WhatsApp is known as a functional tool that helps people connect worldwide, but the brand wanted to show its emotional value by helping its 2+ billion users feel closer to the places they call home. Many of these users are from diasporic cultures, living far from their homeland, but always searching for ways to stay deeply connected with their roots. WhatsApp wanted to be seen as a safe space for these users to facilitate deeper connections with their culture and their people, throughout this journey of self-discovery. To do this, they wanted to share a story about how connecting with your homeland can help you understand yourself and your culture, further driving brand love by increasing closeness and personal resonance for its users. This story needed to be culturally informed, authentic, and inspiring enough to get people to learn about their roots and actually visit their homelands.

“You can’t fully know who you are, until you understand where you’re from.”

This universal truth served as both the creative idea and inspiration for our work.

After a life spent in Greece and a career in the US, Greek-Nigerian NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was ready to see his Nigerian homeland for the first time. The long-awaited homecoming became a 30-minute documentary, titled after Giannis’ Igbo name, UGO.

In Nigeria, Giannis goes on a quest to understand his own identity. Through deeply personal revelations, first-time encounters with family members, and a series of cultural experiences, Giannis gains a deeper understanding of his people, his heritage, and himself. Throughout Giannis' journey, a cast of diasporic voices share their own perspectives on the importance of their culture.

While the film focuses on Giannis’ story, its lessons are shared by all who feel a sense of home in more than one place.

WhatsApp’s audience, Culture Crossovers, is reflective not only of the brand’s core user base, but also of a growing segment globally that’s more blended than ever before. They represent about 25% of the global population and 37% of the US population, and can best be defined as culturally fluid individuals who draw inspiration from their multiple cultural identities. They make up a large part of the global diaspora, and for them “home” is much deeper than just a place. It’s the communities they grew up in, the people around the world they video chat with, the dishes they grew up eating, and the stories they were told about their culture. They yearn to connect with their homeland, no matter how far they may be from it, because it’s critical in defining who they are. That sought-after self-resonance is found at their roots.

UGO was hosted on Amazon Prime Video and YouTube, with additional trailers and bespoke content that ran across WhatsApp and talent/partner socials. The film trailer was teased during Monday Night Football (10.3M impressions) on 1/15/23, and launched the next day on 1/16/23 with additional influencer-led media running throughout March. We partnered with Homecoming Festival to host premieres in cities with the largest Nigerian diaspora communities such as Houston, TX, and New York, NY. By surrounding our main talent partner, Giannis, with over 30 supporting influencers, we garnered 2.5B+ in total earned media impressions with $5M+ in total earned media value across 40+ countries.

The documentary itself was shot over seven days, by three directors who were all a part of the

African diaspora. Production and post-production of the film spanned the US, the UK, and Nigeria.

By partnering with a global superstar who’d yet to experience his own homeland, we were able to document an emotional homecoming happening for the first time. This allowed us to authentically show how stepping foot on the soil of your homeland can help you understand yourself and the meaning of home more deeply.

Filled with cultural pride and revelations of self-identity, one man’s story became the catalyst for the global diaspora to reflect on their own heritage and pursue deeper connections with their own homelands.

Thousands of people flooded the comments, full of excitement that Giannis was getting in touch with his roots, while expressing their individual desires to reconnect with home. The film garnered 3.8+ million minutes streamed on Amazon Prime Video, 1.5+ million views on YouTube, 40+ countries streamed, and 95.5% positive sentiment, unifying cross-cultural people under a shared message: There’s No One Like Us.