Projects /
Music
A brand partnership fans actually played
How a regional record label turned a brand partnership into a fan game around an album release, so the sponsor was part of the launch rather than a logo on it.
Client
Confidential
Sector
Music
Services
Activate Better Accelerator, Activation Studio
Delivered
Fan game, release campaign, partner reporting
The outcome
1
fan game tied to the album
Fans unlocked early listens, artwork and exclusive content funded by the brand partner.
Tracked
plays, sign-ups and claims
Results and audience insights went to the brand to plan its next campaign.
Reusable
game template
The label plans to reuse the game as a template for its own brand.
The Challenge
The label had a brand ready to back a major album release, but the plan on the table was the usual one: a logo on the artwork and a few sponsored posts. That kind of deal rarely renews. Fans scroll past it, the brand can’t see what it got and the artist’s team feels the release has been diluted.
WHY IT MATTERS: INDUSTRY DATA
+
23
%
Sales lift from games
Gamified field test
3
x
Revenue from own data
Up to, first-party data
64
%
Favour music brands
Of consumers surveyed
What we did
1
Designed around the release
We built a fan game tied to the album, with unlocks for early listens, artwork and exclusive content, so the activation added to the launch.
2
Gave the brand a real role
The partner powered the rewards, so every unlock carried its name in a way fans welcomed rather than skipped.
3
Measured what happened
We tracked plays, sign-ups and reward claims, then reported them to the brand with the audience insight it needed to plan the next campaign.
What happened next
The label now pitches activations rather than placements, using the game as a template it can launch again in its own brand. The partner has the data to justify a bigger role next time.
