London International Awards
2022 Winners and Finalists
Regional Network of the Year: North America
FCB
Silver
Branded Entertainment
Augmented Reality
Entrant: | FCB New York, New York |
Brand: | Anheuser Busch Michelob ULTRA |
Title: | "McEnroe vs McEnroe" |
Corporate Name of Sponsoring Client: | Anheuser Busch |
Chief Marketing Officer: | Benoit Garbe |
Anheuser Busch, Vice President, Marketing: | Ricardo Marques |
Anheuser Busch, Head of Marketing Communications: | Talita Andrade |
Anheuser Busch, Director of Digital Marketing & E-Commerce: | Miles Ritenour |
Anheuser Busch, Director Sports Marketing and Partnerships : | Dylan Ruby |
Anheuser Busch, Director, Marketing Communications: | Jessica Thorpe |
Anheuser Busch, Director of Digital Marketing : | Alexis Unwalla |
Anheuser Busch, Brand Director : | Kerry Scalora |
Anheuser Busch, Vice President Consumer Connections : | Spencer Gordon |
Anheuser Busch, Head of Media : | Juliana Wurzburger |
Anheuser Busch, Senior Media Manager: | Lindsay Marzocca |
Anheuser Busch, Media Manager: | Bridget Inglima |
Anheuser Busch, Global Head of Marketing: | Chris Jones |
Anheuser Busch, Global Marketing Director: | Paige Dawes |
PR Company: | 3 PM |
PR Companies Senior Vice Presidents: | Jim Sias/Peter Martin |
PR Company Senior Manager: | Lemondria Hobbs |
PR Company Account Direction, Media Relations: | Jackie Baez |
Agency: | FCB New York, New York |
Worldwide Chief Creative Officer: | Danilo Boer |
Chief Creative Officers: | Gabriel Schmitt/Michael Aimette |
Executive Creative Directors: | Samira Ansari/Sy-Jenq Cheng |
Creative Directors: | Alexandre Abrantes/Jay Marsen/Lex Beltrone |
Associate Creative Directors: | Thomas Mori/Simon Dolsten/James Meiser |
Agency Director of Integrated Production: | Adam Isidore |
Agency Project Manager: | Abby Kiefer |
Agency Strategy Directors: | Jamie Rutherford/Michael Schonfeld |
Agency Account Supervisors: | Logan Butler/Joe Labuz |
Agency Group Account Directors: | Diana Gonzalez Cash/Megan Bundy |
Agency Account Director: | Ashley Read |
Agency Director of Business Affairs: | Janice Katz |
Agency Archival Producer: | Lizzy McGlynn |
Agency Senior Production Talent Manager: | Janet Merone |
Traffic Manager - FCB Global: | Mary Beth Parton |
Video Production: | Falkon |
Creative Director/Co–Director - Falkon: | Ryan Bucci |
Technical Director/Co-Director - Falkon: | Davey Sherwinter |
Executive Producer - Falkon: | Matt Cohen |
Director of Photography - Falkon: | Bernard Hunt |
HOP & EP of Live-Action - Falkon: | Matias Letelier |
Production Manager - Falkon: | Nikil Shyam Sunder |
1st Assistant Director - Falkon: | Kevin Murphy |
EOC of Live Switching - Falkon: | Sean Smith |
Post Production Supervisor - Falkon: | Shannon Peiper |
Technology Production: | Unit9 |
Creative Partner - Unit9: | Michelle Craig |
Director of Production - Unit9: | Mindy Lubert |
Production Lead – Unit9: | Sarah Barson |
Executive Creative Director Production Lead – Unit9: | Yifei Chai |
Creative Director – Unit9: | James Medcraft |
Executive Producer – Unit9: | Phil Erney |
Senior Content Creator: | Adam Nelson |
SVP Studio Director - Lord + Thomas Chicago: | Roman Mendez |
Senior Editor and Animator: | Breithner Monteiro |
Studio Director: | Liz Ludden |
In House-Production: | Lord + Thomas, Chicago |
Lead Artists: | Tom Mackey/Kathleen Chee/Derek Viramontes |
Senior VFX Artist - Lord + Thomas Chicago: | Anj Puglise |
Edit Facility: | Secret Guy |
Online Editor: | Bill Cramer |
Editor: | Mitch Schreiber |
Post-Production Company: | Sonic Union |
VFX Executive Producer: | Graham Holly |
VFX/Flame Artist: | Colin Stackpole |
Colorist: | Matt Rosenblum |
Sound Designer/Mix Engineer: | Julienne Guffain |
Head of Production: | Patrick Sullivan |
Animation Studio: | Notan Studio |
Post-Production: | Ntropic/Chapeau |
Animator: | Chris Monteiro |
Music Production Company: | JSM Music |
CEO/CCO: | Joel Simon |
VP/Executive Producer: | Jeff Fiorello |
Senior Producers: | Norm Felker/Andrew Manning |
Producer: | Sharon Cha |
Description:
With a belief that “It’s only worth it if you enjoy it,” Michelob ULTRA developed a boundary-breaking augmented reality that enabled John McEnroe to face off against his own legacy, and embrace the joy he denied himself as a player.
Tennis met science fiction as John McEnroe revisited his career, playing a real match, in the flesh, with a real crowd, against five virtual versions of himself from the past. Artificial Intelligence, Unreal MetaHuman technology, and machine learning created avatar versions of McEnroe from five pivotal career moments.
A specially designed court with a particle-mist screen allowed the avatars to appear and play against John. Every move from Virtual McEnroe was synchronized with an intricate robotic-return system to accurately replicate John’s style of play.
McEnroe vs. McEnroe revolutionized the sports experience. Immersing fans in the action and serving up joy like it’s never been seen before.
A select group of fans were able to witness McEnroe vs. McEnroe, live in person, at a specially built tennis event space.
Following the filming of the outdoor event, McEnroe vs. McEnroe was first broadcast on ESPN, a partner synonymous with creating sports culture, and then made available for the following month on ESPN’s streaming service, ESPN+.
McEnroe vs. McEnroe has been talked about in over 30 countries, has a 99% positive social sentiment, and ESPN liked it so much they gave us one hour of free media: showing the inherent cultural relevance and talkability of the idea.
The media reaction has been beyond our expectations. With over 120 media placements, the sentiment is summed up by Sports Illustrated — “This could be the future of sports” — and Yahoo! — “Reinventing Sports Entertainment.”
Importantly, the idea is also working for the brand. Since launch, organic searches for “Michelob ULTRA” have grown by 95%.
And insight from the campaign is paving the way for revolutionary approaches in gaming and entertainment."