Salesforce’s video “This Is A Mask” tells the story of the many fast-moving, integrated people and partnerships it took to bring 60 million units of urgently needed PPE to frontline workers at the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic. A call from UCSF Medical Center to Salesforce’s co-founder and CEO, Marc Benioff, initiated a chain reaction to find and deliver PPE to frontline workers around the world. The film showed the experience of a small group of Salesforce employees at the center of the story, and also urged viewers to wear a mask during the pandemic.
Salesforce’s commitment to “business as a platform for change” was the driving force behind this effort. What is unique about this particular piece is the story and the circumstances that led to the end result. The world was in crisis and Salesforce stepped up and delivered. They walked the walk. And they brought other businesses and partners along with them to help in the effort. Salesforce then chose kaboom to help them tell this story in an impactful way. The entire project took five weeks from concept to delivery, which anyone in the agency or production world knows is a herculean effort….executed during a pandemic no less.
To tell the story behind this massive undertaking, kaboom employed a collaborative partnership and a seamless integration of creativity from concept to delivery. For kaboom, the project began by integrating sister company BANG, a collective of talent providing creative concepting and ideation for brands and agencies. kaboom EP lauren schwartz assembled the creative team of Dylan DiBona and Peter Rudy from BANG’s network to develop an uplifting, high-energy concept working collaboratively with the team at Salesforce.
As tone and approach were honed, the production team, including director duo Plummer/Strauss, were integrated into the process for creative continuity and efficiency. With time of the essence, Plummer/Strauss basically took the bones of the creative- a great piece of writing and storytelling with some loose ideas around visuals -- and made it their own. Visuals were being crafted literally as production prep was happening. The availability or lack thereof of various locations often would drive the concepts around the visuals and visa versa.
No great piece of content happens without an incredibly smart and talented client supporting the process, and that was certainly the case for this project. The collaboration between kaboom and Salesforce was as open and collaborative as the larger effort they sought to present in the piece itself.
The project was also one of the first larger-scale production projects undertaken in the Bay Area with COVID-safe protocols. Needless to say- everyone wore masks!
Supporting Articles about the initiative:
https://www.salesforce.com/blog/source-personal-protective-equipment-crisis/
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/salesforce-delivers-ppe-to-state-of-new-york/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/28/business/coronavirus-marc-benioff-salesforce.html