Fender wanted more people to use the Fender Play app to learn guitar and 2020, for all its flaws, provided the perfect platform to get people to pick up a new hobby and play.
While there is only so much baking of banana bread and binge-watching TV we can take, our insight work showed some consumer hesitation about being genuinely able to learn in a lockdown scenario and some concerns about the cost of learning given the economic climate.
First off, we ensured that communicating the three-month free trial of the service that Fender had pledged due to the difficulties of the pandemic central to our announcement strategy.
We also worked on a media strategy and messaging that heroed the emotional and mental wellbeing benefits of learning an instrument. Our social listening identified a palpable appetite for people to learn new skills, providing the perfect opportunity to encourage them to learn to play a guitar or ukulele and escape the stresses of the day.
We gave our audience everything they needed to simply ‘pick up and play’ – three months free tuition, check. A healthy way to beat boredom, check. A whole range of amazing guitars and ukuleles covering everything from beginner to pro, check.
Our campaign captured the hearts and minds of the British media and we secured 150 pieces of coverage across broadcast, lifestyle, national and tech press including This Morning, GQ, Vogue and The Guardian
What’s more? We helped over 1 million people sign up to the service and start learning the guitar – successfully achieving tangible action and cut-through in a very crowded conversation.
