Bees in nature. Distinctive textured bodies meticulously flirting with polychromatic flora. While the bees’ stature pales in comparison, their movement is unparalleled—it’s easy to miss, yet purposeful.

When developing the creative idea, we paralleled and countered bees’ idiosyncrasies. Like the bee, we complemented their eye-catching bodies by featuring strictly vibrant shots of the protagonist’s home of Tazmania. To contrast the size of the bee, we captured a lot of bird’s eye-view, wide shots.

During post, we slowed down the frames with the bee hives in hopes to emphasize it’s structural facets. Similarly, we filmed the video in a dynamic documentary-style fashion. With this style choice, we accurately depicted the symbiotic relationship between the maker, bees, and Intel technology. With context of an Albert Einstein quote, we introduce the viewer to the greater idea- A maker is racing against time to save the bees and all they do for humanity.

This project was a year in the making. Intel spent over a year tracking down individuals who were using technology to make a difference. We found Dr. Paulo—our diamond in the rough—and knew we had to tell his story because the stakes were so high. It was a natural fit for Intel to tell this story because our technology is really at the heart of the solution.

The piece garnered almost one million views—over 650,000 on Facebook and 340,000 on YouTube. We achieved an engagement rate of 12%, exceeding our benchmark of 8%. Traffic driven to Makers.Intel.com increased by over 100% following the video’s release. Additionally, it sparked articles on both AdAge and AdWeek, and was mentioned in a New York Times piece.

There’s a lot of branded content out in the world today. This isn’t one of those films. This is content that has the Intel brand naturally in it—a story about humanity, technology, the unknown that needs to be told. An unskippable tale that has consequences for all of us. Surprising, captivating, important, and timely. It leaves the audience entertained and enlightened and demonstrates how human ingenuity and technology has the potential to inspire and fix some of the most pressing problems in the world.

We used success stories as a proof point to the brand promise of Intel bringing amazing experiences to life.

On the heels of a successful launch campaign in 2015, we had an opportunity to tell more stories, but how could we up the ante? We found our story: One leading researcher, Dr. Paulo de Souza uses Intel technology to discover why and how the bees are disappearing in order to preserve food for future generations.

The story’s stakes were no doubt higher, affecting not only our target consumers and followers but our entire ecosystem.

Intel has been deemed one of the most important companies in the world. While brands and products become obsolete with time, Intel’s microprocessors remain integral in powering current and future technology.

One of Intel’s products, the Intel Edison development platform, is the first in a product collection of low-cost, product-ready, general-purpose computer platforms that help lower the barriers to entry for entrepreneurs of all sizes.

With the then-impending release of the Edison, we developed the Maker series, an episodic to tell Edison’s “success stories.” We strived to highlight innovators who use Intel Edison as a means of furthering technology in an unparalleled way.

We used “Bees with Backpacks” as a way to tell a relevant brand story about Intel in more than just PCs. We tapped into the cultural insight that millennials care about the world and have an innate desire to make an impact.