Following a successful and strong social content campaign with The Crooner Sessions which resulted in an astounding 94m views and saw Gary collaborate with 81 famous friends (as well as a handful of lucky fans), we had suitably warmed up the fanbase and had increased overall engagement levels as we progressed into the Music Played By Humans campaign.

For eight weeks, we released a duet video daily at the same time and would reveal Gary’s new guest across all platforms – Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

In the lead up to announcing the upcoming album, we made sure to promote his catalogue of previous solo albums to re-engage his existing streaming audience as well as onboard new listeners whilst also directing them to remaining discography playlists and new ones across DSPs.

After taking a slight break from his channels, on his return, we established his mailer database by creating bespoke videos for his audience as well as directing people from his social platforms to sign up for exclusive teasers and upcoming news.

We announced ‘Elita’, the lead single, from the album with an image featuring Michael Bublé and Sebastian Yatra. Working with both artists’ teams, we ensured to utilise the cross-promotional tool on Facebook to tap into the audiences who may not be following Gary already. This resulted in further reach and engagement across global audiences due to Michael and Sebastian being based in the US.

Throughout the campaign, there was a heavy focus on video content as we saw that this had performed well for him in recent months. To launch this on-set creative alongside the album announcement, Gary constructed an Instagram Live in which he took requests from fans of what they’d like him to perform. He also performed lead single ‘Elita’ and took part in a fan Q&A where he spoke of the upcoming tour and gave teasers to what was being revealed over the coming weeks.

We worked with Polydor to create a bespoke Instagram filter where users could sing along to the single in the style of the music video featuring brass instruments that feature in the melody.

We wanted to utilise all platforms and provide bespoke content to each channel as well as encouraging users to tune in on all three. Following the Instagram Live, we immediately went live on Facebook where Gary performed ‘Incredible’, ‘Back For Good’, ‘Elita’ and ‘This Is My Time’ as well as chatting about the new record and what it was like to create an album during a global pandemic. Towards the end of the year, with the tour having been pushed back, we worked with ITV to create a Night At The Museum – an evening with Gary and his guests that featured on the album as well as his Crooner Session series. In support of this we shared behind-the-scenes content with a reminder of how audiences could re-watch or tune in if they missed it on the TX date.

In order to bring people together at home, we created a Night At The Museum series where we released videos on dressing up for the evening, creating a special cocktail and cooking some delicious snacks whilst watching the show. Finally, with Christmas upon us, we launched a competition across Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #LiveInYourLivingRoom where we asked audiences to submit photos of their festive decorations and hidden amongst them the ‘Music Played By Humans’ album. The three winners would receive an exclusive Zoom with Gary where he would perform whichever songs they wished and answer any burning questions they had.