HAMBURG, GERMANY — The new CAN DO DECODED brand book by telecommunications company O2 and creative agency Serviceplan Bubble answers the question of what it takes to be a game changer. Bestselling author Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre interviewed five game-changing personalities who have made an impact on the world, shaped culture, and transformed their success stories into literary portraits on 388 pages.
In the process, it becomes apparent that these personalities are also characterized by a can-do mentality that reflects the brand’s attitude and values. The actual DNA of the “Game Changers” was extracted from saliva samples and added to the book’s printing ink. In addition to the print version, CAN DO DECODED is also available digitally and as an audiobook to the more than 7,000 Telefónica employees.
“Outstanding personalities carry the ‘Game Changer gene’ within them. It is the basis for setting new standards and breaking through conventions. This is the task we set ourselves as a brand every day. This gene is detectable in every drop of printer ink. CAN DO DECODED thus underlines our own game changer claim.” explained Michael Falkensteiner, Director of Brand and Marketing Communications at O2.
Each of the five chapters is dedicated to a Game Changer;
- Sport legend Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized the high jump with his technology.
- Marian Goodell, who, as the co-founder of the Burning Man Festival, inspired an entire Silicon Valley generation.
- Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, who digitized and thus democratized the world’s knowledge.
- Hip-hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash, who shaped an entire genre of music with his skills.
- And Enissa Amani, an Iranian-German comedian, artist, and activist, who demonstrates how a strong attitude can change society.
The characteristics of the Game Changers and thus also their respective “Game Changer Gene” run through the entire book as a design element, starting with the “Liquid Cover.” It contains the DNA ink used to print the entire book. The liquid initially hides the book title and only reveals it when the book is lifted.
The design of each chapter is based on the individual can-do story of the respective Game Changer. Handcrafted typography mimics the trajectory of the legendary Fosbury Flop, melts in the heat of Burning Man, or recalls Enissa Amani’s Persian heritage. Print finishes make black text marks glow on a black background, react to incoming light, or play with the contrast between golden graffiti tags and the grey walls of houses in the Bronx in the seventies.
The book’s paper has the feel of a tartan track on which Dick Fosbury took a run-up for his success; it makes us feel the sand that is omnipresent at Burning Man. Jimmy Wales’ chapter reminds readers of the endless paper of earlier dot-matrix printers, in Enissa Amani’s case of a glossy fashion magazine, and in Grandmaster Flash’s case of the vinyl of a record. The digital version of CAN DO DECODED also exploited its full potential of design through interactive scrollytelling.
“From the very beginning, it was our goal to create a brand book that was not about the brand’s DNA, but carried it within itself. We depict what it means to be a game changer on every single page of CAN DO DECODED, as an inspiration, a guideline, and a common attitude that all O2 employees embody,” shared Leif Johannsen and Patrick Matthiensen, Managing Creative Partners of Serviceplan Bubble.
The brand book was developed by O2 and Serviceplan Bubble. The agency was also responsible for the implementation of the project. Drive by Heroes was responsible for the production, Plan.Net for the website design, Siepmann GmbH for the printing of the brand book, and German Wahnsinn for the audiobook production. All rights related to the Game Changers, including their DNA samples, have been cleared by Spark Marketing Entertainment.
CREDITS:
Client: Telefónica Deutschland
Agency: Serviceplan Group
Alexander Schill: Global Chief Creative Officer
Till Diestel: German Chief Creative Officer
Serviceplan Berlin
Myles Lord: Managing Director
Serviceplan Bubble
Leif Johannes, Patrick Matthiensen: Managing Creative Partner
Lars Holling: Managing Partner
Pavel Bondarenko: Creative Art Director
Sabrina Schwartz: Client Service Director
Jennifer Grünsfeld, Nico Lohmann, Anna-Lena Munsch, Johanna Pitz: Account Manager
Max Seidler, Daniel Steller: Creative Director Text
Jonas Rupert Bolzenius: Senior Art Director
Tudor Cucu: Head of Design
Plan.Net Berlin GmbH & Co. KG
Birgit Baier: Managing Director
Christopher Schmidt: Management Supervisor
Eric Wicker: Creative Director
Doro Wilczek: Senior Art Director
Lucy Eschenbach: CX Strategist
Plan.Net Technology GmbH
Ret Lauterbach: General Manager Development & Sourcing
Michael Licinac: Technical Project Manager
Hannes Wilsdorf: Junior IT Project Manager
Serviceplan MAKE
Jennifer Schulz: Senior Integrated Producer / Art Buying
Serviceplan Group SE
Dennis Fritz: Creative Director Art
Margarita Nikolajeva: Junior Motion Designer
Gergely Kozma: Senior Motion Designer
Mediaplus Germany
Michal Kusmierz: Junior Motion Designer
nhbNEXT GmbH & Co. KG
Felicitas Stahnke: Senior Producer
Dennis Tiedemann, Stefan Gosch: Motion Design
Studio Oeding GmbH
Katrin Oeding: Managing Director and Creative Direction
Marcel Kohr, Katherina Vetter: Project Manager
Stella Kornfeld: Art Director
Tim Ballaschke: Junior Art Director
Druckerei Siepmann GmbH
Mark Siepmann: Managing Director
Julia Strauch: Print- & Media Management and Consulting
Drive by Heroes GmbH & Co. KG
Tobias Rudloss: CEO
Fabian Koplin: Production Management
Buchbinderei Warnecke GmbH & Co. KG
Holger Warnecke: Managing Director
Spark Marketing Entertainment
Kathrin Heinemann, Matthias Bauss, Patrizia Caruselli: Managing Partner
German Wahnsinn GmbH
Ralf Lippmann, Eduardo Garcia: Voice Director
Moritz P.G. Katz: Composer
Chris Hellmich: Sounddesigner
Rabea Debus: Casting
