Skype

Skype Magic Campaign

Skype and CNN and formed an amazing deal. The sponsorship of a major new programme called Connect The World. Watch a clip here. CNN wanted to use Skype live on the show to connect to people and news events around the globe. I was tasked with developing a campaign that would sit around Connect The World and work on the CNN website. We needed to help people understand all the different ways they could use Skype.

We created four TV films.

Moments from Aaron Hinchion on Vimeo.

Pocket from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

Rock from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

Weather from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

We wanted to take a more educational approach. So we could in a simple, down to earth way state the benefits of Skype without them feeling like a dreaded telecoms company. When explaining how Skype functioned to our friends it has always been easier to refer to the technology as that little bit of magic that made free and cheap calls possible. We also wanted to push the Skype brand we’d developed. Giving it a sense of depth. We created the “dad magic” hand to bring the magic to life, help the characters out and to add a human element. And we used Skype sounds to make it even more ownable.

We also created four sponsorship Idents.

Catapult from Aaron Hinchion on Vimeo.

Disappear Reappear – Ident from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

Dig To China – Ident from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

Foam Finger – Ident from Hinchion & Sons on Vimeo.

We also created an online banner series to the campaign.

CNN Blog

This one’s interactive! Go on choose a country!

I also art directed the photo shoot and design of the skype.com/magic hub page.

skypemagichub

I loved this project. It was so much fun. One I really got to sink my teeth into and revel in. With all the madness and information on CNN, these simple ads, full of unmistakable Skype personality, really stand out. Especially by beginning with a nice little “Hello” or “Xin Chao” (Vietnamese for hello). Bye for now.

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Skype Educational Films

When you have 200,000 people coming to your homepage every day, it’s a good opportunity to tell them something about yourself. These educational films helped educate new people coming to Skype who still didn’t get it.

Hello from Aaron Hinchion on Vimeo.

Bonjour from Aaron Hinchion on Vimeo.

Moshi Moshi from Aaron Hinchion on Vimeo.

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How Do You Hello?

How Do You Hello? was a strategy developed by Natalie Ranger and myself to kick start a year of communications. Skype is more than just calling. So an Hello can be anything from a video trick, to a picture, smiley face – whatever you like.

We began the campaign by creating a series of ‘Hellos’ for Skype Video. To inspire people to think about how they’d start their Skype conversation. We did everything from a violin recital to jumping on jelly.

Watch all the films here
skype.com/allfeatures/hello/