Blk-Ops is an agency born out of Hollywood, built for brands. 

Founded by film producer Andrew Panay, Blk-Ops is at the forefront of enabling creative talent to work with brands. 

Our team is comprised of Hollywood creative minds and visionaries who use their filmmaking talents to solve marketing challenges through brand strategy, storytelling and design. 

Blk-Ops successfully merges the worlds of Hollywood and Madison Avenue to create more engaging brand stories through dynamic ideas and collaboration. 

Everything we do starts with the North Star. 

We look inward to identify the soul of a company, and create, renew or rediscover a philosophy that is connective, human and emotional.  We strategize and look outward, at our competitors and our audience, to ensure that our message is unique and will break through.

The North Star is our anchor, and from this we create, produce and distribute content across ALL platforms, from broadcast to social to experiential.

We Restore and Evolve Brands

In our experience, we have found that the most effective way to reposition, rebrand and relaunch an organization comes down to two words: stay simple.

Staying simple might seem like an easy answer, but capturing the countless details, ideas and points of view from the people who are transforming a core business and distilling them into a relatable and inspiring message is anything but easy.

Microsoft SURFACE Brand Identity

In 2012, Microsoft was at a crossroads. While they were still one of the world’s largest tech companies, their stock price had been stagnant for a decade, their consumer base had grown apathetic, and their competitors had surpassed them both in product growth and public perception.

Microsoft was in need of a change, and with a growing focus on hardware and Cloud technologies, plus the invigorating energy of a new CEO, they were poised for a comeback. They just needed a push.

As Microsoft prepared to release Surface—their first foray into hardware—we knew that for the product to succeed, it needed to feel fresh and different from anything Microsoft had done before.

microsoft surface launch spot

We collaborated with the Surface team on everything from packaging and logo design to creative concepts for a global product launch. 

We made a big splash with our TVC—a youthful, colorful and inspirational dance/movement spot that introduced the world to Surface in a style unique to Microsoft and untouched by their competitors. 

Our explosive TVC went viral and kicked off a global campaign that spread across broadcast, digital, print/OOH, social, retail, in-store and experiential platforms.

Microsoft Surface Global Outdoor

Microsoft brand identity

Launching a product was only one part of Microsoft’s transformation. To revitalize this sleeping giant, we looked to their legacy. What we saw was a company that had changed the world.

Microsoft has always built tools that empower people to do incredible things, so we produced a commercial that highlighted Microsoft’s legacy of empowerment, transforming them from an austere technology corporation into the human company they’ve always been at their core.

Super Bowl 2014

In this brand campaign, we took a hard look at what Microsoft stood for and created a renewed vision for the company in one simple yet powerful phrase: “Empowering us all.”

Satya Nadella, the incoming CEO, adopted our vision. What began as a marketing slogan went on to become the mission statement for the entire company.

Microsoft Brand Logo Evolution

As part of the Microsoft brand revitalization, we created a fresh redesign of the Microsoft logo. 

Building upon the idea that Microsoft is a company defined by the incredible things people do with its technology, we turned the logo into a mosaic constructed of our customers’ stories and innovations, enabling us to tell their stories in an authentic and emotive way.

TVC and digital videos resolve into an animation of the Microsoft logo as it slowly reveals that each story is just one of many that make up the Microsoft brand. Each spot ends inside the small square of the logo, in a unique, ownable visual identifier.

This redesign impacted everything across the company, from broadcast, digital and print/OOH to internal signage and presentation materials.

Print/OOH, Digital, and Social Evolution

Print/OOH and digital design leveraged our new logo to create compelling, evocative content. Located in airports, train stations and other high-visibility environments, these designs not only told a story but did so using identifiable brand elements.

Microsoft Cloud

Our brand campaign continued to lift the perception of Microsoft. As Nadella positioned Microsoft for a “Cloud-first, mobile-first world,” our campaign expanded to tell that business-solutions story.

In less than three years of running this campaign, Microsoft has become one of the world's leading Cloud providers. 

PGA

hardware

This new Microsoft was no longer just a software company: they were also now a Cloud and a hardware company, and it was vital that the hardware message be consistent with the themes of our Empowerment campaign. But these messages couldn’t be limited to TV commercials.  

We wanted to create a cohesive narrative that included the product launches. In addition to our broadcast commercials, we crafted speeches and created videos to introduce new products to the world.  

the next chapter

On our  journey, we have helped transform Microsoft from an austere software corporation to the human and emotional company that empowers every person and organization to do—and achieve—more.

Now, the journey continues with an evolved message, a new vision that lets the world know where Microsoft is going and that their best days are ahead.