Special things tend to happen when the right pair is able to bring out the best in one another; think De Niro and Scorsese working together.
Reaching for similar heights of creative excellence is a new agreement between Nokia and DreamWorks Animation, which was announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday.
This cooperation offers the tantalising possibility of a new mobile experience that is dynamic, immersive and genuinely thrilling. It’s not just about doing something well, but about doing something that’s never been done before.
Intrigued? Let’s start this story back at the very beginning.
Finding each other
Jim Mainard is DreamWorks Animation’s Head of Digital and New Business Development.
About 18 months ago, he started exploring the possibility of creating a mobile experience that would push the very limits of mobile hardware and operating systems.
“I was really looking to create a unique and immersive experience that would require deep collaboration with an innovative mobile platform. The Global Partner and App Development team at Nokia not only saw the vision, but improved upon it, and rallied the amazing talent at Nokia to bring it to life,” Jim told Conversations in a quiet room amidst the chaos and noise of Mobile World Congress.
“It’s important to differentiate our products in this very competitive mobile space. Nokia’s platform provided just the right mix of capabilities including the HERE location assets.”
So, Nokia has great services and innovative hardware; DreamWorks Animation has beloved characters and movies with which families and kids love to engage – Shrek, Madagascar, Puss in Boots and How to Train Your Dragon, to name a few. Put all those elements together and something magical will surely happen…
The experience
Mainard and his colleague, Kelley Avery, DreamWorks Animation’s Head of Worldwide Franchise Strategy and Distribution, teased us with a few morsels of what we have to look forward to.
“Some of the strong elements, for at least the first service that we are building together, will encompass augmented reality with location-based services wrapped around one of our beloved franchises,” said Mainard.
Avery added:
“When people engage with our movies and our characters, they want to walk away from the theatre and live that experience. I think the one thing that really attracts us to Nokia is that through our new mobile platform, families can have a deeper experience with our brand and characters.
“They can create their own story every day and live their own adventure, which is what they want to do. They want to play the games, read the books and know everything about these characters.”
More details will be unveiled later in 2013 when the app becomes available. In the meantime, like in any good story – we’re pretty certain the ultimate reveal will be well worth the wait.