Recently PMG were the proud recipients of awards for Best Online Awareness Campaign and Best Use of Video at the 2015 EIMA Awards (presented by DFWIMA) for our work on the BeatsByDre #soloselfie campaign. We were so excited to win and couldn’t have been happier for all the hard work to pay off, especially when pitted against our peers. Afterwards, we got a lot of questions about what it took to win, and how you were able to align the brand during the craziest of all seasons – Holiday. After thinking for a bit, the answer was easy (read extremely difficult): have a brand that’s willing to be daring, and ensure your strategy aligns with that dare.
Let’s be honest, whether you’re a fan of Beats By Dre products or not, you have to admit it’s hard not to be inspired by some of the content they produce on a regular basis. Whether it’s Neymar during the World Cup, or Lebron and his move back to Akron, or countless other moments of culture and music, Beats By Dre has done a great job putting themselves in places that matter. Their ability to align culture, music, and sport in one brand is truly phenomenal. Oh by the way, try those Studio Wireless Headphones out. Fantastic product, fantastic sound. And in terms of the first factor of PMG’s success, Beats By Dre is willing to dare. They are willing to test the boundaries and continue to build themselves into a cultural phenom. That’s step one.
Coming up with a brand vision is one thing. Putting that vision into action, that actually drives that vision, is the hard part. Translating that gloss and glam down to actionable strategies that actually follow through is the real trick. Distilling down words like ‘real time culture’, ‘disruptive marketing’ and the like can be a challenge. Listening, and I mean really listening, understanding the vision, and supplying an outlet for that vision is ultimately what made us successful for Beats By Dre. Taking the big machine, and pointing it in the right direction ultimately was our master stroke. Ambiguous I know, but then again, we can’t give away ALL of our trade secrets. Ultimately PMG was able to take that vision, utilize a mix of immersive creative and strategic media buying, to really push the envelope for Beats, leading to their most successful quarter as a brand. Ever.