Olivia Rodrigo. Charli XCX. Big Sean. Sabrina Carpenter. These are just some of the pop artists shaking up the sponsorship landscape through unconventional brand partnerships that reimagine what a celebrity endorsement looks like (hint: it looks a lot more experiential).
Enterprising marketers have long leaned on celebrities to help them excite fans, gain traction with new audiences and generate media impressions. But there’s a new wave of IRL music-artist partnerships taking over the socials this year as some of the biggest pop stars lean heavily into experiential marketing as the centerpiece of their sponsorship program. It’s a trend that will shape future artist partnerships in the year to come. Here are six examples of pop star sponsorships leading the way:
The Experiential Concert Tour
Long gone are the days of the concert being the only attraction at an arena show. Today’s brands and artists know that the action outside the concert venue is prime real estate for community and connections, too. American Express partnered with Olivia Rodrigo on her GUTS World Tour with a branded school bus filled with activities designed for Rodrigo fans—and Amex cardholders, of course. Not only did the activation offer free tickets to a few lucky winners in each city, it offered those who didn’t score tickets at all (don’t forget these fans!) a chance to get close to their favorite artist.
Brand Refresh Collabs Rooted in Live
Legacy brands can reintroduce themselves to modern consumers through clever artist collaborations which is exactly what Chips Ahoy! did with GRAMMY-nominated artist Big Sean. To introduce its colossal Big Chewy Cookie, the brand worked with Sean to create a custom merch line which debuted live at ComplexCon in November in the shadow of an 18-foot-tall Chips Ahoy! installation.
Pop-up Performances Designed for Fans—and Social
Pop artist events have the power to generate massive social media impact. That was the strategy for clothier H&M which hosted a surprise Charli XCX concert in Times Square that was announced just 30 minutes before it started to H&M loyalty members. Charli wore H&M for the performance, which took place before a massive Times Square screen takeover turned “Brat” green like her album.
Unofficial ‘Inspired By’ Experiences
If slightly illegal experiential marketing is wrong, we don’t want to be right. Which is why we can only tip our hats to the marketers at Duolingo who leveraged “Duo,” their bright-green bird mascot, for a stunt at a co-headlined Charli XCX and Troye Sivan Sweat Tour concert in Detroit. Duo showed up in a “Brat” t-shirt, a reference to Charli XCX’s album, which was also bright green, and was ultimately thrown out of the stadium, inciting all kinds of social media coverage. E.l.f. Cosmetics also made an unofficial reference to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour with a maker-centric event produced in partnership with Purdue University called “In My STEM Era” that coincided with the final U.S. leg of Swift’s tour.
Host Cities that are ‘Ready for It’
The impact of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour on local economies has been estimated at $2.2 billion. Toward the end of the tour, cities got even more experiential, decking out everything from their concert venues to their police horses to their historic statues in oversized friendship bracelets. Vancouver B.C. took the cake, though, with an entire map of more than 13 photo op installations around the city named after some of Swift’s biggest hits. What could host cities and venues do to welcome your next event and its attendees?
When the Song Becomes the Retail Experience
If “Espresso” wasn’t on repeat in your brain last summer, were you even alive? Sabrina Carpenter’s song of the summer and her subsequent tour inspired a partnership that used the popularity of the song—and the drink—as a retail sales opportunity. As the official spirits sponsor of her Short n’ Sweet Tour in North America, Absolut and Kahlua combined forces to offer a limited edition Short n’ Sweet Espresso Martini Cocktail Kit. The $85 kit sold out in 48 hours when it released in November, but was back in stock during the holidays.
