About me

Diego Nicolau loves design and innovation. When he was a kid his dream was to become an inventor not an astronaut.

I’m a designer, art director, photographer, illustrator and coder whenever I have some spare time. I like to create advertising that doesn’t look like advertising. Like Fiat Safe Key, a new car accessory designed to save lives. Or like SKY Tip, a browser extension that gives you suggestions on what to watch on TV based on what you are browsing on the internet. Or like Fiat Live Store, a two years project that brought a new business model to Fiat Brazil and won an Innovation Cannes Lions in 2014. Or like SKY Rec, an idea that allows all SKY HDTV customers to record TV shows with a single tweet since 2013. Or like Fiat Mio, a collaborative project in which 160 different countries helped Fiat Brazil to shape the world’s first crowdsourced car for the Internacional Trade Show in 2010.

About the project

Fiat Safe Key is an innovative accessory that won't let you drive if you had been drinking.

Fiat is the leading car manufacturer in sales in Brazil and, since 2012, decided to lead a movement for better roads in the country. But more than 31,000 people lose their lives each year in accidents caused by drunk drivers in Brazil (source: Ministry of Health). And despite awareness campaigns, this number continues to grow. Our challenge is to change this strategy, since the awareness campaigns alone have proven to be ineffective.

Simply blow into the Fiat Safe Key where indicated and in less than 1 second, it analyzes the alcohol level in your body. If the driver has consumed alcohol, it will not open. 

Every time that the key identifies alcohol, it automatically will send, through a Bluetooth connection, a voucher with a taxi discount to the driver’s smarphone and an text message to a pre-registered number, informing of their location.

Awards & Recognition

CANNES LIONS

2015, Innovation Lion, Shortlist, Fiat Safe Key

About the project

Sky Tip is a browser extension that gives you suggestions on what to watch on TV based on what you are browsing on the internet in real-time. 

Your interests on the web become your personalized TV program schedule. Sky Tip is a solution that combines a friendly digital tool (browser extension), the use of different types of data-bases, an algorithm of artificial intelligence and real-time information to be able to deliver personal suggestions through a simple and intuitive interface.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

CANNES LIONS

2015, Innovation Creative Data Lion, Shortlist, Sky Tip
2015, Media Lion, Shortlist, Sky Tip
2015, Cyber Lion, Shortlist, Sky Tip

About the project

What if you could go inside your new car through the web? Meet the world's first point-of-view store.

Consumers are used to shopping around online for their next car, and we wanted to increase the chances of that next car being a Fiat. A different way to experience a car online was needed. Only at the Fiat Live Store, users have a guided-tour with an expert introducing every car, answering every question, all totally live. Fiat Live Store makes the digital experience more human and complete, diminishing the gap between virtual experience and the real experience of the car itself. 

In the end, users can schedule a test drive in the nearest Fiat seller. In the first 3 months after the launch, the Fiat Live Store already has impressive numbers: More than 2.000 hours of live streaming Average of 465.000 monthly users 67% of the live tours led to test drives The Fiat Live Store is more than an interactive showroom. It’s a brand new business model.

awards & recognition

Cannes Lions

2014, Innovation Lion, Gold, Fiat Live Store
2014, Media Lions, Bronze, Fiat Live Store

D&AD

2014, Digital Tools, In-Book, Fiat Live Store
2014, Websites&Microsites, In-Book,  Fiat Live Store

The Webby Awards

2015, Interactive Advertising, Winner, Fiat Live Store

Wave Festival

2014, Cyber Craft, Grand Prix, Fiat Live Store
014, Cyber Website, Gold, Fiat Live Store
2014, Cyber Craft, Gold, Fiat Live Store

IF Product Design Award

2014, Product design, Fiat Live Store

Tomorrow Awards

2014, Shortlist, Fiat LiveStore

El Sol

2014, Digital, Gold, Fiat Live Store

El Ojo Iberoamerica

2015, Interactive Tools, Gold, Fiat Live Store

Effie Awards

2014, Launching Campaign, Gold, Fiat Live Store
2014, Services, Silver, Fiat Live Store

PRESS

Fast Company, 2014

"Fiat Brazil Brings the Dealership to Your Home With Live Store"

The Drum, 2014

"Fiat unveils live digital store 'hybrid' project"

PSFK, 2013

"Digital Dealership Lets Shoppers Take Cars For A Spin From Home"

About the project

SkyRec enables people to record television shows through a Twitter hashtag, turning the retweet button into a record button.

