National Geographic wanted to reach beyond their traditional demographic with “One Strange Rock” - a 10-part cinematic and environmentally aware new series, produced by acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky and hosted by Will Smith.

Their objective; to engage with a younger audience, drive viewership and give this new demographic a unique perspective on our planet.

Our idea: To use the stunning imagery of documentary series "One Strange Rock” to inspire multi-platinum selling, Grammy award-winning, electronic music DJ and producer Zedd, to write “a love letter to earth” in the form of a totally original musical composition that reached beyond his customary electronic dance music genre and revisited his classical background.

At the same time producing innovative content showcasing the inspiration and production phases of his creative process to give his fans a glimpse into his world.

And a spectacular performance video to showcase the track to his fans.

National Geographic wanted to reach a younger demographic with “One Strange Rock”. To do this, they collaborated with Zedd. He is passionate about the message behind the series and a huge admirer of Darren Aronofsky’s work. In addition, Zedd’s personality type was identified as a perfect fit using the Carl Yung archetype wheel and he also has a unique, honest rapport with his fanbase who are immersed in technology and music.

The strategy was to engage this new audience through original content, giving his 25 million fans (6.2 million on Instagram alone) a rare insight into his creative process and techniques and also to produce a unique track and performance video, inspired by the amazing footage.

And in this way engage and reward the new, younger audience and bring them to One Strange Rock and give them the opportunity to discover National Geographic’s broader portfolio.

Original pieces of video content showing the never-before-seen inspiration and production processes behind Zedd’s creative journey.

The inspiration phase: watching the footage and speaking with astronaut Leland Melvin to glean background and context that ultimately fuelled the creative process.

The production phase: showed Zedd in his natural environment - the studio. This video showcased his creative process and techniques as he pieced together the many components that created the final track.

And the outcome - a performance video shot by the studio deep underground in Californian caves. Featuring Zedd performing his track at a grand piano as cutting-edge production techniques show the transformation and unparalleled wonder of our world mapping onto the cave walls.

The campaign was a great success for National Geographic and Zedd.

Both brands reached new audiences and opened further opportunities for Zedd to score films - something he’d never done before.

Resulting in 30M media impressions, 12.5M total video views, 1M social engagements and 244 individual press articles in media beyond National Geographic’s traditional reach

And even more importantly the "One Strange Rock" audience figures doubled following the release of the music video, with this episode performing even better than the season premiere.