What it had to solve
Sony Mobile was launching the Xperia XZ Premium, whose super slow motion capture, 4K HDR display and High-Resolution Audio were claimed as industry leading. The brief to TMW Unlimited was integrated global video content that would bring those features to life as entertainment rather than spec demonstration.
The idea
Real experiments with unpredictable outcomes — balloons vs statues, cacti and cymbals — that only the phone's 960fps sensor can actually show you
How it works
Three films directed by MindsEye's Charlie Phillips with budding young minds and YouTube inventor Matthew Perks: 'Paint vs Statues' splatters a stark white marble gallery with paint-filled balloons, 'Balloons vs Cacti' drops balloons onto spikes while kids watch on the phone's 4K HDR screen, and 'Powder vs Cymbals' turns powdered paint, a violinist and crashing cymbals into a visual-audio spectacle for Hi-Res Audio. Much of the filming came down to nerve-racking split seconds captured in super slow motion.
What it did
The campaign went live 1 June 2017 across digital and social with influencer support, then ran on TV in the UK, France, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway, backed by print and out-of-home in selected European countries.
Background
For the Xperia XZ Premium, Sony Mobile wanted its genuinely market-leading features — 960fps super slow motion, a crisp 4K HDR display, High-Resolution Audio — demonstrated rather than described. TMW Unlimited answered with experiments where the outcome is genuinely unpredictable and the phone is the only way to see it happen.
Directed by MindsEye's Charlie Phillips with YouTube sensation Matthew Perks and inquisitive children as witnesses, the films include 'Paint vs Statues', where paint-filled balloons hit magnificent marble statues from all directions; 'Balloons vs Cacti', where balloons descend to a spikey fate watched on the device's own display; and 'Powder vs Cymbals', where powdered paint, a violinist and cymbals create beautiful chaos.
Sony Mobile's Lisa Kelly said the content did justice to the market-leading features while giving a fresh perspective through children's eyes; TMW creative director Graeme Noble noted few things bring back child-like wonder in grown-ups, and that much of the filming hung on nerve-racking split seconds captured in super slow motion.
Why it lands
The features were the casting: each experiment could only be witnessed through the capability being sold, making the demo the story.
Children watching lent the films wonder and gave grown-ups a proxy for the awe the phone is supposed to deliver.
Real experiments, not staged fake ones — the split-second unpredictability is exactly what 960fps slow motion exists for.
What you can take
Spec sheets don't travel; spectacle does. Stage a moment only your feature can capture and the product demo becomes the entertainment people share.
Since then
The content rolled out across digital and social channels with influencer support before moving to TV across the UK, France, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and more, with print and out-of-home executions in selected European countries.
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