Decode the Encoded.

Decode the Encoded: The Content Series

The heart of our platform was Decode The Encoded, a content series that provided Black Ambition prize applicants with unprecedented access to thought leaders of today who are changing the world with their ideas and actions. We created a library of evergreen content across a variety of formats, including Keynotes, Workshops, and Office Hours.

The goal of this series was to get inside the heads of exceptional leaders, experts, and entrepreneurs, equipping the audience for their own journey to success. This content wasn’t flashy or didactic – it was practical, helping to give budding founders and visionaries the key to joining in on the entrepreneurial game. In Pharrell’s words: accessing the “cheat codes” that can unlock both the fast-track to success, and help provide the inside access that generations of oppression had worked to seal off.

We focused our production efforts on maintaining and capturing the authenticity of each speaker – who they were as not just as an expert business leader and visionary, but as a human. In large part due to pandemic restrictions, the work was to show this compelling story through the lens of video conference platforms: developing the compelling human stories to connect real world insights, to opportunities to win the Black Ambition Prize money during Demo Day. Many of these exchanges were two-way so Revery leveraged Black Ambition’s existing brand language to soften the sense of boundary – leaning into the expansiveness of space, the ever-changing nature of clouds, and the hypnotic, uplifting tone that served as our antidote to restriction.

Our creative priority with Decode The Encoded was for our content to be grounded and approachable. We shot on iPhone, using two fixed perspectives to create a more dynamic sense of narrative. We incorporated design and motion graphics to build visual resonance around the speakers’ concepts and ideas, and we used typography to emphasize important messaging. Each piece we created became part of a permanent library of content, a cohesive fully-accessible collection that lives on the Black Ambition website.

Demo Day: The Culminating Event

The culmination of our efforts was Black Ambition’s Demo Day – a live, two-day digital event where Black Ambition finalists pitched to investors, and monetary prizes were awarded to the winners: $50,000, $250,000, and a grand prize of $1 million. But Demo Day was more than simply the culmination of Black Ambition’s inaugural year – it was a life-changing opportunity, an experience that celebrated the immeasurable efforts of all Black Ambition’s prize finalists and could launch their potential into the future.

But even with so many moving parts, the result was so much bigger than its individual components. It transcended the rehearsals, the tech calls, and the mutually agreed upon deliverables, and the sum was truly greater than its parts. What we created together was a form of joy after continued years of being overlooked. Even through a digital screen, the human emotion was tangible – exhilaration, tears, countless smiles. For many Black Ambition finalists, this was the first time their work, dedication, and ambition had been met with true support. This wasn’t simply a monetary prize, it was an investment in both a team and their collective future: a long overdue recognition that yes, your idea has always been capable of changing the world.

United Stakes: The Call to Action

This was a unique project for Revery. Black Ambition wasn’t about highlighting a moment, but about contributing to an ever-growing movement. Our goal was to bring euphoric transformation, exciting disruption, and galvanized potential. It’s our united stake in a new, brilliant future.

Where Black Ambition saw a future where ideas could expand, where our differences were our super powers, and where Black and Latinx founders could afford to take big risks, Revery saw where we could help build the support beams. In partnership with our creative network and production teams across the country, we helped to actualize Black Ambition’s mission – in this inaugural year, our true North was in setting a direction for the years of this Prize that will follow.

This is only the beginning – one in which we walk with equal footing, and where the paths and vision we helped to create light the way for future cycles and applicants. We’re excited for where Black Ambition goes next, and what that will mean for our collective, boundless future.