Branded content for the GRAMMY Awards has traditionally been

limited to videos posted on a YouTube channel, which typically have

not connected with the GRAMMY audience. The GRAMMYs are

a brand that is protective of its heritage and careful about not being

perceived as a popularity contest. The challenge in creating branded

content for them is getting a younger and savvier online audience to

care. This led us to the idea of the GRAMMYs celebrating content

created by that audience.

A campaign URL and hashtag were featured in print and broadcast

media, letting people know to go online to experience the campaign.

Because the campaign revolved around sharing and voting on original

music tracks, the most activation happened on social networks purely

by word-of-mouth and retweeting. The tracks were user-generated,

so each individual artist’s fan base was organically activated around the

content.

With GRAMMY Amplifier, for the first time ever, the GRAMMYs

acknowledged that music is no longer confined to physical media,

and that the cutting edge of music is found on sites like Soundcloud,

not in retail stores. It was a new behavior for a brand that prides

itself on not being merely a popularity contest. Amplifier resonated

with musicians and fans like no previous GRAMMY initiative. It

received more than 6,000 entries, with nearly a million “amplifies”

and almost 60m total social impressions.

#theworldislistening had more than 207m impressions from more than 17,000 unique mentions. The online buzz helped translate into big ratings.

28m people tuned into the awards telecast, the GRAMMYs'

second-best ratings since 1993. The show received a total of 18.7 social media mentions, second only to the Super Bowl.