Hewlett Packard - Live Webcast

HP’s Personal Systems Group in the Middle East, Mediterranean and Africa required an exciting, engaging campaign that would raise brand awareness and capture the attention of 18-25 year-olds. The ‘Design Your Personal Life’ competition brought together live music events in four countries over a series of simultaneous satellite broadcasts directed and produced by Unique Media TV. A complex logistical, organisational and technical challenge, the contest required a full crew in each location with one central team directing all the feeds and producing the hour-long live final. Local events took place in Athens, Dubai, Istanbul and Johannesburg, with the production team managing all four live broadcasts in London.

“HP wants to create a true online experience. Technology links people from different places; and HP wants to leverage this to help communities share their values, cultures, designs and lifestyle.” – Patricia Trodd, Marketing Manager, Personal Systems Group, HP Middle East.

In the lead up to the competition, an interactive microsite was developed for each country, where local bands could submit their tracks for the public vote. The most successful bands were put through to take part in the live events, all of which took place on the same evening and were streamed live on their local microsites. Winners were chosen via online and SMS voting, with a percentage of the proceeds going to local charities.

The evening culminated in the live final which took place across all four cities. The winners from each country competed to win HP Products and advertising and promotional opportunities. South Africa’s ‘jacSharp’ were the overall winners, and were offered a development deal by More Music, South Africa’s newest independent record label.

The Unique Media TV team were not only able to manage the filming and streaming of four simultaneous live events in separate countries, but also to combine them into a cohesive and hugely successful broadcast. After the event, Unique Media TV were responsible for the creation and production of press kits which were distributed worldwide, as well as working with media partners MTV and Yahoo.