TOUR SPONSORSHIP, ENDORSEMENT DEALS, 14+ CROSS-COUNTRY SITE ACTIVATIONS, BRANDED MIXTAPES / INTERVIEWS / PHOTOSHOOTS - ALL EXECUTED BY SYNDCTD.
Longstanding Syndctd client Arnette Eyewear wanted to engage in music to speak to their target demographic in a new way, and we felt the Mad Decent Block Party would be a perfect fit. We brokered a sponsorship deal between Arnette and Mad Decent, and from there went straight into strategizing how best to support the tour digitally. The demographic falls exactly within the active culture and lifestyle that Arnette has always embodied, and the Block Party felt like the perfect venue to get their brand in front of this audience. Together with Arnette, we came up with three huge digital activations surrounding their sponsorship as well as their brand presence on-site at 18 tour stops. We wanted to capitalize on their sponsorship of the tour in a way that would be as exciting as it was meaningful, so – with Red Bull in hand – we got to brainstorming.
Plus Arnette got amazing social content with one-on-one backstage interviews with, Dillon Francis, Flosstradamus, Waka Flocka Flame, TJR, Big Gigantic, STRFKR, Bunji Garlin + Jillionaire and Bro Safari to name a few. They can be seen here on Arnette's blog.
THE CAMPAIGN SERVICES
PHASE 1: PRE-TOUR
We knew we needed to send at least one person out on the road to capture content, represent the brand, work Arnette’s booth, and just generally be Arnette’s “boots on the ground” throughout the tour. We decided to open up this once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity to Arnette and Mad Decent fans and held a contest to pick who would be the two Mad Decent Block Party Ambassadors. We asked people to fill out a detailed application and create an Instagram video showing us how they “Create their Vision”, the tagline for Arnette’s newest campaign. We established an aesthetic for the varying initiatives of the summer and designed and developed the website, which worked across mobile, tablet, and desktop.
After vetting every candidate, we whittled the submissions down to ten, and interviewed the finalists via Skype. We then picked the final four and flew them out to Encinitas for a week of training at Arnette HQ. Candidates learned how to sell Arnette shades on-site, set up the tent and on-site event footprint, trained on video/photo equipment, came up with interview questions for artists, and gained an intimate understanding of Arnette’s culture, products, and history. After training, we picked the final two and sent ‘em off to the races. By this time we had orchestrated Arnette’s entire on-site activation area, including sourcing/managing vendors and coordinating production for activation materials like 18’ and 20’ inflatable sunglasses.
Throughout the tour, Block Party Ambassadors were responsible for interviewing artists at each stop, capturing video and photo content, selling shades, setting up the on-site event footprint, gathering email addresses, handing out promotional items, gifting artists with shades, facilitating an on-site contest, and generally presenting a public face for Arnette at the festival. They did an incredible job, and you can see some of the content they produced on Arnette’s blog.
PHASE 2: TOUR ACTIVATION, TICKET SWEEPSTAKES, AND #ARNETTEALLACCESS
After the Block Party Ambassadors were chosen and the tour began, two contests ran simultaneously. The first of those contests was a ticket sweepstakes that allowed entrants to enter to win two tickets to the Mad Decent Block Party closest to them, and Syndctd facilitated every aspect – from designing and building the entry form to fulfillment. The other contest ran on-site for attendees of the MDBP to participate in. To enter, people would snap a photo in front of the gigantic inflatable sunglasses and upload the photo to Instagram using the hashtag #ArnetteAllAccess. We would then inform those who won using Instagram, and they would then get to watch the headlining act of the day from an on-stage viewing area. Also happening at Arnette’s tent was the distribution of rally towels and 12” inflatable sunglasses in exchange for emails via an iPad signup.
CAMPAIGN INSIGHTS
We here at Syndctd would never build all this incredible content only to have it exist on its own. We built out and executed a multi-phase media plan that was rolled out over the course of the entire summer that included YouTube, Google Adwords, and Facebook Media and generated thousands of clicks and impressions. We handled everything from creative to buying to reporting on all paid media placed throughout the four-month period. We also handled e-blasts, delivering timely newsletters with Mad Decent-specific content to Arnette’s audience. Overall, the program was a resounding success. As for the numbers, we quadrupled the size of Arnette’s email database, they gained over 17,000 Facebook fans during that time period, and the website received nearly 6,500 unique pageviews. We created a branded experience that resonated with the audience and showed how deeply we cared to understand them, which is at the core of what we aspire to when we develop activation strategies for clients.