Created in 2020, Vice World News has an ambition to become the world’s leading social news provider. The business had four objectives heading in to 2021/22:

• Raise Awareness of VICE World News among the critical 18-34 year old audience

• Build Understanding of the VICE World News proposition

• Drive cross-channel consumption across youth-oriented platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok

• Shift Brand Perceptions of VICE World News among advertisers and brand partners

In addition, the brand has an important editorial mission: to deliver gold standard reporting across underreported topics, and use our platform to champion diverse voices. To tell unseen stories and showcase unheard voices.

But like every news brand in 2021, the brand was facing into a perfect storm: political polarisation, a global pandemic, crisis fatigue and declining trust. Attention, for a news brand, is revenue. But it has never been harder to attract.

The Unfiltered History Tour is a secret tour of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts delivered via Augmented Reality, exposing the true story of the Museum’s most controversial artefacts, told by the people they were stolen from.

When visitors scan the artefacts, the filter activates. Alongside the story, visual depictions of the theft form a real-time overlay over the artefact.

Those not at the Museum can unfilter history remotely, with immersive audio-video experiences and podcasts.

Our Gen Z strategist became the voice of our audience, helping creatives understand conversations they had limited access to . Easy to dismiss as a selfie-obsessed generation, in fact our audience were using their social platforms for education and activism.

Understanding our audience’s hunger for knowledge we set about arming the creatives with rich cultural history, and insight on how to present it to a new audience.

Background and Context:

VICE World News has an ambition to become the world’s leading social news brand.

The brand had demanding targets: to drive Awareness, Understanding and Consumption of Vice World News among its 18-34 year old audience.

Moreover, the brand has an important social mission. But how do you build a trusted news brand in a world of polarisation, misinformation, and mistrust?

Creative Challenge

For a media business, attention is revenue. But it’s harder than ever to attract.

To cut through with our younger audience we needed to understand the very different ways they engage with news.

For Gen Z, news is defined by the newsfeed: “Social networks have steadily replaced news websites as a primary source for younger audiences…with 39% using social media as their main source of news” Reuters

Social injustice surfaces in surprising places: It’s easy to dismiss Gen Z as shallow, selfie-obsessed-in fact they use their platforms not just for dance crazes or self promotion.

77% of Generation Z have learned about a social justice issue through TikTok. 94% agree that TikTok has generated meaningful action for the Black Lives Matter movement.

A powerful desire was building among this generation to reclaim the narratives of the past. This is a topic that VICE World News passionately advocates for; the ‘Empires of Dirt’ series investigated the darker side of Empire and inspired our team.

But in a world where crisis after crisis threatens our mental wellbeing, it can be tempting to switch off. Moreover, in a world of “fake news” trust must be earned through action, not words.

To cut through we would need more than a compelling story. We would need breakthrough creativity, action and audacity.

Solution:

Three key cultural tensions shaped our solution:

1. Augmented Reality at its heart has fundamentally changed the way we engage with physical spaces, and with stories

2. Hacking the rarefied world of art and antiquities commands attention-and could become a force for change

3. The British Museum-one of the world’s most prestigious institutions-is perhaps the world’s largest receiver of stolen goods

The Unfiltered History Tour was born.

A secret tour of the British Museum’s stolen artefacts delivered via Augmented Reality. We would leverage the technology now freely accessible on every smartphone to tell the true story of the 10 most controversial artefacts within the Museum, told by the people and cultures they were stolen from.

Execution

The Instagram filters were developed by a 100-person strong team working remotely for 18 months. AR technicians developed a first of its kind Instagram filter designed to dynamically adapt to the environment at the museum.

When visitors scan the museum’s stolen artefacts, the relevant filter is activated. They hear the true histories of the artefacts, with visual depictions of the theft forming an overlay over the artefact in real-time. 

Those who aren’t at the British Museum can unfilter history from anywhere in the world, with immersive audio-video experiences and extended podcasts.