Mario Ortiz | Creative Director

Verizon

Penn Station activation

Experiential concepts for a nationwide traveling activation

TwitchCon celebrated its 10th Anniversary

Insight

Verizon connects millions of people every day, and nobody stops to feel amazed by that. The brand had become invisible, more utility than magic. Verizon asked us to design a flagship space in the heart of NYC, right by Madison Square Garden, that could change that: a destination people would visit on purpose, not just to buy a phone.

Idea

We proposed V-Hive as four connected worlds, each one turning an everyday piece of connectivity into something you can feel and touch.

Time Machine took people back to iconic MSG concerts and games, dropping them into a 360 degree recreation and using AI to place them right in the crowd.

V-Hive Sound Studio turned the space into a working recording booth, with a rotating cast of local artists mixing tracks live and visitors contributing loops and vocals to an ongoing City Soundtrack.

Story Machine used generative AI to build an original story around you and your family as you walked through the space, ending in a keepsake video or a 3D printed figure of the character you invented.

Cyber Cafe reimagined old internet culture, arcades, View Masters, switchboards, as playable stations that made the last 30 years of connectivity feel nostalgic and cool at the same time.

Role

I took the lead on Story Machine, building out the concept from the initial spark to the full walkthrough. I also worked closely on Time Machine, helping shape how it came together. Sound Studio and Cyber Cafe came out of the rest of the team, all four built from the same strategic thesis: make people feel the emotional value of being connected, not just sell them on it. Across the whole deck, I supported the team in using AI tools to keep the writing and visual direction consistent, so four very different worlds still read as one idea.

role

Impact

This is pitch-stage work, so the win is in the ambition. Four fully imagined concepts, each with its own partnership model (Live Nation, Disney, Apple, major sports leagues), built for a real phased engagement with Verizon worth over $650K. If built, V-Hive becomes a template Verizon can scale to other cities: the first flagship built around living, working, and playing instead of just selling phones.

Impact