HBO has a long history of programming that is deeper, richer and more unexpected than any other network’s. They needed a multimedia integrated campaign (including direct-response promotional collateral) that reflected their unique brand of storytelling, spoke to fans and nonfans alike, and cemented their position as leaders in creative storytelling, while encouraging people to connect deeper with the brand.

The challenges of this design were to create an identity that worked in the campaign—across many different media—while communicating the creativity and elegance of the HBO brand.

The collateral pieces, logo design, and posters helped create a lot of buzz. Thousands of people turned out for all three Cube events. The events were well attended and drove hundreds of thousands of unique visitors to the campaign website—with 70% of users recommending it to friends. Subscriber and non-subscriber impressions of HBO as “innovator” rose over 30 percent, and The New York Times said that the Imagine campaign set a new bar in interactive fiction, all while being ownably HBO.

We created a multimedia campaign themed “It’s more than you imagined”. The campaign launched with “the Cube”, a first-of-its-kind outdoor film event that delivered a unique story through multiple perspectives.

We designed and produced the campaign identity, and graphic language for the campaign, including pop-up cube collateral, mini-bear handouts, light-up cubes placed at nearby bars, and an exclusive Bear Box invitation to the live event (resembling teddy bears used to deliver stolen goods in the branded content). We also used the titles from all the films and Web experiences, creating a unified look throughout.