Excel 40th Anniversary

Making Excel culturally relevant for its 40th anniversary by handing it over to creators who treat spreadsheets as a medium for art.

300K+
VIEWS
28K
ENGAGEMENTS
2.79%
ENGAGEMENT RATE
3
BONUS POSTS PER CREATOR
Background

Excel turned 40, with the Excel World Championship as the anchor moment. Microsoft wanted to reach new creative audiences with a brand that’s been part of daily work for four decades.

Challenge

Make Excel culturally relevant to creative audiences without falling back on tutorials, logo spam or traditional product marketing.

Solution

We sourced US creators and briefed them to make highly watchable content powered by Excel’s codes: cells, grids, formulas, and the colour green. Collaborations with creators like Frantic Frames and Janice Journal turned Excel into stop-motion, data-driven, process-forward art.

TLDR;

Turned Excel’s 40th birthday into creator-led art that made a spreadsheet feel cultural.