Client Brief:

Launch Beats by Dre's first true wireless headphones, "Beats Studio Buds," with a mandated focus on promoting its technology and features, towards a Gen Z audience.

Tension:

Beats was starting from scratch in the “true wireless” category and competitors had already been offering similar products and features for years. In terms of audience, Gen Z knew the brand but associated it with an older era of over-ear headphones and outdated styles.

The Revised Brief:

Shift away from the category’s strategy of promoting functionality and lean into the brand's heritage of being born from music. The new strategy was simple. The first true wireless headphones made for music. Features are one thing. Sound is everything.

Result:

A 10-part series of short vignettes, featuring mainstream and emerging celebrities breezing through Studio Buds tech, then quickly pivoting to a story about how music made them feel.

The casting was intentional to reflect the wide interests of the audience we were trying to reach. Streamers, like QuarterJade, alongside classic heavy hitter names like Jayson Tatum.

Studio Buds still got to promote its best-in-class features, but it didn’t rely on them on stand out. We brought music back to a category that had completely forgotten it. Studio Buds sold 2.4 million units in its first quarter.

Creative Input:

Click here to view the Beats x Target social stunt and retail partnership.