directing the experience strategy and design, I oversaw user testing and worked with the IOC and USOC through approval processes.
Analyzing Performance
The first experience mapped the similarities between tire performance and elite athlete performance. This section was meant to educate users about the brand while entertaining them with athlete performance content.
The second experience told the stories of three Bridgestone-sponsored Olympic athletes. This content focused on athlete inspiration and demonstrated the commitment necessary to compete on an elite level. Behind The Performance was told through video and photography and was a way to connect to the audience on an emotional level.
Performance Trials
The third experience allowed users to try their hand at Olympic games. The experience was delivered through a native mobile app and gave users the ability to play through dozens of games while earning trophies and outfits. The game had a social component where users could challenge friends.
The Results
Bridgestone became one of the top three Olympic sponsors of the games, edging out heavyweights like McDonalds and Visa. The campaign delivered 122MM impressions. Olympic consumers spent approximately 6,000 hours viewing videos on The Performance Institute. Adweek placed Bridgestone within the top three brands driving social SOV during the games. In addition, the Bridgestone Performance Institute won a number of honors and awards, including a Webby, FWA, AWWWARDS and an Effie Award finalist.