GORILLA. DRAGONS. BELIEVERS.

TitleGORILLA. DRAGONS. BELIEVERS.
BrandCORNING GORILLA GLASS
Product / ServiceCORNING GORILLA GLASS
CategoryA11. Excellence in Brand / Music Sponsorship or Partnership
EntrantFLEISHMANHILLARD INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation FLEISHMANHILLARD INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation 2 FLEISHMANHILLARD Beijing, CHINA
Idea Creation 3 DOREMUS San Francisco, USA
PR FLEISHMANHILLARD INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
PR 2 FLEISHMANHILLARD Beijing, CHINA
PR 3 DOREMUS San Francisco, USA
PR 4 BRODEUR PARTNERS Boston, USA
Production GMR MARKETING Milwaukee, USA
Additional Company BIG TABLE CREATIVE Portland, USA

Credits

Name Company Position
Yusuf Hatia FleishmanHillard India Sr. VP & Sr. Partner, Managing Director
Abhishek Vora FleishmanHillard India Account Director
Kaveri Roy FleishmanHillard India Senior Account Manager, Digital
Devleena Dutt FleishmanHillard India Senior Account Manager
Darshini Makadia FleishmanHillard India Senior Account Executive
Esha Jolly FleishmanHillard India Account Executive
Himani Sharma FleishmanHillard India Assistant Account Executive
Rachel Catanach FleishmanHillard Greater China President and Senior Partner
Helena He FleishmanHillard Greater China Sr. VP, General Manager, Digital & Social
Graham Fordyce FleishmanHillard Greater China Executive Creative Director
Suki Zhao FleishmanHillard Greater China SVP
Danny Kang Doremus China Account Director
Henny Wang FleishmanHillard Greater China Account Manager
Eugene Wu FleishmanHillard Greater China Assistant Account Executive
Joanna Berke Doremus Group Account Director
Amanda Wybolt Doremus Director, Experience Strategy
Emma Jaugan Doremus Account Supervisor
Artem Peplov Doremus Analytics & Ad Operations Director
Artem Peplov Doremus Analytics & Ad Operations Director
Michael Essex Doremus Marketing Analyst
Michael Brewer Brodeur Partners Partner
Steve Marchant Brodeur Partners Partner
Heather Shea Brodeur Partners Senior Vice President
Casey Gartland GMR Vice President
Emily Morrison GMR Account Director
Kerry Draeger GMR Supervisor
Shannon Scott GMR Account Executive
John Packer Big Table Creative Principal
Mat Mathey Big Table Creative Designer & Partner

Why is this work relevant for for Music?

For a B2B glass manufacturer such as Corning Gorilla Glass to partner with leading band is itself an original idea. This campaign took that idea further by creating Imagine Dragons ‘Believer’ tribute tracks and music videos from popular artists in China and India, two of the key global markets for millennial users of smartphones in order to reach a new generation of fans. The enormous organic global sharing of the tribute tracks and music videos, plus the campaign culmination - a concert in America - demonstrates the power of this truly multicultural, multi-channel campaign.

Background

The last product we touch at night and first thing next morning is likely to be the Corning® Gorilla® Glass on our smartphone – a product integral to more than six billion devices worldwide, by over 45 brands. And yet Gorilla® Glass is, literally, invisible. One of the world’s few ingredient brands. Promoting a brand so many people hold in their hands everyday but don’t know it, is a significant challenge. Making it relevant and visible to a young, connected generation is even harder! So, Gorilla Glass researched the content consumption habits of millennials across China, the largest smartphone market, and the fastest growing major market, India and the US. Music emerged as a universal content type consumed by 69% of the target audience. 61% use smartphones as their #1 device to listen to music. To reach millennials, the world’s largest group of smartphone owners, music was key.

Describe the creative idea

With music the most influential form of marketing content for millennials, and the glass on their smartphones enabling their digital lives, Gorilla Glass combined with world leading rock band Imagine Dragons to deliver a campaign in China and India over several weeks. The campaign culminated in a unique fan experience concert in America, the home country of the brand and the home town of Imagine Dragons, in Las Vegas called The Origins Experience. This fan experience was at the campaign core. The challenge was to make it relevant to consumers in the critical markets of India and China, where local music dominates the music scene. So, we re-created Imagine Dragons’ hit song ‘Believer’ through tribute tracks with local artists that resonated with local society. For a glass manufacturing B2B company to create brand visibility through a rock music partnership was unique but compelling.

Describe the strategy

The core consumer/audience for both Corning Gorilla Glass and Imagine Dragons, is millennials. Studies show that most value experiences over products, so we made the campaign platform a one-its-kind concert in Las Vegas in collaboration with Corning Gorilla Glass, exclusively catering to their biggest fans from across the globe. While the exclusive concert was the keystone of the campaign, the challenge was to make the collaboration between the brand and the band relevant to consumers in markets like India and China where local music is more popular than western rock. So, we recreated the Imagine Dragons’ song ‘Believer’ in a unique local style for China and India! The strategy was so successful that we saw nearly 30 million video views, almost half a million social engagements and even spawned entirely organic reaction videos as far afield as the Caribbean, Russia and Europe!

Describe the execution

To engage and excite millennials across India and China, key tactics included local music video versions of Imagine Dragons track ‘Believer’ by key music influencers: • Indian Jam Project (IJP) using Indian instruments, shared across IJP’s 250K+ social media subscriber base. Amplification by influencers made it a viral sensation with nearly 8 million views and the highest engagement numbers that Corning has ever seen. • Chinese celebrity fan Tifa Chen created her rendition of ‘Believer’ featuring Mandarin rap and delivered millennial insights on the music-smartphone relationship, emphasizing the brand attributes of Gorilla Glass as a protective cover for smartphones We also: • Created experiences – Live concert and viewing parties • Drove hyper-local on-ground connections – Activations at popular college festivals • Co-promoted with OEMs – Xiaomi in India, Fitbit in the US, and OPPO in China • Leveraged KOLs – High-profile media partners and KOLs, across regions

Describe the outcome

Campaign results: - Total reach: 1.7 billion across multiple markets - Engagements: 15.4 million - Video views: 29.8 million - Social mentions: 448,000 - Visibility across key media: Rolling Stone, NDTV, The Times of India, HIT FM, QQ Music - Growth in YouTube subscribers: Up by 82% from 11K to 20K in 3 months The campaign helped establish Corning Gorilla Glass as a pro-music, pro-art, innovation brand, positioning it as an attractive ‘ingredient’ brand for millennials who dominate smartphone consumption. Many online visitors came for the music that Gorilla Glass created, but more consumers than ever ended up staying and subscribing to Corning Gorilla Glass channels – subscription to Corning’s channels jumped by 80%+. The campaign, across India, China and the US delivered on establishing strong brand recall for Corning Gorilla Glass among millennials through media outreach, influencer and social media reach and content amplification.