AC/DC Rock n Roll Train
Client: Sony Ireland Tags: Design, Flash, Video, Website
The Brief
Bluecube was presented with a brief to develop an innovative promotion for one of the world’s most influential rock ‘n’ roll bands AC/DC, and to connect and engage with their notoriously hard to reach fan base in a progressive way. AC/DC are far from digital natives and have long resisted venturing into the digital landscape, until now.
Our goal was to create a promotion that was audacious enough to engage and connect die-hard AC/DC fans and yet still reflected the core ethos of the group. From this the ‘AC/DC Rock ‘n’ Roll Train’ was born.
The Solution
AC/DC are infamous for their old-school Rock ‘n’ Roll philosophy and have defied conventional music industry wisdom by standing by their principles and simply refusing to sell their albums digitally. Their listeners similarly stand by these old-school principals and our research showed that those who consider themselves to be true AC/DC fans wear a badge of pride and of defiance. Our digital strategy endeavored to engage with these fans in a way that was relevant and appealing and that simultaneously fit with the fun-loving play hard ethos of the group.
The concept was simple and the execution truly impactful. Friends, fans, music bloggers and radio DJ’s battled it out to create the longest virtual Rock ‘n’ Roll Train of Angus look-a-likes to be in with a chance of winning a signed Gibson SG Guitar and some of AC/DC’s most coveted back catalogues.
The underlying objective was not only to engage in a new way with these hard to reach fans but also to build an email database which would provide an invaluable targeting tool for any future promotions. The campaign was developed and deliberately launched around AC/DC’s live tour to drive awareness and generate buzz around the long awaited Black Ice Album and to simultaneously exploit the additional airtime and web noise that would prove crucial in promoting the microsite.
The site launched on the 25th of June and was picked up by the biggest radio stations in the country; it wasn’t long before influential DJ’s began mobilizing their listeners to battle for the ultimate AC/DC prize.
Music bloggers, influential online magazines, key message boards and social networks were the predominant online channels through which the campaign was seeded out. Rather than using paid media, Bluecube sent weekly email reminders to passengers encouraging them to share their link with friends, family, and fellow fans ensuring the campaign was self-perpetuating in nature.
What really brought this campaign to life was the accomplished flash design, stylized graphics and 3-D video animation that allowed the user to become the real star of the show. To enter the competition, fans simply submitted their email address and uploaded a picture of themselves onto Angus’s body. They could then watch themselves thunder through the digital landscape on the front of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Train in a customised music video which was aptly accompanied by the number one AC/DC track by the same name.