2011 Winners & Shortlists

Brief Explanation

By making music feel personal and creating an interactive platform, the work attempted to maximize a limited media budget in order to hit the client’s target of 833 new registered users/month. The short attention span of the target meant that the instant gratification and incentives (e.g. free music) were vital. Plus the look and feel of the campaign had to reflect their eclectic worlds of technology and music. Increased smartphone penetration in the UAE meant that using QR codes made sense. The codes gave an instantly recognisable campaign mnemonic and drove traffic to the website to bookmark the URL.

The Brief

The challenge was to launch a new regional legal music download site, Music Master to a youth target who were used to downloading their music illegally and for free. It was important to demonstrate the breadth of Music Master’s catalogue and create an easy way to access and bookmark a hard-to-remember URL. The strategy was to create a campaign that allowed the target to directly access the website whilst engaging with a creative idea that was relevant to them and also provided them with the instant gratification of free music.

How the final design was conceived

Photographs were shot and retouched into QR code portraits. Each portrait featured live codes that linked to the featured subject (in this case, Michela’s) favourite top twenty tracks. Users snapped the codes on the ambient mall posters with their smartphones and downloaded the free music to their computers thus allowing them to explore Michela’s music collection. They were also able to experience the concept: ”I am my Music. I am Musicmaster” and further develop their own music collections and personalities through the site.

Indication of how successful the outcome was in the market

Client’s two-month target for site registrations achieved in just 3 weeks. 1500 registered users and 3500 unique users during launch phase. PR coverage valued at >$150K achieved from buzz around launch activity. 30+ news stories in first week of the launch plus innumerable blog and forum posts. “The campaign was a massive success for us getting the brand out and about amongst a hard-to-impress target audience. People actively engaged with the creative and by the end of the reveal phase the registrations on the site had exceeded our expectations by 100%.” Edward Bagnall, Marketing and Communications Manager at Music Master.