Nigiris vs Uramakis in Niudo Sushi Campaign

1. The Challenge
2. Characters
3. Social Media Assets
4.Video Content
5. Out of home advertising
6. Marketing Materials
7. Metrics & Impact
8. Results & Learnings

1. The Challenge

Within the framework of International Sushi Day, Niudo wanted to organize a special celebration and promote it. They were looking for something creative and attention-grabbing, and were open to different ideas. For previous celebrations, the restaurant had organized live shows featuring flying dragon performances, dancing lions, and even sword fights.

So, starting with the idea of combining an all-you-can-eat dinner with a live performance, I proposed creating a final showdown between two sushi pieces you would normally find in a sushi kitchen — brought to life with their own identity, backstory, and even a training team.

In the days leading up to the big event, all of Niudo’s communication would revolve around building anticipation for and promoting the ultimate battle.

2. Characters

After exploring a wide range of sushi pieces and elements, the two chosen for the ultimate showdown were Nigiri and Uramaki. I go into more detail about the rationale behind the creation of these characters in my article, Creating adorable sushi pieces that are also serial killers.

3. Social Media Assets

4. Video Content

Long before the fight takes place, the protagonists are preparing by training hard. One of the campaign’s pieces is this training montage featuring Uramarocky training. I go into all the details behind the making of the video in my article: I used AI to make a piece of sushi train like Rocky Balboa

5. Out-of-home advertising

7. Results & Learnings

1. Faster production, lower costs
   Developing the AI workflow for generating photo shoots significantly accelerated the project timeline and reduced production costs for my client.
2. Faster iteration based on feedback
   I was able to quickly iterate on the photography and make adjustments based on client feedback. Christian knows the target audience better than I do, so his suggestions—whether regarding the model, age, or other characteristics—were always valuable.
3. A/B testing
   Since we can modify the variables behind each photo shoot, we can generate specific variations and use them to test, compare, and evaluate performance.

I learned a lot about the Air Jordan Retro models and about many of the important things that happened during the 1980s in sports, fashion, and design.

When building the workflow, I learned how important it is to do solid pre-production research and feed the AI with the best possible inputs. The better the foundation, the fewer random or unexpected results we get.

I would have spent more time understanding how negative prompts work and how to use them effectively with certain video models.

Telling AI what we don’t want it to do can sometimes be just as important as telling it what we want it to do. A better understanding of this would have helped me avoid wasting credits during the asset generation process.

Building this AI workflow gives us a powerful tool for generating the next assets for this campaign—and potentially for future campaigns for the brand.

But it also comes with the responsibility of continuously improving it: iterating, refining, and adding new variables to gain even more control over every detail of our photo shoots.