2011 Winners & Shortlists

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. All this on a shoestring budget.

Creative Execution

Increased smartphone penetration in the UAE (especially among the target audience) meant that using QR codes made sense. The codes gave an instantly recognisable campaign mnemonic and created interaction and talkability amongst our target, whilst also getting them directly to the website to bookmark the URL. Plus, there was the added incentive of free music, in both teaser and reveal phases. The instant gratification of getting free music from an ambient poster or press ad suited the short attention spans of our target and the look and feel of the campaign reflected their eclectic worlds of technology and music.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Ambient portraits of real people made up of QR codes linking to the featured subject's favourite music were posted in malls. Users could snap codes (for example on Paul’s portrait) with their smartphones and download his top twenty tracks for free to their computers whilst exploring the campaign concept: I am my Music. I am Musicmaster. Users directly accessed and bookmarked the Music Master website whilst experiencing the breadth of the catalogue through the free music offered through the poster. Consumers interacted directly with the brand from the first point of contact, ultimately driving traffic to the website. Objectives were to create buzz amongst the target audience and media and achieve 833 registered users/month in year one.

Results

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.