Tomorrow Shapers
The European Patent Office
The Challenge
As lead creative agency for the European Patent Office (EPO), 1000heads was tasked with creating a campaign for the European Inventor Awards.
The European Inventor Award (EIA) is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation awards, honouring individual inventors and teams of inventors whose groundbreaking inventions answer some of the biggest challenges of our time.
The European Patent Office uses the EIA event and the accompanying campaign to reach an audience beyond its immediate community of researchers and inventors deeply involved with innovation, to raise awareness of the importance of innovation, and to position the European Patent Office as an institution that enables innovation, creativity and progress in Europe.
Our challenge was to develop an integrated communication campaign built upon social-first storytelling, that would generate hype around the event and ultimately inspire the next generation of inventors.
Our Solution
Enter… Tomorrow Shapers.
1000heads developed the Tomorrow Shapers brand communication platform and campaign for the European Inventor Awards.
The starting point of the idea was the belief that it is more possible to change the world than is often assumed - this was the common ethos across participants in the EIA.
Tomorrow Shapers celebrates the determination, perseverance and resilience of researchers and inventors from around the world, showcasing the power within everyone to create change and drive progress.
Implementation
The Tomorrow Shapers campaign was brought to life through an integrated social-first approach with the following four components.
ONE: Visual Identity - a new look and identity has been developed, especially for the European Inventor Awards. 1000heads developed a flexible design system to accommodate the multitude of ideas and emotions. The new identity was applied to all aspects of the campaign, including the award ceremony itself.
TWO: Hero Film - the campaign kicked off with a Hero Film, which brings to life the letter of an inventor to her younger self. She talks about her past challenges and the difficult path she had to take to get to where she is today.
THREE: Inventor Archetype Test - An interactive test allowed our community to determine their inventor type, in the form of uniquely generated 3D characters that they could share on their social channels.
FOUR: Creator Collaborations - 19 international voices were activated to accompany each part of the campaign in the run-up to the live show in Valencia. Each creator was matched with one of the EIA Award finalists for an interview to produce exclusive content for their channels.
Impact
The Tomorrow Shapers work helped set new heights for the European Inventor Awards - delivering the biggest and best awards to date.
The campaign was also recognised by the industry with a raft of awards.
Digital Impact Awards
🥇 Best corporate viral campaign
🥈 Best use of digital by a charity, NGO or NFP
🥉 Best use of existing social media platforms
BIMA Awards
🥇 Best in Business
DPOK Awards
🥈 Best in Science, Education & Culture