Cannes Lions

The Singularity

SMUGGLER, Los Angeles / SQUARESPACE / 2023

Awards:

1 Shortlisted Cannes Lions
Original Content
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Overview

Entries

Credits

OVERVIEW

Background

Squarespace is a technology platform that makes it easy to build a website or online store. For the 2023 Super Bowl, our brief was to create a standout advertising moment on and around the game to drive brand recognition, comprehension and conversation, all while showcasing our elevated aesthetic point of view.

Idea

One of Squarespace’s key benefits as a product is its simplicity — it’s incredibly easy to build a website or online store using our platform. Our challenge was to explain it in an equally simple way and the solution was found in our founding story. When our CEO Anthony Casalena started the company, he often pitched it to potential clients as “a website that makes websites.” We took that genius bit of accidental copywriting and made it the centerpiece of our campaign.

In our film, the realization that Squarespace is a website that makes websites sends actor Adam Driver on an epic journey to the fraying edges of reality, where he spawns multiple versions of himself and ultimately triggers “The Singularity” — the end of our physical reality and the beginning of something new. We continued to explore all of those themes in the surrounding films, social posts and website.

Strategy

Squarespace speaks to a mass audience that has varying degrees of comfort with technology. Many of our potential consumers see building a website as confusing and intimidating, so our goal here was to make it as clear, simple and memorable as possible. Squarespace isn’t an all in one platform for digital presence and online commerce — it’s a website that makes websites.

Execution

"The Singularity" production was shot remote and used mattes to seamlessly blend green screen shots with shots of the desert. Despite the challenges posed by the remote shooting, the production team was able to create a visually stunning film that captures the attention of the audience. The heavy use of mattes is a testament to the team's dedication to producing a high-quality piece of work. They were able to combine the shots of Adam Driver on a stage in NYC with shots of the desert, creating a believable world that draws the audience into the story. Overall, "The Singularity" production demonstrates a high level of creativity, skill, and technical expertise that makes it deserving of the achievement in production award.

Outcome

The work generated over 200 million media impressions, 656,600,603 total video views and drove over 250,000 visits to squarespace.com on Super Bowl Sunday. It also created a massive swell of activity on social media, leading to Adam Driver trending on Twitter and the campaign line “a website that makes websites” becoming a meme.

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