Trust. Consumer apathy is a problem that affects the entire PC ecosystem. For the first time in history, the PC industry united to create a campaign to ensure the categories’ future and show what the next generation of PCs can do. The combination of Intel’s best processors ever–6th Generation Intel® Core™ processors–Microsoft’s latest Windows operating system–Windows 10–and some of the thinnest and most innovative designs ever from Dell, HP and Lenovo created a magical convergence in the category.

To break the cycle of apathy and grow the category, we would need to leverage two things: influence and urgency. We would need a critical mass of positive opinion and undeniable need to excite them about the new generation of PCs. Our integrated campaign was designed to showcase the innovation in the category at a macro level to complement product news from each individual brand campaign.

Courage. We leveraged cultural influencers and sparked a conversation by creating 70 custom pieces of content with 13 different media companies, delivering a unified message within their distinct voices. All connected with a world first multi-partner data strategy; a data “DMZ” that allowed us to securely pass data to the individual brands for re-targeting.

On-air integrations with The Ellen Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live! showcased the new generation of PCs. Native content hubs with news partners, NewYorkTimes.com and Mic.com, drove credibility. Lifestyle partners including People.com, EW.com, Gimlet, Wired.com and Refinery29 created stories about unlocking PC possibilities. Our original comedy series with The Onion, featuring Kenan Thompson, distributed via Facebook. Breakthrough levels during prominent broadcast moments and marquee events including Prime Network Takeovers, Late Night Roadblocks, Thanksgiving NFL, World Series, College Football and Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Amplified with national cinema buys in award season contenders such as Spectre, The Martian.

Conviction. The trifecta of technological advances, design innovation and software improvements armed us with the opportunity to create, partner and execute in ways never imagined.

We drove substantial purchase intent lift, up +12 ppts above the control group. (Within 6 weeks)

We step changed key attitudes: “Computers are better than they have ever been” up +6 ppts, and “Now is a great time to buy a new computer” up +8 ppts.

Dell, HP, Intel, Lenovo and Microsoft successfully communicated that today’s PC does what no PC has done before. Innovation. Trust. Creativity. Courage. Conviction. These 5 truths inspired a category-first, an integrated media, content and advertising campaign that educated consumers to reconsider PCs by sparking curiosity around one simple question: “PC Does Whaaat?!”

Together we changed the conversation and the course of the PC industry.