The Brief

Ever since the brand’s Philippine launch in the early 70s, Close Up has always been a pioneer for using trendy music videos and iconic songs in telling stories of freshness and confidence to its target market, the youth. However, yesterday’s youth have now grown up. Close Up had to bring back its iconic appeal; to refresh the brand, as well as its connection with today’s young adults.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

To get young adults to listen, the brand had to retain its presence in the realms of Music and Socialization – pillars of youth culture that also happen to be within Close Up’s equity. And since nothing tests freshness like time, the brand came up with the idea of the first concert party marathon in the country. “Summer Solstice” - held at the peak of summer, delivered 12-hour nonstop partying, while communicating 12-hour nonstop freshness. Social influencers were tapped to come up with the roster of artists. Social media and above-the-line was utilized to magnify the event.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Summer Solstice saw over 10,000 attendees throughout the evening. It garnered more than 10,000 photos on Instagram overnight and generated 650MM Twitter impressions, which led the event to trend 6 times. Earned media was Php44.6MM - 32% of total spend, above the Philippine average. In terms of Twitter mentions, Summer Solstice (166,302 Twitter mentions) bested out youth-targeted local concerts like Pulp Summer Slam (54,697) and Wanderland (104,154), as well as foreign music festivals Laneway (56,538), Japan Music Festival (523), and Zouk Out (4,440) -- making Summer Solstice in its first year, the most talked about music festival in Asia.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

Close Up has always used music marketing, but instead of letting young adults watch and listen to content passively, the brand now invited them to be part of the experience. By tapping the country’s young trendsetters, the brand opened a discussion with the young adults to build an event customized for them, allowing Close Up to reconnect with its market. Mounting a 12-hour nonstop concert marathon put Close Up’s freshness to the test, and showed young adults how Close Up was relevant to them.