Our core objectives were:
l To establish George as a metropolitan storyteller and an authentic troubadour who connects with today’s audiences
l To establish George initially amongst fanatic tastemakers with a focus on the artist behind the music and broaden reach from there into enthusiasts and casual fans
l Keep George’s personality at the heart of everything we did
l Kept it unique – we wanted to avoid George being put into the ‘easy listening/ acoustic’ pile Highlights of the campaign include: GeorgeEzra.com
The official website houses all content, is a central hub for retail and a go-to destination for fans to immerse themselves in George’s world. The design also incorporates animated characters from the album art and a #petan section (a theme referenced throughout online and print/outdoor creative) pulling fan photos onto the site.
IsGeorgeEzrasAlbumOutYet.com was created to drive anticipation for the album, our database and convert interest to preorder.
The #EzraExpress brought together many of the themes that made up this campaign – people, places, stories as well as a literal and metaphorical journey from George’s hometown of Bristol to Budapest, the inspiration behind George’s hit single and a place he had yet to visit. From Bristol, the #EzraExpress travelled to London, Brussels, Paris, Munich and Budapest, picking up fans and performing shows along the way.
The campaign was led by a microsite to amplify the event and involve fans both on and off the train as well as across Europe in George’s journey by providing real-time updates via Twitter, Instagram, daily YouTube uploads and fan rewards (shout-outs, postcards from George, callbacks from the #EzraExpress etc.).
IsGeorgeEzrasAlbumOutYet.com Visits to online properties up by 11% and 4,000+ new sign-ups.
The #EzraExpress in 10 days: l Facebook page received the most visits ever in a week and more likes than in any other single week
l Organically reached 480k+ fans on Facebook – 200k above previous peak weeks
l Facebook engagement was double that of the previous three weeks and #ezraexpress posts consistently achieved higher reach than previous activity, peaking in a 122k organic reach for the final
l Added twice as many Twitter followers as the previous week
l Quadrupled George’s Instagram follower number week-on-week Streaming
l George has amassed 132k Spotify followers and playlists such as Ezra’s Sunday Service and The Ezra Express Playlist were created to maximise his musical influences and invite fan involvement across socials
l Over 127.4m Spotify plays globally; 80.5m global streams of Budapest with over 18m in the UK
l Budapest has appeared in Spotify’s Viral chart for 16 weeks to date this year, with 14 of these weeks prior to album release. It was also top 5 in the UK for 10 weeks in a row and hasn’t left top 15 since album release. The album has not left the Spotify UK Top 5
KEY LEARNINGS
By closely monitoring our social media strategy and initiatives such as The Ezra Express, our sense that the audience would react well to George’s authenticity and personality was reinforced. Consistency in our approach, creative and throughout the campaign has paid dividends. Working closely with our international team has been key in delivering a multi-territory roll out and building an impactful introduction to an artist. ‘Budapest’ remained available on streaming services between the ‘Did You Hear The Rain’ EP release and impact date, resulting in 14 weeks in the Spotify viral chart – almost twice the length of a standard radio service window. We’ve worked closely with Spotify to build this as one of our streaming case studies of 2014.
Project Budget
Demographics
