9/12: The Untold Story of Reconnecting New York

What happened on 9/11 is forever etched into our memories. Unknown to many, however, is what happened the next day—on 9/12. Just one block from Ground Zero, thousands of Verizon employees risked their lives and ran toward a crisis to help reconnect New York. So on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we honored those brave men and women from 2001, in a one-day, real-time virtual event, exclusively for Verizon employees.

A story that’s never been told—in a way that’s never been done.

To deliver the virtual experience, we used the latest form of communication back in 2001: texting. We created a first-of-its-kind multimedia platform with existing applications, leveraging every native tool within a text conversation, for a one-day, real-time, immersive MMS experience. An invitation went out for users to join the event on 9/12 and 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 who were there.

Awards:

Andy Awards Gold
Cannes Lions Gold
Clio Awards Gold, Silver, Bronze
D&AD 1 Yellow, 3 Wood, 1 Merit
One Show Gold, 3 Bronze, 1 Merit

ADC Bronze
Webby Awards 3X Winner, People's Choice
Shorty 5x Winner, 1 Bronze, 1 Audience Honor

Step into the interactive timeline of 9/12.

Existing apps create a new, built-in immersive storytelling format. Viewers receiveda series of personal, poignant employee stories at the times of day they actually happened on September 12th, 2001. The MMS experience was complimented by a mobile website to guide them throughout the day.

Firsthand accounts from 2001.

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

Honoring the employees of the past. Impacting the employees of today.

With +300k text messages sent on the day of the event, Verizon employees from all across the country joined and shared in this uniquely personal and collective experience, honoring their colleagues who were there.