Shifting the record industry to one global release day

Before 2015, new music was released on all different days around the world: Mondays in the UK, Tuesdays in the US and on other days in other countries. Illegal downloads were rife as people didn’t want to wait. IFPI, which represents the recording industry worldwide, wanted a global release day where countries all released new music on the same day of the week: Friday.

Following a competitive pitch, IFPI commissioned us to create a brand and strategic campaign. Our brief for the New Music Fridays initiative was to build a brand and visual style to build awareness and engagement among both consumers and the industry alike. It wanted to “boost consumer and brand awareness, building anticipation tied to the release of new music – on a global scale”.

Creating a brand style

We wanted to create style that was assertive and inspiring. We created a modular brand platform comprised of creative elements and assets that could be used in different ways. Building this inventory meant that third parties could expand their own communications and campaigns locally, adopting the New Music Fridays concept with a sense of ownership and purpose.

Global strategy and application

Because this was a global campaign, our core identifier and brand mark needed to be translated for all required languages. All our assets were produced and made available for localised advertising and industry use. Our creative was adopted by third-party distributors and used commercially in stores and online.

Consistent implementation

A key challenge for the campaign was the coordinated delivery of assets and brand guidance to music organisations, record labels and retailers around the world leading up to, and after, the launch. Our solution was to create a brand portal where all assets could be accessed, alongside brand usage guidelines and a simple, coherent website.

The outcome

Our work helped to create a global campaign that gave an effective and consistent voice across physical and digital campaigns. With our brand guidelines platform and new website, the campaign was able to be rolled out and used at scale. New Music Fridays was a success, becoming the standard global release day, and music piracy plummeted.