Sandisk Sends Cute Robot to Capture and Inspire the Creative Process

​Sandisk is a technology company that designs and manufactures flash memory products. A ubiquitous name in the space, you’ve likely encountered one of its flash drives (USB sticks, for the Brits in the audience), SD cards, solid state drives or other storage solutions.

Its popularity and usefulness aside, the brand isn’t historically known for being… well, flashy. However, since separating from parent company Western Digital earlier this year, the brand has rallied around a sleek new image, and marketing that puts storage firmly into the creative conversation. After all, what good is anyone’s creative work if you can’t reliably save, transfer or protect it – be it photography, video footage or something else?

Galvanised by this new strategy, Sandisk has collaborated with Austin-based creative agency CALLEN, production company 1stAveMachine, and directors Tim Bierbaum and Espadaysantacruz to invent an adorable new character: ‘Memory Man’.

Memory Man is a five-foot-two humanoid robot with a Sandisk Creator Phone SSD embedded in his heart and two high-def cameras for eyes, designed to be a content creation buddy and observe the creative process. A trailer produced by 1stAveMachine shows the friendly bot being created in a lab before being put to work – but his friendly voice and demeanour make him more WALL-E than Terminator.

“We believe that technology is here to help humans, that it shouldn’t threaten us,” says Craig Allen, chief creative officer at CALLEN. “We spent a lot of time thinking about how to represent technology as helpful and lovable.

“We loved the idea of Memory Man filming creators as they film their content. This gives us access behind the scenes - a peek we don’t usually get to see, to witness all of the incredible hard work and creativity that goes into making content for creator’s channels.”

For this four-week campaign, Sandisk shipped Memory Man to some of the internet’s most innovative creators: Devin Super Tramp, Simone Giertz, and Gong Bao, allowing them to create content with the character while he filmed their creative processes.

“Our strategy was to partner with creators who embody the kind of bold, imaginative spirit Memory Man was built to celebrate,” says Craig. “Each of them pushes the boundaries of what’s possible in their own way, and Memory Man’s limitations and quirks actually made their work more playful and inventive. He wasn’t just documenting their process — he became part of it. That collaboration perfectly reflected Sandisk’s role: not just storing data, but enabling creators to do their most inspired work.”

In a slightly meta turn, the CALLEN and 1stAveMachine teams also created behind the scenes content of Memory Man’s escapades. From stunt training to DIY builds, the campaign follows Memory Man capturing the authentic, unfiltered moments that truly represent the full creative process – and highlights the power of Sandisk’s line of Creator Series drives.

“The biggest challenge was building an actual functioning robot in a short amount of time,” says Craig. “While we were not out to make the most savvy, high functioning robot ever seen, we did know we needed to make something that really worked, and authentically linked the use case of the Sandisk Creator Series drive to connecting with creators in the real world. The design process was incredibly thoughtful, there were hundreds of conversations about every little piece of Memory Man to make sure we got it right and landed something that felt really lovable, not scary or cold-techy.”

The other challenge was to flip an increasingly established narrative, putting Sandisk into the creative conversation during a time where there is friction between creatives and emerging tech like AI.

“Memory Man is literally a blend of humanity and tech, and instead of being sleek or intimidating, he was designed to be approachable, curious and full of wonder,” explains Craig. “His presence on set didn’t just document creativity, it fuelled it. That was the point: to show that Sandisk products, like Memory Man, empower creators to focus on what matters most: the art itself.”

All of Memory Man’s findings – and the behind the scenes videos – are being presented across Sandisk’s social channels throughout the next four weeks, including on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Memory Man is also going to attend Twitchcon in October, and the Amazon Creator Summit, continuing his journey out in the real world. “Part of what makes him so special is how people respond to him in real time,” adds Craig. “He has this unexpected ability to spark play, curiosity and connection wherever he goes.”