Firefox compatible

Client: Verizon
Creative Agency: R/GA

Verizon wants to show the world two things: that broadband is much more than just emailing, IMing, and surfing the internet for information, and that because of broadband, the internet is a platform for collaborating, creating, sharing, and moving your imagination forward. This site is part of Verizon’s "Richer. Deeper. Broader." corporate branding effort, designed to build brand perception of Verizon as a broadband and entertainment company, especially among the many people who still think of us as the phone company.

We thought the way to really accomplish this in the broadband channel was by creating a series of highly entertaining experiences at the cutting edge of what is possible online. We developed a strategy we called "Walking the Walk" and came up with concepts and ideas that have broadband at their core. The Verizon Beatbox Mixer is the first of these projects.

These entertaining features speak to everyone's passion in such areas as music, movies, technology, and more. Beatbox Mixer targets consumers through their passion for music. We were looking for a breakthrough idea that would marry entertainment and technology. Beatboxing seemed like a natural fit-- it is such an inherently amazing art form, especially at the level achieved by the talent involved in this project.

We wanted to keep the site true to and respectful of beatboxing as an art, and this helped us attract five of the best beatboxers in the world-- including Rahzel of The Roots, who is a celebrity in his own right.

The process entailed an extremely close collaboration between creative, technology, and production, in addition to outside consultants, like Kid Lucky and Baba Isreal who have in-depth knowledge of the beatboxing and hip-hop communities.

The team was challenged with a very unique set of deliverables-- individual bits of music video that a user could fit together in trillions of different ways. This result was a site that is unique for a number of reasons. It is clearly designed to take advantage of broadband, and there are a number of technological firsts involved (this kind of interactive music video has not really been done before). It is also an example of where we see the advertising industry heading-- compelling brand-experience work, with great production values, that delivers a powerful brand message through user interaction.
-- Jay Zasa, associate creative director, R/GA

Verizon's Beatbox Mixer is a well-produced interactive experience. It enables users to collaborate, create beats and share them with others. While beatbox mixers have been done multiple times, Verizon's stands out for its functionality. It's pretty easy to use and very intuitive. It enables the user to pick three out of five artists, pick a lead and start jamming and recording right away.

You can also change the background graphics, though in my opinion this could have been done in a more exciting way. I also would have loved if the user could add some instruments and if the timeline had more layers. The most exciting part for me was comparing my beats to other users' beats. Altogether, it's a nicely and well-produced experience, which lightened up my day.
-- Mike Geiger, department head, interactive production, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners

With this site, Verizon promises to “open a new world of entertainment,” and they’ve come through on that promise. The talent chosen for this site is jaw dropping, it goes to show how far the beatbox craft has evolved from the days of the Fat Boys mouthing the drum solo to “Wipe Out.”   

While the mixing console was a fun way to take control of the beatboxers skills, the best part of this very well designed site for me was “the scene,” where they lay out the documentary footage. There are some great additional viral video opportunities with those beatboxers, so we’ll see if they leverage that down the road. It also would be a cool addition to have one of the beatboxers on the site do a "How to beatbox" segment.  

So big applause to the talent they chose, the site design, and the overall idea. When Verizon says their “broadband opens a whole new world of entertainment,” they really did that by opening up the beatbox world for me. And they’ve entertained me beyond that, since I’ve gone on to learn more about those artists and have worked them into my iTunes playlist.
-- Brian Linder, art director, Click Here

The Verizon Beatbox's success relies on its engaging interactivity with an interesting creative. We've seen plenty of campaigns with music mixers, which seem a bit dated and pedestrian (whack) by now. But the Verizon Beatbox brings a fresh edge to the mixer platform. I enjoyed the fact that they have the "Share the love" viral element where you can send your beatbox mix to your colleagues (homies). The Beatbox backstory is an excellent way to educate consumers about the history of this art form. And it's in video, too! The Real Deal is the part where Verizon brought the brand name into the mix more but gave good reasons. Basically, broadband access makes these interactive and collaborative platforms possible. The brand is seen on all the pages but it's not in-your-face marketing. The design is great and the navigation easy and minimal. Overall, I give it props.
-- Roger Park, news editor, iMedia