Instead of having technologists argue the merits of AI and advanced technologies, we teamed with musician/actor/activist Common to rally people around the power of AI. Having had Common as the voice of our Brand & Cloud campaigns for over three years, we knew his passionate advocacy for social change and empowerment dovetails perfectly with our mission to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. So we brought him from behind the microphone to in front of the camera, to help tell an inspiring series of real stories of innovators using AI for good. Together, they would be our champions for humanizing AI through stories showing individuals reaching new heights with the technology.

To create a quick hook in the mobile feed we launched the effort with a :30 an followed with :15 spots featuring Common on stage. In a delivery blending speech and spoken word poetry, Common told of the possibilities of AI and directly challenged the viewer to do something with it. Knowing that more than 90% of our audience would see our creative without sound, we built graphic messaging so people could follow Common’s narration. We ran this in heavy rotation during high profile events, like the Winter Olympics, March Madness, and the Oscars in high-impact placements and units across YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We then followed this execution with more Microsoft AI stories that showcased amazing innovators empowered by Microsoft AI.

The campaign enjoyed a nearly 70% rate of recognition among our target within the first two months, on a much smaller media spend than other big technology brands. We saw successful first view results on Twitter, with a 50% video completion rate on the platform, far exceeding industry averages. In addition, Microsoft saw significant lifts across multiple surveyed opinions - Leadership in Innovation, Leadership in AI Technology, Inspiration, and Future Optimism.