To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Verizon created “9/12: The Untold Story of. Reconnecting New York.”

This one-day, real-time immersive MMS experience used AR, VR, audio, and interactive media to tell the stories of the Verizon employees who were at the badly damaged corporate headquarters that connected Lower Manhattan and Wall Street and their part in the restoration efforts that were crucial for the comeback of the city and the nation.

It’s a story that’s never been told in a format never used before, text messages. In 2001, it was the latest way to communicate, and in 2021, the most personal. We created a first-of-its-kind experience with existing applications, leveraging every native tool within a text conversation. We invited users to join the event on 9/12 that put them in the shoes of Verizon employees who sprang into action to reconnect NewYork after the terrorist attacks.

Throughout the day, participants received new texts every hour—at the times of day, the events actually happened twenty years ago—putting them in the shoes of the employees there. Over 300,000 MMSes were sent out on the launch day alone. Our success stemmed from creating a meaningful brand experience for our employees, resulting in a 99.86% engagement rate.

Interviews were conducted with hundreds of employees who were on the ground in 2001 to create a timeline of events and recount their experiences for employees in 2021. These interviews were filmed on location at 140 West St to be used as short-form videos and recorded for long-form podcast episodes for the MMS experience.