The Fitbit Stress Symphony set out to enable people to experience an emotional, activity-focused journey through 2020. Created in harness with agency The Harbour Collective, composer Ben Palmer and sound designer Aston Rudi, the team combined de-identified and aggregated Fitbit data from UK users collected between 1 January and 6 September 2020 – which included users average active minutes, sleep duration and resting heart rate – with search trends and social media sentiment to create the musical score.
This data set was then translated into an epic, emotive and original composition which was recorded at the Barbican Centre in London (in compliance with COVID-19 safety precautions of course). The music blended a 20-piece orchestra (The Covent Garden Sinfonia) conducted by Palmer with Rudi’s urban electronic sound.
The idea behind the project was based around the relationship between exercise, sleep and stress. Stress levels fluctuate, just like music, and yet the impact of stress can be invisible and unconscious, so recognising stress is a key way to help you manage it more effectively and this can then contribute positively to overall health and wellbeing.
The aim was to transform stress into something beautiful, as well as to give users and consumers a moment to reflect on the impact of the stress experienced this year and to also remind them of the unexpected moments of joy.
The project followed on from a Fitbit research study which found that 75% of UK respondents admitted to experiencing stress this year – either due to the news surrounding Covid-19, their physical health, or job concerns. Indeed, 33% said that 2020 has been the most stressful year of their life.
The initiative was them amplified across Fitbit’s digital and social channels.
The Harbour Collective Creative Partner Mick Mahoney said: “Fitbit’s message was simple. In a world that is out of your control and causing increasing numbers of us to feel more and more stressed, Fitbit can help you to manage your stress levels and be healthier mentally and physically as a result.
Composer and Conductor Ben Palmer added: “For me, the big moment was actually seeing the data collated into a visual graph for the first time. The basic shape felt quite similar to my own experience of 2020, and so that made a great starting point to sit down and begin sketching out the musical material. The Fitbit and other data was turned into weekly segmented stress management graphs and once I’d calculated how long each week should be in the music, it was a case of finding the big moments (such as the start of lockdown, BLM protests etc.) where I really wanted the changes of mood in the music to be precisely synchronised with the data, and where the flow of the music could express the emotion of the moment.
The campaign was created for Fitbit’s marketing team (which includes Joanne Savage, Amy Lyons, Lucy Sheehan, Harriet Cameron Little) by creative agency The Harbour Collective where the group was led by Creative Partner Mick Mahoney, Strategy Partner Kev Chesters, Client Partner ML Robinson and Project Manager Maddy Macrae.
With further input from Prettygreen Creative Directors Emma Grace and Emma Carson and Production Partner The Producers with Project Director Emily Koppit, Executive Producer Amelia Farhang, PR Lead Kate Gard, Account Director Chris Batchelor, Director Harry Cauty, Composer/Conductor Ben Palmer, Sound Design/Producer Aston Rudi and the Covent Garden Sinfonia.
Comment:
This stats driven symphony turned data on people’s exercise and stress into an orchestral journey through the year’s ups and downs and it is certainly a fascinating and creative way to explore and promote Fitbit’s product range and its purpose.
The research followed March’s European launch of the ‘Fitbit Sense’ feature: which offers users a ‘Stress Management Score’ to enable them to quantify how much stress is being experienced.
There is an increasingly impressive body of data driven creative sports marketing emerging in 2020 with other notable examples including ‘The R&A and NTT’s Open For The Ages’ and ‘AELTC & IBM’s The Greatest Championships’ to name just two.
Whilst some of our favourite recent orchestral sound/audio sports activation have included Finnish beer brand Sinebrychoff’s ‘Red Classics‘ initiative with ice hockey side HIFK and Bjorn Borg’s ‘Smart Symphony‘.
Links:
Fitbit
The Harbour Collective
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