A revamped JBL campaign to appeal to millennials

We found out that all competitors’ soundbars were perceived in a similar fashion. They were viewed as “a black bar underneath your television”. Also, most of their communication was product-focused with a lot of technical buzzwords and complicated graphics. However, as JBL targets a younger crowd (and the product’s price point is a bit lower than the rest), we needed to break with monotony and find a fresh angle, tone of voice, and visual storytelling approach.

To engage and inspire the first-home-owner audience to consider JBL’s product range, we positioned the product as a device that elevates moments from ordinary to extraordinary, changing the expectations of what gaming or enjoying a TV series should be. We wanted to show that a JBL soundbar quite literally raises the bar, setting new standards for sound entertainment at home. 

To bring this idea to life, we introduced ‘Raise the Bar’, a digital campaign focused on the things millennials love the most – series binging and gaming. In the midst of the season finale of Game of Thrones and the launch of FIFA19, we created content that was social-first and format-playful, showing the potential of the new product range by highlighting the before and after the ‘Raise the Bar’ moment.

On each of the social platforms used, we made the most out of the format. On Youtube, we created pre-rolls with a countdown that kept people watching beyond five seconds. We made Instagram stories where people could ‘tap to raise the bar’, retargeting them with convincing thematic swipe up videos. We also pushed digital on the landing pages to reflect the raise the bar concept and because millennials are hard to convince, we created a native AR simulation that lets them see how the JBL sound bar fits their home set up, in real size.

We focused on two content streams that research showed our audience loves – series/movies and gaming. Using that to build our storylines, we kept everything under the same roof, reinventing the way we talk about the product to deliver the more complex and technical sides of the product in an engaging way. And because there’s no online without offline, we completed the customer journey with POS displays, showing a football supporter and our Viking in a loop, convincing you to experience the raise the bar moment in-store for yourself.

Of the four million people we reached online with the campaign in a six-week period….

• 1.3 million viewers watched the full campaign videos
• More than 70,000 visitors clicked on the ads for more information
• 45,000 visitors of these interacted with our product videos and campaign website functionalities
• More than 17.3 million impressions were generated throughout the campaign.

Overall, there was a 90% increase in google searches compared to the previous version of the product the year before, proving our increased awareness objectives and surpassing the predicted results for conversion and product purchase decision making by 57.8%.