Jack Daniel’s Music Drop

Jack Daniel’s gave Australian music fans the chance to collect exclusive digital music from leading Australian artists among a range of prizes in a huge next-generation music drop in the streets, created by Yahoo.

The Australian-first Jack Daniel’s Music Drop campaign highlighted Australian artists Winston Surfshirt, Stand Atlantic, and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets. Fans were challenged to visit various locations and use their smartphones to collect virtual record crates to win exclusive Digital Pressings. One lucky player won a trip to the home of Jack Daniel’s in Tennessee, USA.

Dimitra Tassopoulos, Senior Brand Manager, Jack Daniel’s Family of Brands, said: “This was a real global first for Jack Daniel’s. It was our first venture into the Web3-powered internet. The brand has a long history of supporting music, and this campaign was a sensational example of pioneering a new way for artists and fans to connect.

“Many people who grew up in the streaming era never owned music, and we wanted to help them understand how magical it could be. It was great partnering with Yahoo to be able to harness this technology and bring this remarkable vision to life.”

The campaign was created by Yahoo Creative Studios, which worked closely with digital music specialists Serenade and augmented reality experts SmartMedia Technologies to find the best artists and bring the campaign to life in a way Australia had never seen.

Zoe Cocker, Director of Yahoo Creative Studio and Premium Sales for Yahoo ANZ, explained: “Web3 technology is going to revolutionize how artists and their fans interact and engage, and we believe this campaign is the first step on the road to bringing this exciting future to life in Australia.”

The project was facilitated by Starcom from their industry-leading Open Brief program last year, unlocking innovation in the media industry, with Yahoo as the eventual winner.

Starcom’s Operations Director, Will Kitching, commented: “The Open Brief Process was all about unlocking real innovation and potential. Based on the insight that 70% of consumers thought brands should innovate with new technology, and with the knowledge that those who used AR features were 11 times more likely to purchase, we worked collaboratively with Yahoo to build a great brand experience for Jack Daniel’s. Trying something different required a bit of bravery, but we did great work to realize the brand’s ambitions to be a future-facing brand.”

The campaign was promoted using Yahoo’s market-leading DSP, with a huge Digital Out of Home campaign across iconic locations in Australian capital cities 'where music lives'. It was also supported by high-impact native targeted to capture the relevant audience and entice them into the game. Additionally, the campaign received support from some iconic and influential music-loving Australians, with a large social influencer campaign.

Zoe Cocker concluded: “It was a real pleasure to work with the future-focused marketers at Jack Daniel’s. They really understood the potential of this technology and had the bravery to be the first to bring it to the market in this way. This was something that really captured the imagination of our artists as well..”

How it worked
Exclusive artist content offered only in the Jack Daniel’s Music Drop game was delivered to audiences via 'AR drops' at chosen timings and locations throughout major Australian cities. Players could then visit these locations and collect virtual crates by scanning them with their smartphones, which could be used to win prizes, including the major prize to Tennessee, points to redeem artist Digital Pressings publishable to Opensea, the leading NFT secondary market, and Jack Daniel’s drink vouchers redeemable online at participating outlets.

What is a Digital Music Pressing?
Digital Pressings are a new way to experience music that unites artists and fans through a collectible format. Similar to a digital vinyl record - they are rare, limited edition releases which utilise NFT technology. This enables verifiable ownership recorded on the blockchain allowing fans to collect songs online, keep them or sell them on a secondary market. Music fans can now support artists like never before in a reciprocal relationship, with artists receiving royalties with every sale as part of the smart contract within each Digital Pressing.