Every Day Is Game Day for Taylor James

Is there any better canvas for a visual artist to paint on than an iconic Times Square billboard? This was the canvas that Smirnoff, the World’s No.1 Vodka, presented Taylor James with earlier this month.

Known for their innovative creative solutions and powerful storytelling capabilities, Taylor James’ team of problem solvers were tasked with creating monster-sized motion graphics for Smirnoff’s latest campaign, “Heads or Cocktails?” 

As the official vodka sponsor of the NFL, Smirnoff wanted to reimagine the pregame coin toss by creating an opportunity for fans to win free swag. Intended to stop New Yorkers in their tracks, the ultimate coin toss would offer the chance to win a series of Smirnoff products or NFL merch on the countdown leading up to the first NFL game day. 

With the new NFL season kicking off on September 7th, Taylor James were working to a very tight deadline: the design, production and execution all had to be completed within a week. 

Times Square typically has some of the heaviest foot traffic in the Big Apple so, with no time to lose, the first-rate creatives put their heads together to engineer a billboard that would make as many people engage with the competition as possible. 

Pre-production started with a number of style frames featuring an intricate kaleidoscopic reimagining of the iconic Smirnoff bottle. The visuals had to fit within the tall and long dimensions of One Times Square which stands at a whopping 200 ft. 

Then, through a series of intricate animation development sessions, the team successfully created a 45-second animation that not only conveyed the message to enter, but also revealed the coin flip that gets you to the contest displayed in a colourful and captivating way.

Projected on the unmissable One Times Square billboard, prominently located in the centre of the square, bystanders simply could not miss the captivating coin toss.

In addition to the billboard, Taylor James also successfully delivered a series of 15-second social video adaptations with QR codes that lead to the microsite which expands the messaging over social media and websites. 

Considering the seemingly impossible timeline, Taylor James rallied together to produce a creative execution of epic proportions, featuring the tallest bottle in Times Square.