)
SAIL Amsterdam
)
The United by Waves edition of SAIL was one for the books: 50 years of SAIL, the 10th edition and 750 years of Amsterdam were celebrated together by millions of people in and around the waters of Amsterdam. After 10 years of absence, we worked together to create a new strategy and high impact visuals for this incredible event.
The challenge
Since the last edition of SAIL took place 10 years ago, there was no media production team. The challenge for us was not only to create a new team for the event, but also to build up a completely new and impactful visual strategy.
SAIL Amsterdam is a huge event, taking place in different areas of the city, with hundreds of thousands of visitors from around the world every day. So, apart from the strategic side of this event, we also had to tackle the logistics. Our team had to be at the right place at the right time.
Our visuals needed to be top-tier, to showcase the scale and impact of the event and to connect the different target audiences of the organisation on different platforms. And: we had to make sure the footage was delivered mostly on the same day to be posted online.
)
)
We turned a complex event into a cohesive visual story through daily recaps, cinematic storytelling, and human-focused imagery.
The approach
In just two months, we wrote a content strategy together, representing the story and background of the organisation. We created an operational production planning for the five different days of SAIL, deciding what people we needed on our team, how they were going to move from A to B during the event and how we would secure all our footage.
What we created:
High quality photos - From all key moments to the small moments between people
Snippets - To highlight the essence of some of the most important subevents
Daily recaps - To look back on the different days of the event
A captivating endfilm - Not your typical aftermovie, but a video that tells the narrative of SAIL; United by Waves
With a team of 25 people and 30 volunteers, we came together in a hotel in the heart of Amsterdam, where we managed the whole production. We had different creatives, capturing the greatness of the event, the small moments and the people who made it happen.
And to capture all of it from the sky, we used drones in the most limited and secured part of the Netherlands. To be able to do this, we had to communicate with Air Traffic Control, local municipality and the authorities for safety. You can imagine the challenge this brought, given the immensely populated waterways in Amsterdam.
)
The results
Despite all the challenges, we made a big impact and we are very proud of the results. SAIL 2025 was one of the biggest dutch events of all time online, with a reach of more than 3 billion worldwide. Not only did we create high quality videos, a complete photo album and a powerful endfilm, we also managed to make an impact within the organisation.
With our different content forms, we managed to appeal to a large and very broad audience, engaging them at different times with different messages, yet with consistently high quality.
)
)
)
)
Let’s create better together!
Do you want high-end visuals that tell your story and really make an impact? Let’s talk!
)