Philips Sound

Philips challenge is that it's a light bulb brand in the headphones market. We changed that perception by partnering with the music industry to create experiences worth hearing.

The communication ecosystem

You Need To Hear This is an idea with an editorial heart. It marks Philips Sound's move away from the campaign model to an ecosystem model with a higher chance of engaging a teen audience. A model where content, marketing, experiences, PR and social are integrated and managed in real time in order to maximise results.

All activity was measured, with clear goals and rewards built into the metrics.

To create the core ecosystem, Philips first needed to act like a partner rather than a marketer. This behaviour change made it possible to work with Vice, Sony, LoveLive, musicians, labels, event teams, creative and editorial teams, within a limited budget. Philips always needed to bring something to the deal rather than simply piggybacking on the reputation of others.

A core team managed the calendar of paid, earned and owned assets across all of our channels, giving the creative team and clients the ability to react faster and be proactive. The music industry is very difficult for outsiders to navigate and while we relied on our partners to bring us opportunities Philips also needed to stand out as a creative partner in it's own right.

The whole brand team were involved in crafting technically challenging audio experiences that delivered the brand promise and product excitement in physical and digital settings.

Headphones on shelves

The value generated by content campaigns can be notoriously difficult to measure, but this work did convince stores like ASOS and Urban Outfitters that Philips Headphones were cool enough to stock on shelf, opening lucrative new markets for Philips Sound.


The creative perspective

  • Ecosystems on a budget work best with a proactive, multi-disciplined core team

  • A good partner adds value, not just budget


The full campaign

Awards

One Show Merit