Results and Effectiveness

Australians loved putting a soundtrack to cricket nearly as much as they loved winning the Ashes. With the in-stadium ads reaching 3.9M fans, and online voting delivering over 1.2M, the 15% engagement level made Google Play Music All Access the fastest-growing music streaming service in Australia (Source: IFPI). Most importantly despite 2013 being the 'summer of streaming services' we managed to differentiate ourselves from the rest in the competition. Over half of those exposed said that the cricket campaign ‘was different from other ads,’ while preference and recommendation of the product among the exposed audience increased by +23%.

Creative Execution

To do this we harnessed a 131-year-old cricket rivalry between Australia and England. The Ashes. We developed a program that empowered fans to take control of the Song of the Match. Across all 13 Ashes matches, in-stadium signage and tannoy announcements encouraged fans to use their mobile and vote for one of 20 iconic Aussie or English songs from Google Play’s music library. Perfectly complementing the atmosphere of the game and fueling the friendly competition between the nations. Throughout the matches, votes for INXS vs. Oasis anthems were tallied in real-time, while spectators also explored the songs they could stream on Google's All Access streaming service. Fans at home voted within interactive rich media banners in cricket environment on desktop and mobile that allowed each user to vote for a song directly from the ad unit, so all cricket fans had the opportunity to pump up their team through music.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

When launching Google Play Music All Access, a new music streaming service, Google knew they were up against a challenge. Using all of their technical know-how Google had produced a genuinely awesome streaming product. However timing couldn't be worse. Several other streaming services like Spotify, Pandora and iTunes Radio were just about to launch in Australia. With so much competition we needed to own a unique space in the hearts and mind of Australians across the summer. An Australian summer is typified by three things: Beaches, BBQs, and Cricket. Music is the backdrop for all of these summer staples – except for one. Cricket. Music has been used in sporting events globally, pumping up fans and celebrating success. But the sounds accompanying most cricket matches are polite clapping and muted cheers. Google Play wanted to change that. Our idea was to finally give cricket a soundtrack it had been missing.