BMW, Jung von Matt and White Horse Music are Taking the Podcast Charts by Storm

Jul. 06, 2020

Over the first weekend following its release, Hypnopolis entered the podcast charts worldwide in 56 countries. These included Germany, the USA, the UK, Russia, France, and Japan, as well as Columbia, Thailand and Nigeria, to name just a few. Hypnopolis even climbed to Number 1 in 11 countries, and is also among the Top 10 in 43 countries in at least one podcast category. 

Over the course of six episodes and a playtime of 120 minutes, Hypnopolis lures listeners into the year 2063. The former journalist Hope Reiser wakes up from her 30-year prison term in which she was sentenced to sleep for the murder of a man. But she is convinced that she is innocent and fears that the real murderers have waited for her and are watching her. During her 30-year punishment, she has hardly aged and now she is alive in a future that is completely foreign to her, on the search for the truth. 

The world, in which Hope is fighting for her past, seems utopic. The crime rate is nearly nil now that all verdicts are reached and carried out by an artificial intelligence that everyone simply calls “The System.” But it soon becomes clear that the people are paying a high price for this wonderful new reality. Hope has endured a terrible experience and is faced with more than just one life-threatening situation during her investigation. But despite all that, she never loses her unconditional will to do the right thing – even as her own fate depends on it.

The story stems from the pen of the creatives at Jung von Matt/NEXT ALSTER. The agency was able to win over Londoner Robert Valentine for the development of the script, who also took charge of direction. The Science Fiction genre is the forte of this BBC Audio Drama Award winner, who also works, among others, as an author for the audio version of Dr. Who.

White Horse Music is responsible for production and has brought California Music on board as a strong partner. The composition of the theme tune and the more than 20-song soundtrack also comes from White Horse Music. A member of the JvM group, this production and consultancy company for audio content and music has previously realized successful podcasts for Jung von Matt clients. With the international production of Hypnopolis, they have once again been able to prove their competence in this field.  

The artwork created by Jung von Matt/NEXT ALSTER, which is completely in 3D, plays a special role in the marketing of Hypnopolis. The audio teasers, illustrated with elaborate animations, will be released on all the BMW, BMWi, and BMW M social media channels, whereby all posts will be adapted to the respective target group. This means that each of the six episodes will receive its own animations. 

The creation of the Hypnopolis podcast was documented in cooperation with Jung von Matt/PLAY in a three-part mini-series. The first episode covers the role of the BMW brand as a storyteller. The second focuses on the story and lets the author, as well as the speakers, tell their side. And the third episode is about the future world as described in the podcast and about BMW’s vision for the future. When this international project was threatened by lockdowns shortly before the start of production, the movie production team was also faced with a huge challenge. The team at Jung von Matt/PLAY took on videographers in Munich, London, and Los Angeles who filmed under the direction of the team in Hamburg and while adhering to the respective city’s regulations. Cuts of the numerous video conferences where also used for the documentary.  

Benjamin Bruno, Creative Director for Jung von Matt/NEXT ALSTER, said:

“Unlike an ad, for example, we were able to tell a story with Hypnopolis of nearly two hours for BMW for the first time. The result is an enthralling piece of entertainment that subtly transports the brand’s positive vision of the future.”

 

Edwin Okyere, Client Service Director, said:

“We’re happy that we could bundle the many different competences of Jung von Matt and White Horse Music with this innovative format and that the client was so bold to take this exciting path with us.”

 

Julian Krohn, Creative Director and Audio Channel Strategy, said:

“With this novel branded podcast project, we purposefully took a new path together with BMW and explored the limits of the format – also to be able to take away learnings for the next strategic steps in the audio field. For us as White Horse Music, it was a great experience to make this bold vision a reality from the start and to realize the production of a global project in the middle of a lockdown – with a cinematic score soundtrack from Hamburg, author and director from London, and cast of speakers as well as sound effects from L.A.”