Cannes Lions

Opening Up the Sky for Rising Artists

SIX INC, Tokyo / AU, GOOGLE / 2024

Awards:

1 Shortlisted Cannes Lions
Presentation Image
Case Film
Supporting Content

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Background

“au” is a mobile carrier that aims to project itself as a youthful brand that provides futuristic music experiences.

* ”au" brand slogan:

Bringing a new, futuristic and exciting music experience to young people.

Google Pixel excels at filming in low light and has many features that appeal to the creative young person.

Our mission was to craft the most dramatic experience possible to convey the qualities of both brands.

In January 2023, we hosted a free live performance geared towards Gen Z-ers in collaboration with Google Pixel and au, both of whom want to deliver new music experiences that younger generation would like to capture on video.

Idea

We get excited about the latest entertainment experiences.

However, it can’t be denied that many of the latest experiences call for expensive devices or tickets. (More experiences are going luxury and are geared toward the wealthy.)

Meanwhile, promising artists and their audiences remain relegated to small, simple live music venues.

In early 2023, with the announcement of a new VR device and the construction of the Las Vegas Sphere, we noted the rising cost of entertainment and the disparity this would inevitably create.

At the same time, young people crave massively thrilling and immersive experiences.

Seeing this, we set out to create an immersive and cutting-edge live music experience using a simple yet eye-catching idea that rising artists could replicate.

Strategy

[ Working with a small team,

we used existing facilities to open up new possibilities for Gen-Z artists. ]

For this media project, we set our eyes on many planetarium dome screens. While we didn’t expect it to compete with the scale of the Las Vegas Sphere, we felt the domes’ up-close, 360-degree screen had the potential to provide the thrilling, immersive, and novel experience that young people are after. (We later visited the Sphere and found that a smaller facility actually provides a greater sense of immersion.)

Many planetariums face similar issues, including a dwindling number of visitors following the COVID-19 pandemic, the dilemma of how to utilize the space when programs are not running. While they can be rented for less than a standard concert venue, they have yet to be used for entertainment in a decisive way that would capture the attention and imagination of younger generations.

Execution

[ Working with a small team,

we used existing facilities to open up new possibilities for Gen-Z artists. ]

For this media project, we set our eyes on many planetarium dome screens. While we didn’t expect it to compete with the scale of the Las Vegas Sphere, we felt the domes’ up-close, 360-degree screen had the potential to provide the thrilling, immersive, and novel experience that young people are after. (We later visited the Sphere and found that a smaller facility actually provides a greater sense of immersion.)

Many planetariums face similar issues, including a dwindling number of visitors following the COVID-19 pandemic, the dilemma of how to utilize the space when programs are not running. While they can be rented for less than a standard concert venue, they have yet to be used for entertainment in a decisive way that would capture the attention and imagination of younger generations.

There was a reason planetariums hadn’t been utilized for live music events. That reason was a lack of know-how regarding video production tailored to planetariums and its perceived difficulty.

To solve this, we visited a planetarium day in and day out to study the full dome and develop the directions, tools, and know-how needed to effectively achieve effects, correct distortions, and prevent motion sickness.

We then assembled a small team of ten young CG creators–a vital point of this project. The goal was to avoid going overboard and making it appear to be a special case.

To make the demonstration as realistic and achievable as possible, we set the brief as “1 or 2 young CG artists to spend two weeks creating the most enchanting and immersive CG footage possible for a single song.”

Outcome

We hosted a live performance over two days featuring the two Gen-Z artist groups WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA and Little Glee Monster.

Three hundred fans chosen by draw attended the event in-person, with the live-stream and broadcast of the event viewed by 2,445,000 people.(2 days)

(Reference data)

Number of YouTube subscribers

WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA: 480,000

Little Glee Monster: 600,000

We received inquiries from 20 labels and independent artists.

We are currently working on a project to host a full-dome worldwide live tour.