Behind the Scenes

Leica X-U

Leica’s new X–U camera needed to make a splash, so we got it a lot wetter than normal cameras should get. We needed to communicate that the X–U is rugged, utilitarian tool for content creation — waterproof, shockproof, shatterproof, and dustproof. No better way to do it than put it through a few well–staged ‘tests’ and document the process, as stunningly as possible. Back to project.

There is no right or wrong way to start a project. I like to start in my sketchbook with a blank page, and just dribble out ideas, sketching any little thing that can help me navigate the process.

A lot of it goes unpublished, is used for office basketball, or raises a few client eyebrows. But what it does is help separate ideas that work from the ones that don’t. All these little sketches helped Zooom Productions eventually execute and release a full–scale product launch campaign that even set new standards for Leica.

Every tool we created — positioning papers, communication concepts, proof of concepts, campaign launch, newsletter, social media toolkit … started with a pen and piece of paper.

Most ‘adventure’ cameras are glorified GoPros. The X–U has professional level specifications — a large APS–C CMOS sensor, and a Leica f/1.7 SPH lens, and has been designed with help from Audi — above all, our campaign had to communicate this high value clearly without explicitly stating it.

The campaign concentrates on showing powerful imagery and dramatizes “all conditions” usage to differentiate the Leica X–U from other Leica products. The camera was exposed to severe conditions, while capturing powerful moments.

Our initial campaign concepts were designed to create interest in the camera’s rugged capabilities, while later stages of the campaign showed it in action. Ready to board the train? Keep reading.

After a finely tuned imagery of the ‘teaser’ stage of the campaign, it was time to get real. The X–U went on an adventure with photographer and Leica Ambassador Jody MacDonald as she chased a surfer taking the Mauritanian Railway, an iron ore train that runs through the desert, to surf at a ship graveyard.

Water and sand were the perfect setting for compelling visuals and telling the story of the X–U as a real–deal adventure cam. Read more about Jody’s adventure here.