To an average consumer, PCs are just identical black boxes with similar, if not the exact same specs.

CHALLENGE: Sony needed to leverage processing power in a way that would emotionally connect with people, while generating maximum publicity, as there was little investment in paid media.

INSIGHT: Today’s Sony VAIO laptop has more processing power than the first rocket to reach the moon. Which raised the question: could a Sony VAIO launch a rocket?EXECUTION: We paired eight brilliant high school students with a rocket scientist and challenged them to attempt the impossible: design, build, and launch a rocket with just a Sony VAIO laptop. The project culminated as the rocket soared 27 miles into the stratosphere, reaching a top speed of Mach 2.8.

OUTCOME:This wasn’t an ad campaign, this was a news story.

It generated 234,000,000 impressions.

It was covered by over 100 news outlets nationwide.

It generated over $8,000,000 in earned media.

The story behind the launch was later made into a 30-minute documentary, premiering on Discovery’s Science Channel.

The story of eight brilliant students attempting the impossible and launching a rocket was sure to get the attention of our target. But we knew a site, rich media banners and student-generated content wouldn’t be enough.

If we wanted to emotionally invest our target with the Sony brand, we had to tell the complete story of The Rocket Project, from beginning to end. We needed to show the students demonstrating the same grit and determination that had led them to succeed thus far in life. So we created a 30-minute documentary that told the entire story behind their improbable six-month journey. The Rocket Project premiered on Discovery’s Science Channel in prime time on October 9th, 2010.

This wasn’t an ad campaign, this was a news story.

It generated over 2.34 billion impressions.

It was covered by over 100 news outlets including Fox news, CNN, NPR, Forbes and USA Today.

Generated over $8,000,000 in earned media, surpassing our paid media investment fourfold. Social media played a big part with tweets by Justin Timberlake, CNET and The Drudge Report.

Midway through the project, we were contacted by the Discovery family of networks to make a 30-minute documentary that later premiered on The Science Channel.

Best of all, the event generated so much attention, the rocket scientist and mentor were contacted by 28 schools to replicate the Rocket Project class internationally.