SKY HDTV has more than 3.400 hrs of daily programming and 142 different channels, but young people are spending more time on social networks. How can we use social networks to make sure nobody misses another show they like? Every day Sky HDTV Tweets the highlights of their programming. But now, if a Sky client wants to see the program at home later, they just need to retweet with hashtag #SkyRec and the program will be recorded automatically at their home. We basically connected Twitter into the Sky TV's satellite. 

To activate the service, Sky clients just needed to register their twitter profiles on Sky’s Website. SKY’s TV Twitter has become more than just an ad tool. SkyTip is an exclusive service for 1.5M SKY's clients.

awards & recognition

Cannes Lions

2013, Innovation Lion, Shortlist, SkyRec
2013, Media Lion, Shortlist, SkyRec

D&AD

2013, Digital Tools, In-Book, SkyRec

The Webby Awards

2014, Innovation, Nominee, SkyRec

Wave Festival

2014, Brand Utility, Gold, SkyRec

LIA - London International Award

2013, The New, Gold, SkyRec

Tomorrow Awards

2013, Shortlist, SkyRec

PRESS

Advertising Age, 2013

"Recording TV Shows With a Tweet"

The Drum, 2013

"Sky Brazil allows customers to record programmes at home using Twitter with #SKYREC"

Contagious, 2013

"Satellite TV provider lets people record programmes via Twitter"

PSFK, 2013

"Hashtag Lets Viewers Record TV Shows By Tweeting"

About the project

Bringing crowdsourcing to the automotive industry.

Fiat Mio is an innovative and collaborative project. In August 2009 Fiat invited people to think of a car of the future. The company had promised to take these ideas off the page, building a concept car known as Fiat Mio. The result became the world's first crowdsourcing car and one of the main highlights of the Internacional Automobile Trade Show in São Paulo, 2010.

For the first time in history, a car manufacturer opened its creative process for outside participation. The project had a huge national and international media buzz and large public engagement, receiving more than 10,000 ideas by participants from all over the world.

awards & recognition

Clio

2011, Integrated Campaign, Shortlist, Fiat Mio

New York Festival

2011, Digital & Interactive, Shortlist, Fiat Mio

El Ojo Iberoamerica

2011, Branded Content, Gold, Fiat Mio
2011, PR, Silver, Fiat Mio
2011, El Tercer, Bronze, Fiat Mio

Wave Festival

2011, Best Website, Shortlist, Fiat Mio

4A’s Jay Chiat

2011, Idea for New Product/Content, Silver, Fiat Mio

Festival of Media Latam

2011, Creativity & Innovation, Winner, Fiat Mio
2011, Comunication Strategy, Shortlist, Fiat Mio
2011, Social Strategy, Shortlist, Fiat Mio
2011, Effectiveness Strategy, Shortlist, Fiat Mio

Effie Awards

2011, Durable Goods, Gold, Fiat Mio

Most Contagious Magazine

2009 Fiat Mio
 

PRESS

"Fiat releases details of first ever crowdsourced car - The company has posted some fascinating making-of videos giving people an access-all areas pass to the car making process"

Wired, 2010

"At Fiat in Brazil, Vehicle Design Is No Longer By Fiat"

Advertising Age, 2009

"Fiat Brazil Suggests The First Co-Created Car: Fiat Mio will be the first concept vehicle created under Creative Commons licensing"

PSFK, 2009

About the project

Mistakeland is an addictive game that makes you think about a better way of driving every time you play.

Fiat, the leader in automobile sales in Brazil for the past 13 years, took the responsibility to fight for better traffic conditions in the country upon itself. To do so, it decided to educate the next generation of drivers, motorcyclists, pedestrians and cyclists in a different manner. 

In this game, all you have to do is touch the cars, motorcycles and bikes to make them stop and touch them again to make them resume movement. But if you leave them standing still for too long, two things happen: they loose their patience and you lose the game. The goal is to control the traffic and, as you move through the phases, the traffic keeps getting worse.

Awards & Recognition

FWA

2014 Mobile Site of The Day, Fiat Mistakeland

Wave Festival

2015, Cyber Craft, Prata, Fiat Mistakeland
2015, Best Game, Silver, Fiat Mistakeland 

Feel free to contact me.