Witness Campaign

Introducing a new investigations hub from USA TODAY

CAMPAIGN, STORYBOARD, STYLE FRAMES

WITNESS, a new true crime hub from USA TODAY, is a collection of long-form investigative content with stories from local news brands across the US. As part of the product launch, we were asked to develop a campaign to introduce it to the USA TODAY Network audience, intrigue them to explore the site, and encourage them to subscribe. We wanted to create an air of mystery that would draw viewers in, while honoring the real people at the center of the stories.

PROCESS

60-SECOND INTRO VIDEO STORYBOARD

This longform video was designed to appear on the WITNESS platform, explaining the product offering before users subscribe. We wanted to showcase the product and highlight some of the content to show what subscribers could expect.

Since there was no shoot for the campaign, we had to be creative with the assets from the stories on the platform. I developed a storyboard to show how the overall visual narrative would unfold based on the script, while our motion designer created the 3D elements as proof of concept.

MOTION

We used motion to enhance the interplay of light and shadow within the mark. Since we did not have a shoot for the campaign, we used the wordmark itself as the environment for the video. With close up, cinematic framing, we show pieces of each letter, leaving the viewer to wonder what the full image is. This builds suspense to reveal the brand at the end.

CROSSWORD AD PLACEMENT

We took advantage of USA TODAY's other products to market WITNESS to users who were already engaged with the parent brand. We created a bespoke, immersive experience that integrated with the daily crossword. The glitch effect revealed some of the answers that would be in that day’s true-crime themed puzzle.

PERFORMANCE MARKETING

We marketed WITNESS across the full funnel, including acquisition marketing and engagement emails to current USA TODAY and local news subscribers.