BRAND _ EVENTS
SUNDANCE GOES VIRTUAL _ 2021
Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, The 2021 Sundance Film Festival was entirely virtual. Or, it “expanded to screens everywhere,” if you prefer a more positive PR spin. In non-pandemic times, Dropbox sponsors a couple of events at the festival, and their presence is splashed on signs and walls and covetable swag of all kinds. This time around, the Dropbox brand presence was limited to one ad in an online program.
The creative director’s ask was a dream: “Write me a poem, LaDonna,” he said. “It should be relevant to a film being launched in this crazy time. We’ll just typeset whatever you give us.”
So I thought about trying to be creative, trying to make a film, trying to make art in the dark. In this time of upheaval and uncertainty and unrest. The words came fairly quickly. The CD was pleased, and Marketing signed off on the mock-up. And there you have it:
WORK IN PROGRESS _ A DROPBOX CONFERENCE
Dropbox debuted a user conference in September 2019, a one-day event inviting people to get “a glimpse at the future of work.” CEO Drew Houston also announced the evolution of Dropbox from simple file storage to “the world’s first smart workspace.” It looked like this:
Months before the event, when it was just an idea with no solid strategy or agenda, I was asked to come up with a name. Most writers will tell you that naming a thing is the hardest task. It’s easier to write 1,000 words than just one word (or three) that need to conjure up a big idea. And that task gets even harder when the options are limitless, when there is no hard-edged boundary that defines a lane.
I began with a blank sheet of (virtual) paper and a thesaurus. I combed through Dropbox history and documents and values and speeches. And I ended up with a whole lot of names that didn’t make the cut…
Soon enough, Dropbox Brand Strategists got involved and my job got easier as we defined a strategy, painted our lane, and narrowed down the names. These were our top 5 favorites, along with their set-up for presenting to the Powers That Be who would make the final selection:
As is the case with many creative projects, my favorite name (DBX WRX or Dropbox Works) didn’t survive the final rounds. Although the winning name, Work in Progress, was part of an earlier pack of options, I felt it wasn’t a top contender. But the CEO begged to differ. He loved it, resurrected it, and gave it the gold medal. From that point on, it was my job to help make it succeed through marketing efforts (web site and emails), and at the event itself.
SUNDANCE _ BRING ON THE SWAG
Each year, Dropbox takes over a corner of Sundance to celebrate the work of filmmakers, many of whom rely heavily on our product throughout their creative process. For 2020, our message was, “It Takes A Crew To Make It”—a nod not only to the number of people behind the scenes of a film shoot, but to the way Dropbox facilitates team collaboration. Especially when that team might be scattered across cities and time zones.
Swag is always a big deal at events like Sundance, so we came prepared with our best tote bags, long sleeve tees, and glad hands.
We also created a special limited-edition book as a giveaway. The book, titled “Hey. I just emailed you two billion files” and other film collaboration stories, was written in a slightly tongue-in-cheek style to signal to filmmakers that we get them. We get the madness of the creative process, the chaos of a movie production. And we’re here to make it better. That’s why the book’s subtitle is, A Dropbox guide to making it work. Click through the carousel below for excerpts.
DROPBOX _ LIVE AND IN PERSON
Events are great ways for brands to connect with the real people who purchase their product and make a statement about a company’s values. At Dropbox, no two events look the same. There is not a standard sponsor booth or installation. Instead, the Brand Studio team customizes an experience to fit the vibe of the event itself and the needs/wants/priorities of the people who will attend.
For example, at TEDX, Dropbox showed up with an infinity booth with a personal message. The theme was “Find Your Flow,” and each attendee could fill in the blanks of a mad lib to describe what the state of flow feels like for them. Then they entered the booth and were immersed in a 360° experience using the words—and synonyms of the words—the attendee had selected. For Adobe Max, the Dropbox booth featured art panels created by local LA artists. And for Dreamforce, sales people were met with a fairly straightforward interpretation of what Dropbox could do for their corporate team. (It was only at the juice bar that we got crazy creative with juice names.) I wrote concepts and copy for all three of these events.
CLIF FAMILY WINERY _ FEED YOUR ADVENTURE
As a freelance project for Chen Design Associates, I wrote a bunch of fun words and phrases to help brand the food truck for the Clif Family Winery in Napa Valley. My work included branding copy that decorates the walls of the tasting room, as well.
