Company: Target
Campaign: Gwen Stefani #MoreMusic Grammy Moment
Agency mix: Deutsch (Creative), Haworth Marketing + Media (Marketing), Rogers & Cowan (PR), 360i (Social)
Duration: December 2015 - February 2016
Budget: N/A
Target and Gwen Stefani teamed up to promote the artist's new album, "This Is What the Truth Feels Like," via a live music video production during the 2016 Grammy Awards.
The campaign featured the first music video produced during a live TV broadcast for the song "Make Me Like You," which was shot during a four-minute segment of the awards show, last month.
The effort helped drive conversation and awareness for the March 18 release of Stefani's new album. The live music video is part of Target's #MoreMusic campaign, an effort three years in the making that aims to deliver more music to fans from their favorite artists.
Target previously collaborated with Stefani back in 2011 and 2012, when the retailer carried a children's fashion line from the No Doubt front-woman called "Harajuku Mini."
Strategy
Target has been using the Grammy telecast as a way to boost brand awareness for the past 16 years, previously using the awards show to unveil partnerships with celebrities such as Justin Timberlake and Shakira. During last year's Grammy Awards, Target hosted a live commercial break performance by Imagine Dragons.
This year, Target wanted to amplify viewers’ real-time Grammy experience with the production of a live music video for Stefani. The campaign team also wanted to bring attention to the exclusive deluxe edition of Stefani's new album, including four bonus tracks only available at Target —"Rocket Ship," "Getting Warmer," "Obsessed," and "Splash."
"We couldn’t think of a better partner [than Gwen] for this groundbreaking event," said Lee Henderson, manager, communications at Target. "We amassed a sharp, savvy team of creative, technical, production and broadcast specialists who could bring this idea to life."
Tactics
Target chose Grammy Award winning director Sophie Muller to direct the live music video. The first rehearsal of the live production began just two days before the Grammy telecast.
Muller and choreographer Fatima Robinson led the four-minute live performance. The video took place on a 32,000 square-foot soundstage on the Warner Bros. studio lot and involved more than 40 performers and 11 different sets.
The closing shot of the musical number featured Stefani singing the last note of the song, as the camera pulled back to reveal the artist standing in a massive red and white Target bull's-eye.
During the live TV broadcast, fans were able to watch a unique second view of the experience through Periscope, Facebook Live, and Snapchat. This was Target’s first Facebook Live activation.
In addition, Target partnered with two high-profile social influencers -- Todrick Hall and Meg DeAngelis -- to bring fans further inside the experience. Hall and DeAngelis shared behind-the-scenes looks across social channels before, during, and after the live broadcast.
"At Target, we connect with our guests through social media every day," explained Henderson. "It’s an important part of how we bring the brand to life."
Billboard was given exclusive on-set access during the music video's production; and Entertainment Weekly was given access to Stefani, as well as Target and Interscope executives via phone and email interviews for bigger campaign coverage.
After the event, to ensure the campaign was included in overall Grammy round-up stories, Target’s comms team sent media outlets behind-the-scenes footage, campaign details, quotes from Stefani, the final Vevo video, and additional photo assets.
Results
Media impressions have topped 3 billion for the "Make Me Like You" music video to date. According to Nielsen, nearly 25 million viewers tuned into the 2016 Grammy Awards.
The campaign efforts sparked features on a cross-section of media including: Entertainment Tonight, Billboard, Extra, People, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Forbes, Variety, MTV, E! Online, Time, and Huffington Post.
The live footage is now the official video for "Make Me Like You" and is permanently accessible on video hosting platform Vevo, with over one million views thus far.
