Winners & Shortlists

THE CLASSICAL COMEBACK

TitleTHE CLASSICAL COMEBACK
BrandB-CLASSIC
Product/ServiceCLASSICAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
Category B01. ACQUISITION & RETENTION
Entrant Company DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Advertising Agency DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Production Company CAVIAR Brussels, BELGIUM
Credits
Name Company Position
Peter Ampe DDB Brussels Executive Creative Director
Tim Arts DDB Brussels Art Director
Stefan Van Den Boogaard Ddb Brussels Copywriter
Francis Lippens DDB Brussels Account Director
Kaat De Brandt DDB BRUSSELS Account Manager
Dominique Poncin Ddb Brussels Head Of Strategy
Maarten Van Daele DDB Brussels Strategic Planner
Michael D'hooge DDB Brussels Content/Insight Planner
Geert Desager DDB Brussels Head Of Digital
Stefanie Warreyn Ddb Brussels Digital Production
Brigitte Verduyckt Ddb Brussels Tv Producer
Raf Reyntjens Director
Geert Dewachter CAVIAR Producer
Christophe Liekens DDB BRUSSELS Graphic Designer

The Brief

B-Classic is an innovative Belgian classical music festival. They leverage the power of classical music to engage new audiences, without compromising on quality. How could we reconnect classical music with young people? With the ever-shortening attention span in mind, we launched a new music video format that combines the timeless emotion of classical music with the visual talent of a contemporary director. Our idea is based on the insight that we live in a visual world, where people discover music via YouTube & social media.

Creative Execution

The first Classical Comeback music video was launched on YouTube. We chose to produce a music video because YouTube is one of the primary channels were youngsters experience new music. The video was placed on an online platform where curious fans of the classical comeback video could watch a documentary on the project, read the manifesto and even submit their own classical comeback video.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

The Classical Comeback is the first music video for a classical composer. B-classic sent Raf Reyntjens, one of Belgium’s finest music video directors, to South Korea. He shot B-classic’s first Classical Comeback music video and the local Wayeva group performed a unique choreography on Dvořák's New World. Asia today is what America was 100 years ago: the new world.

Results

• We racked up over 4 million views on YouTube • All the big entertainment sites like 9Gag and Buzzfeed picked up the video. • We stirred a debate in the national press, got featured on Belgian's late night and on the news. • From Japan to CNN, it didn’t go unnoticed at news redactions all over the world. • Belgian TV channels such as '8' and even MTV agreed to air the Classical Comeback video in their normal programming. • Never before did the festival get this amount of media attention, never before did the festival sell out.