JBL believes in the power of music and audio to influence culture, overcome environmental and social issues and create positive change. The brand’s purpose is to make people stand up and listen to what’s going on around them. Be it in an individualistic manner. Or even in a larger societal and environmental manner. The brand’s line of ‘Dare to Listen’ is a testament to the promise. And potential of what an audio brand can stand for. We wanted an idea that brings this belief to life while helping to shape a better world.

World Earth Month in April typically spotlights environmental issues through traditional Public Service Announcements (PSAs). In contrast, Rap Your Gift innovatively tackles the same concerns in a more engaging manner. The initiative introduces a website offering a sustainable alternative for gift-giving. Visitors can select a personalized rap from our artists, choose digital wrapping paper, and send eco-friendly gifts to loved ones. Beyond generating buzz, this customization feature significantly reduces the environmental impact of traditional wrapping paper. Notably, Rap Your Gift transforms gift-giving into a unique media channel, effectively conveying its eco-conscious message at no cost. This inventive approach not only aligns with the World Earth Month's mission but also establishes a dynamic platform that revolutionizes the way environmental issues are communicated, making sustainability a vibrant and integral part of the gift-giving experience.

With a global population of 8 billion, there are as many birthdays, resulting in the use of approximately 4 billion trees for wrapping paper. The insight here lies in the intersection of people's love for music, birthdays, and the concerning environmental impact of traditional gift wrapping. The initiative speaks to a worldwide audience celebrating birthdays, forging a universal connection through a shared appreciation for music and personal milestones. By appealing to diverse demographics, the campaign fosters a collective responsibility towards environmental conservation. The campaign strategically crafts an interactive website, features personalized tunes from seven selected rappers based on insightful data, and shares compelling digital and social media content across JBL platforms during World Earth Month. These assets synergistically form a compelling narrative, transforming a seemingly straightforward website into a dynamic tool for promoting environmental awareness and sustainable gifting practices.

Music is a world language. This meant we had a unique media platform to reach our audience and change people's behaviour. We tied up with young and upcoming rappers to come up with tunes for dads, moms, friends, partners, etc. And then we launched rapyourgifts.com on World Earth Day. An easy to use webpage for anyone to use. A global initiative that can be accessed from any part of the world. We went live and created social posts drawing attention and traffic to the website. Trusting in the power of the brand for viralability, we didn't invest on media. But a comprehensive PR plan maximised editorial attention with bespoke outreach for broadcast, regional, consumer and music publications. The project immediately got picked up.

The project's page immediately garnered a lot of attention and became a talking point. It was picked up on publications and trade journals world over. Without spending a penny on media, in less than 10 days we've seen a gain of around $32M in earned media. More than 300,000 raps were gifted, saving around 2 tons of paper. Brand engagement has always increased 42% in this period.

The amount of raps gifted increases every day, so you can go and check the counter ‘real time’ for the numbers of raps gifted and the equivalent number of trees we’ve saved in the process.