B&T was lucky enough to be given VIP treatment at Foxtel’s latest shindig for music channel [V] Hits, which was put on with the help of MCN to help promote Carlton & United Breweries’ new cider.
Situated secretly on a floating island in Sydney Harbour late last week, the [V] Hits Island Party featuring Aussie icon Guy Sebastian was the second of the year promoting Little Green Cider, following its successful debut with DJ Havana Brown in January.
The events offer 220 music fans an opportunity to engage with [V] Hits by giving them the chance to win tickets to attend one of four gigs on the music channel’s very own floating island.
The Little Green Cider campaign features four elements:
- On-ground activation, which includes exclusive ‘pourage’ rights to four [V] Hits Island Parties, a branded media wall, a branded boat for transfers, and on-ground assets such as lanyards and tickets, drink tokens, bar mats, bar staff uniforms and merchandise.
- A broadcast channel partnership, which includes integrated competition spots and channel bumpers promoting the partnership and Island Party artists.
- Content creation, which includes production of a 30-second brand TVC and branded content created for each Island Party.
- Digital sponsorship, which includes a [V] Hits website takeover, hosting of video content, photo galleries, native articles and a joint social media strategy.
Tania Jones, content and brand partnerships director at MCN, said the idea for the campaign came about following an “immersion session” on music with CUB last year.
“During the session, CUB highlighted they had a new product – Little Green Cider – which had never done above-the-line marketing,” she told B&T.
“We identified from the session that Little Green Cider would be the perfect fit for [V] Hits Island Parties, as it not only provided CUB with access to key Australian and international artists, but the chance to leverage the [V] Hits relationship with their followers, tap into their audience and create content, which could be pushed out on the broader Foxtel platform.”
CUB’s cider brand director, Mick McKeown, said the partnership with [V] Hits and MCN has helped establish Little Green Cider’s relevance with young adults in high-energy occasions, and strengthens the brand’s association with music.
“The iconic island parties allow Little Green to promote money-can’t-buy music experiences for our consumers, who we know have music as their number one passion point,” he said.
“This has been evident through the high level of engagement from Little Green Cider consumers through social media. The parties to date have exceeded all expectations and set the bar high for future activations.”
Will Lewis, group manager of advertising sales and brand partnerships at Foxtel, said Guy Sebastian was an easy choice when it came to hiring music talent.
“He’s the only male artist to have achieved six number one singles and two number one albums in the charts, and his music’s always resonated on [V] Hits,” Lewis told B&T.
“He’s also one of the nicest guys in the business, and reflects what the [V] Hits Island Parties are all about.”
Lewis said that while having viewers is important for [V] Hits, it’s about much more than just who watches music channel.
“Connecting with viewers through on-the-ground events and a multi-platform activation brings us closer to audiences and music artists closer to their fans,” he said.