MESSAGES OF CHANGE

TitleMESSAGES OF CHANGE
BrandYOUTUBE
Product / ServiceYOUTUBE MUSIC
CategoryC05. Co-creation & User Generated Content
EntrantAKQA Tokyo, JAPAN
Idea Creation AKQA Tokyo, JAPAN
Media Placement DENTSU INC. Tokyo, JAPAN
Media Placement 2 ESSENCE Tokyo, JAPAN
Production AKQA Tokyo, JAPAN
Production 2 CIVIL TOKYO, JAPAN

Credits

Name Company Position
Felipe Galiano AKQA Creative Director
Daniel Busch AKQA Associate Creative Director
Omri Reis AKQA Senior Creative Strategist
Johnson Lim AKQA Designer (Motion)
Takao Neko CIVIL TOKYO Art Director/Designer
Sosuke Sugiura CIVIL TOKYO Art Director/Designer
Fumio Yamamori CIVIL TOKYO System Developer
Aika Sawai AKQA Executive Delivery Director
Teruyo Watanabe AKQA Senior Project Manager
Moeka Sakuma AKQA Associate Project Manager
Hideaki Hara AKQA Account Director
Rikiya Yamakawa AKQA Associate Creative Director (Copy)
Hideyuki Izumi AKQA Associate Creative Director
Cheryl Lee AKQA Art Director (Concepting)
KC Chang AKQA Senior Art Director (Motion)
Matteus De Faria Vilas Boas AKQA Designer (Motion)

Why is this work relevant for Direct?

Our campaign targeted a unique group of fans, asking them to post personal messages to their favorite band publicly on Twitter. The work amplified these messages, creating personalized band poster for each fan, which was sent back publicly, in real time by the brand. Finally, the last phase of the campaign transformed selected messages into physical outdoor signs - recognizing the fans and celebrating their messages at the center of our campaign. The impact fans achieved - from tweet to poster, to an actual billboard - created a meaningful, direct and personal brand connection.

Background

The Japanese music market is the second largest in the world, but 80% of revenue still originates from physical CD sales. To break into this market and showcase the power of its digital platform to the music industry, YouTube Music Japan partnered with the acclaimed local band, Suchmos, to promote their new album ‘The Anymal’. YouTube Music aimed to showcase the power of YouTube in breaking new artists and albums, engaging fan communities and connecting all music lovers in one seamless, accessible experience.

Describe the creative idea (30% of vote)

Relying on the unique, personal connection between Suchmos and their fans, we created a social campaign that transformed fans’ tweets into personalized music posters in real time. We invited fans to post personal messages to the band on Twitter, commenting on the new album and the change in the band’s style. The best messages became physical outdoor posters in Tokyo, celebrating Suchmos and their fans as one voice for one community - enabled and empowered by YouTube.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Japanese pop-culture treasures unique personal gestures between fans and artists - especially physical ones: from hand-shaking events to personal handwritten messages. Seeking to move this culture to social, we asked Suchmos fans to send their warm messages to the band on Twitter. We then transformed these messages into personalized digital posters, in real time, and sent them back to the fans. Eventually, the best tweets turned to physical outdoor posters and placed in important spots of the band’s history. The result celebrated Suchmos and their fans in the spirit of YouTube’s mission of “giving everyone a voice and showing it to the world”.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

We launched the campaign on April 1st, the same day a new era started in Japan, with a new emperor signifying a once-in-a-lifetime historical change. The tweets coming from fans were recognized by YouTube’s official Twitter accounts - sending personalized posters back to the fans including their message and an exclusive band photo. In the next phase, selected tweets were printed on actual posters and placed in locations from Tokyo to Kanagawa - the band’s hometown. Eventually, the band members shared videos and visuals of the various signs and messages on their own accounts - empowering them and extending their reach into millions of fans and followers.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign generated 45 million impressions, helping Suchmos’ YouTube channel boost its subscriber number by 26%, and most importantly, propelling ‘The Anymal’ to reach number #2 on the Billboard Charts in Japan. YouTube Music achieved 3% increase in brand lift, and fans came to visit their personalized billboards, amplifying their support of the band on social platforms. In total, more than 1000 music posters, billboards and digital ads amplified the voice of the fans. Reciprocally, thousands of heartwarming messages of appreciation were shared by fans - some including the place of their own posters in the city.

Links

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