MICROSOFT WINDOWS 10
Swedish Launch Campaign & Hidden-Camera Brand Experience
Client: Microsoft Windows
Art Direction: Linnea Härjerud, Bestis
Creative Direction: Linnea Härjerud, Bestis
Graphic Design: Linnea Härjerud, Bestis
Agency: Louder Family
For the Swedish launch of Windows 10, Microsoft partnered with my old job at Louder Family to communicate one clear message: existing Windows users could upgrade their PCs to Windows 10 for free.
The campaign needed to make the upgrade feel like more than a technical update. It had to feel like a genuine improvement; something exciting, valuable and worth acting on.
Together with the team, I developed the creative platform Upgrade Experience.
Read more about the case under the videos.
Let’s watch some film
The concept
The idea was simple: if Windows 10 could upgrade your computer, the campaign could upgrade your everyday life.
We created a series of unexpected brand experiences in public spaces, giving people the opportunity to exchange ordinary situations for something considerably better.
Anyone with a Windows PC could be upgraded.
Each activation was filmed using hidden cameras and edited into a range of films and shorter formats for digital and social media.
The upgraded bus journey
On a rainy day in central Stockholm, a butler appeared at a bus stop holding a sign that asked:
“Would you like an upgrade?”
People who approached him discovered that upgrading their PC to Windows 10 could also upgrade their journey.
Instead of taking the bus, selected participants were driven to their destination in a luxury car, complete with champagne and strawberries.
The upgraded DreamHack experience
At DreamHack, a team of around twenty butlers rewarded visitors who upgraded their computers to Windows 10 with gaming and technology-related gifts.
The activation expanded across the festival, with stage announcements and hundreds of attendees raising their hands and chanting “Windows 10” together.
Participants could also enter a competition to upgrade their journey home. Two winners left DreamHack by helicopter.
The upgraded entrance
At the Dustin Expo in Stockholm’s Globe Arena, we created a dedicated VIP cloakroom for visitors who had upgraded to Windows 10.
Two particularly adventurous guests were also offered an upgraded entrance to the event.
Instead of walking through the doors, they were lowered into the exhibition from the roof of the arena, arriving in the middle of the crowd.
The campaign
I worked across the complete creative development of the launch, including concept, art direction, graphic design and the visual expression of the campaign.
By transforming a software update into a series of real-world experiences, the campaign made the Windows 10 promise immediate, entertaining and easy to understand.
The hidden-camera films were adapted for multiple platforms and spread widely through social media, turning the Swedish launch into a highly shareable campaign built around surprise, participation and one simple idea:
Upgrade your PC. Upgrade your experience.