We set out to create the world’s first crowdsourced nature film, directed by an Emmy and BAFTA-winning cinematographer and enabled by Xperia technology.

Our film would be shot entirely on Xperia smartphones by ordinary people – without lenses, grading or image enhancement.

With 40 budding filmmakers in different countries on board, we gave them a simple brief: to capture the idea of a ‘journey’ in the world around them.

To help guide our amateur filmmakers and shape the edit, we brought in experienced cinematographer Mateo Willis (Frozen Planet and Blue Planet II). The aim was to take a genre of film – nature documentaries – synonymous with expensive cameras and production processes, and show that anyone, anywhere could capture something incredible.

‘The Journey’ was the result. Woven from more than 15 hours of raw smartphone footage, this authentic, mesmerising and immersive film successfully bucked the trend for ultra-short online video.

Starting in late summer 2017, we set out to find and engage our filmmakers, chosen by and for the content they were creating in their own social feeds, as well the added reach they would give us.

We then gave our 40 filmmakers around a week to create their footage, with feedback and direction all offered remotely. Once we had the footage (over 15 hours, much of it in very short clips), we began rapidly cataloguing and editing.

We also engaged Poldoore (a DJ/producer) to create a bespoke score that would not only enhance the natural rhythm of the film, but stand alone as a piece of music in its own right.

‘The Journey’ was released on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram and on influencer social feeds in November 2017. We also produced trailers, teasers and cut downs, plus tutorial videos with Mateo Willis showcasing different techniques for shooting eye-catching content.

Our key brand KPI was brand reach and engagement, and driving traffic to explore the new Xperia device.

To date, ‘The Journey’ has achieved reach of 24.7m with user engagement of 1.57m. This smashed our targets by +9.2% and +26.5% respectively.

PR activity around the film has realised incremental reach of 7.9m through earned coverage.

Crucially, though, the activity also drove active consideration and interest in the new Xperia handsets, with over 72k visiting the product website as a result of the film.

Launch the new Xperia, with an authentic content idea that convinces a socially connected and tech-savvy audience. They are defined by their heavy smartphone usage, and create and consume visual content on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. Their most valued smartphone features are camera, screen and sound – but crucially, they need authentic proof.

Our strategy was to showcase the immersive capability of Xperia’s features: Super Slow Motion, Hi-Res Audio and 4K HDR. We know our audience have a strong passion for walking/hiking (78%) and natural/outdoor activities (68%), so our approach was to create an experience so rich it would enhance even the natural world.

We tailored the resulting content to the most relevant social channels. It provided inspiration, help and guidance on how Xperia can deliver and capture the richest perspectives of the natural world. And we did this authentically using experts and real people in their own environments.

The smartphone market is dominated by Apple and Samsung, not least in terms of media spend. Our task was to drive interest in a new range of Sony Xperia handsets – and ultimately drive brand awareness and desire – by targeting a highly socially connected and tech hungry audience.

We’d do this by showcasing the phones’ world-first features: Super Slow Motion at 960fps, Hi Res Audio and 4K HDR – features which, we believe, add up to an experience that you simply can’t enjoy with other smartphones. To prove this in channels where our audience were active – digital and social – we needed to show that ordinary people could use Xperia to capture content so beautiful that it would enhance even the wonder of the natural world.

Ultimately, we wanted people to re-evaluate the Xperia brand and product by engaging with our activity.