The Old Navy Selfiebration Machine was created and designed to be disruptive. We developed this completely new analog display technology to break through the clutter of digital displays that pervade consumers’ interaction with brands.

Old Navy's digital marketing team engaged us to think beyond conventional digital campaigns and design a 20th birthday experience that embodied Old Navy's branding—accessible yet unexpected; playful yet credible; inventive and clever. Tasked with generating earned media and social engagement, we created a first-of-its-kind technology.

No fundamental prior art influenced the engineering of the machine; we invented the machine by solving, for the first time, the set of fundamental problems inherent to creating an active display out of balloons. These included problems associated with control electronics, pneumatic control, balloon durability, air and power distribution, and digital manipulation of inputs.

The patent-pending Selfiebration Machine consisted of real balloons, five miles of wiring, one mile of air lines, and custom engineered electronics, all housed in 16 independently controlled modules that can be reconfigured to fit any footprint. An algorithm translated users' selfie images into balloon pixels. A custom software system controlled the machine, communicating with custom electronics to establish inflation levels for each balloon. A novel, patent pending pneumatic control system was invented and manufactured to consistently control the inflation of each balloon. Over 2,000 custom valves were manufactured in Japan to our specifications.

We have begun designing the next generation of the balloon display technology. Our goals include reducing manufacturing costs, increasing reliability, increasing environmental resistance, and decreasing support and installation requirements.

Long-term, our agency plans to make balloon display technology a product and to develop a patent portfolio for this technology. We are developing a refined, manufacturable iteration of the display system, and standardized control architecture for any imaginable physical display system.

Old Navy's Selfiebration campaign exemplifies how marketers can redirect their budgets away from traditional campaigns toward culturally relevant, innovative, brand-specific experiences. The campaign represents a shift happening in the industry. Product departments are no longer the sole agents in product development and innovation; marketing teams are now able to quickly develop ownable technology that is informed by insights and of-the-moment trends. New, disruptive brand experiences require innovation to succeed.

Old Navy designated Selfiebration their most successful social media campaign ever with 640MM Twitter impressions and 165MM media impressions.