Vodafone Live Music Strategy
The growth of new mobile technologies saw all the main telecommunications brands working with the music industry to exploit the digital revolution. This created a competitive, cluttered landscape and a demand for fresh and creative thinking.
Vodafone approached Octagon to help create a distinctive three year sponsorship strategy to improve brand preference and consideration in their 18–34 year old target market.
Octagon’s research and insight identified live music as the key strategic platform with new unique properties, artist partnerships, exclusive content and brand experiences at its heart. Critically, the spontaneity, passion and experiential nature of live music reflects Vodafone’s brand positioning - ‘Make The Most Of Now.’
In partnership with C4 and Initial, Octagon co-produced two bespoke live music properties - with Vodafone TBA and the Vodafone Live Music Awards fully integrated across the marketing mix. Artist partnerships with the likes of The Killers, Kanye West, Kaiser Chiefs, Razorlight and Snow Patrol provided Vodafone consumers with unique access to a world of experiences and interactive content.
The mobile phone played a critical role in the implementation of the strategy. Starting with innovative barcode text message ticketing, every TBA was then streamed live to mobile, whilst Vodafone live! sold full track music, video downloads, realtones and wallpapers from each performance.
By the end of year one, an exceptional level of performance was achieved against every KPI, from brand, revenue and industry credibility perspectives. Furthermore, music sponsorship activation consistently delivered ahead of targets for CRM, PR, online, mobile and internal campaigns.