Imagine having to projection map most famous building in the world on the most important night of recent American history… and you have no idea what you are going to show. To crown their broader election partnership with CNN, CA Technologies did something demonstrably dramatic with data on Election Night. The creative idea connected a massive social media push (#MyVote) with epic outdoor projection – all broadcast live on television and social media. We selected the iconic Empire State Building as the perfect canvas for an audacious display of real-time election results and user generated content submitted by individual voters.

CNN and CA Technologies brought a breathtaking display of photography, real-time election results, maps, voter mosaics and animations to the New York City skyline to commemorate a historical election night. The projection began at 8PM ET on November 8, 2016 and continued throughout the event, until finally calling the race on the building at 3:45AM ET. The likes of Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper frequently cut to the spectacle from the studio. The scope of the projection was best captured from above, so CNN won special permission from both the Clinton and Trump Campaigns to fly a helicopter over Manhattan. They were the only civilian bird in the sky that night. CNN’s competition – from ABC News to the Washington Post – immediately begin to applaud this gargantuan projection effort, giving the project 1.2 Billion free media impressions in just 12 hours – resulting in a dazzling, high-profile finale.

13 Million Viewers on CNN television

24 Million Views on Facebook Live

1.2 Billion Social during the 12 hour program

As a direct result of the Election Partnership, CA Technologies, Brand Familiarity increased from 50% to 71% YOY. CA Technologies Consideration by Technology Decision makers increased from 23% to 34% YOY.

There were over 400,000 downloads of CNN Politics app downloads during November – which exceeded a year’s worth of downloads for both Politico and The Washington Post (Source: App Annie).  

During the weeks leading up to the election, users were averaging 7.7 minutes per visit to the highly engaging app.