When Nelson Mandela died every publication under the sun ran an obituary. But only one publication truly had earned the right to associate itself with the great man’s passing. When he was imprisoned on Robben Island,

The Economist was the only thing he was allowed to read. But more than that, it has provided a unique perspective on his life, his Country and his impact. Even from his birth and before he came to prominence,

The Economist had countless articles and column inches that gave an insight into the situation in South Africa. So how could we drive people to engage with this treasure trove of historical record?

We devised a very simple film that shows various people laying down objects relevant to events in Mandela’s life in a field. A VO relates how the life journey of a great man is like a long walk.

At the end of the film we reveal that the objects all make the face of Nelson Mandela. The face then becomes a still image and the objects that make up the face have red boxes appear next to them inside which is a date.

The film shows people laying down objects in a field that relate to key events in Mandela’s life, like a ballot box and a Springbok rugby jersey, while poet Benjamin Zephaniah explains how the life journey of a great man is like a long walk.

At the end of the film we reveal that these objects have created an image of Nelson Mandela’s face. Red boxes then appear next to the objects and each box has a date on it. When you click on any of the boxes you are taken to the original Economist article written in that year.

We didn’t have the budget to market the project. It had to sell itself. The BBC was one of the first media owners to pick it up - featuring a link to the video on its website – followed by positive reviews in publications like The Guardian, Campaign, Creative Review, David Reviews, Marketing, The Drum, Shots and Best Ads on TV.com.

This, and positive feedback on social networks like Twitter and Facebook drove people to the video and then on to the microsite. There were 16,000+ views on You Tube and 20,000+ visitors to the microsite.