Niantic’s first-ever brand campaign by Gravity Road is a paean to exploration

The AR product and platform company behind Pokemon Go sets an inspiring tone in spot

By Creative Salon

18 November 2021

Niantic, makers of Ingress, Pokémon GO, and Pikmin Bloom, have released their first ever brand campaign.

“Meet You Out There” by Gravity Road showcases the gaming company’s vision for humanity and technology.

The film, directed by Julien and Quentin of Pulse Films and shot in Madrid, underlines Niantic’s mission to use technology to inspire people to move outdoors and connect with each other, enriching their experience of the real world. It reveals the fantastical airship (ARship) to the world for the first time.

The two minute film comes after the appointment of Gravity Road by Niantic earlier this year.

The campaign launches ARship Niantic, an AR embodiment of the company’s most distinctive asset, the Niantic logo - a reference to the historic Gold Rush era ship Niantic - suspended below a hot air balloon. The AR logo was also hinted at by CEO John Hanke’s recent keynote speech about the real-world metaverse.

The global drive comprises several key elements, including a brand film, which has an innovative technology-led premiere, dynamic design work bringing to life Niantic’s airship logo, collaborations with artists and influencers, and a huge range of social and outdoor assets, as well as an employee event day celebrating National Hiking Day in the US.

The campaign was teased with a short film shot on micro-drones and distributed on social channels in October. The strategic direction of all the creative work is driven by Niantic’s vision of the real-world metaverse.

Gravity Road led the comms planning for the campaign. As part of the global brandtech group You & Mr Jones' other group companies are plugged into the launch activity, including You & Mr Jones Media, (launched April 2021) and influencer company Collectively. The film was shot by Pulse films and design work was done by Buck and Territory.

Niantic director of Worldwide Product Marketing, Archit Bhargava, says: “Every day, Niantic products encourage our global community to get outside, explore and connect with one another. This brand campaign - our first ever - celebrates our mission and global community, and we couldn’t have asked for anyone better than Gravity Road to help bring it to life.”

Gravity Road cofounder, Mark Boyd says: “Niantic’s most distinctive asset, its logo, embodies their spirit of exploration and optimism. We referenced it early on as the ‘magical ice cream truck of joy in the sky’. With a lot of talk about the metaverse in the last few months, it is exciting to see an ambitious company like Niantic create work that brings the physical, virtual and social worlds together in such a compelling way. As the good ARship Niantic sets sail, we hope this is the start of a very special brand campaign.”

CREDITS:

Niantic team

CEO: John Hanke

COO: Megan Quinn

CMO: Mike Quigley

VP Brand and Creative: Bill Kilday

Director Worldwide Product Marketing: Archit Bhargava

Product Marketing Manager, Brand: Divya Erram

Director Marketing Strategy & Operations: Brandon Christenson

Social Media: Katherine Chan

Gravity Road team

Founders: Mark Boyd, Mark Eaves