JBL is an innovative technology brand dedicated to enriching experiences with epic sound. JBL has been synonymous with award winning sound for more than 70 years as the preferred choice for audio professionals, as well as millions of consumers who seek superior sound in homes, cars, and on-the-go. As a premium brand, JBL competes in a crowded sector to win and grow JBL brand love from target Millennials and Gen X consumers. Our targets value brand authenticity, creativity, personal expression, credibility, and innovative/trend setting products. They want experiential connections that engage them socially.
The NBA is a global powerhouse – a dynamic, growing sport with high visibility athletes who set trends in entertainment, fashion and music. In 2018, JBL ended a five year sponsoring partnership with the NBA. With limited access to the game and its players, JBL needed a way to reinforce connections to the game and its key players and remain in those cultural conversations.
No matter where an NBA player is from, their adopted city becomes a part of their DNA. Every day, they carry the cultural nuances of their hometown and adopted city on and off the court. So, we decided to bring those stories to life through music and sound.
In Sounds Of The City, we paired NBA stars with renowned music producers to craft original anthem tracks inspired by the player, and the city’s culture. Together, they shared their sonic influences, and captured the sounds of that city – showcasing the transportive power of sound, and how it amplifies life’s biggest moments. Through Sounds Of The City, we gave NBA fans a window into the hearts of their heroes, and offered captivating original content that celebrates sport and culture.
We developed relationships with key publishing partners who would be instrumental in reaching our target consumers. These publishing partners became involved early in the projects. Extended editorial pieces were developed as partner content for these JBL Sounds Of The City video features. Charlotte (posted on Genius Feb 15, 2019)
NBA All-Star Weekend and the Sounds Of The City campaign provided the unique opportunity for JBL to do something they had never done before - tell a story that started in digital, and then completed as a holistic brand story through the use of experiential activations and branded touchpoints at a major cultural event.
Our way in. The goal was to broaden the reach of Sounds Of The City & showcase the core themes of SOTC – sports and music – to create a tangible experience. That experience became a physical extension
of the series, giving guests the opportunity to experience the transportive power of sound, and position JBL as the catalyst for epic experiences all while debuting the new JBL Live Series headphones.
Execution:
These video episodes published along with extended editorial wrap around through our content partnerships with Genius and Complex. Alongside the video features, the full song tracks also supported these episodes and were available on Soundcloud. JBL amplified the partnership by creating a JBL Sounds Of The City content site and publishing this content through JBL’s digital and social content channels.
The 2019 NBA All Star game in Charlotte provided an opportunity to activate JBL’s brand story across the entire weekend – reaching thousands of global media and cultural influencers. JBL created a holistic brand story, carrying the Sounds Of The City narrative through digital, experiential, and product seeding channels. Three of JBL’s participating brand ambassadors are NBA All-Stars – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kemba Walker, and Kenny Smith. The Sounds of The City content was featured in pitches and strategic media partnerships. Key JBL partnerships were showcased via two exclusive All Star Weekend events: Kenny Smith’s All Star Bash, and Kemba Walker’s Game Night. Custom headphones were seeded to cultural influencers and provided to JBL brand ambassadors who carried them during the events.
JBL’s first dive into episodic content paid huge dividends in both quality brand awareness and engagements, helping to solidify JBL’s position as a lifestyle brand that sits at the intersection of sports, music and entertainment culture. Sounds Of The City gained 134M Impressions, 26M Video Views, and 2M Social engagements. The Sounds Of The City All Star Weekend events included 1,600 VIP attendees and the event hashtag #JBLxSOTC reached 14 Million impressions.
