Dropbox wants you to rethink your files in a new collaboration with Instrument

“Files are more than just files,” says Dropbox in the announcement of its new five-year collaboration with creative agency Instrument. Titled For All Things Worth […], the campaign aims to humanise file storage by digging deep into the stories behind the documents on its platform, as seen through the experiences of eight Dropbox users.

Those included in the Customer Videos series are photographer and entrepreneur Benita Nnachortam, who shares the story of how art can foster change; and Chaz Bear, AKA Toro y Moi, whose story is about this musical alias and a Dropbox folder called “Human Research” that “gives a glimpse inside the mind of Chaz himself,” as the press release describes. Dominique King is a graphic designer who’s also involved in the content series, and their story is about a “Mexican family chasing the American dream and, as a result, gradually losing a connection to their heritage.”

Elsewhere, Dropbox plans to place its customers’ stories front and centre through a series of OOH Experiences (referencing out-of-home advertising). The campaign will feature in locations such as Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and will be shown in kiosks, bulletins, wallscapes (i.e. advertisements attached to or painted on walls), digital bulletins, barricades and more. Additionally, MTV Cribs but make it Dropbox is another part of the series that sees Instagram Stories “unpack a set of artefacts” from Dropbox customer’s folders “one at a time, and dig into their story and meaning,” states the release. Meanwhile, a new advertising design system have been constructed by Instrument and Dropbox, making way for a fresh editorial voice and language to tell the stories of the files.

There are many narratives to be unearthed in this new campaign, “from passion projects to community collaborations,” as written on the site, along with “gold-medal dreams to family legacies.” For All Things Worth […] also highlights Dropbox’s work with Creativity Explored, a non-profit that partners with artists who have disabilities. After closing the studio over the pandemic, Creativity Explored used Dropbox to “help the artists save, showcase and sell their original work.” More information about the campaign can be found here and, above all, Dropbox hopes that you will start to “rethink” your own files, and how “they are worthy of a safe space to live,” says the release.