THE LES PAUL SKILL CHECK

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TitleTHE LES PAUL SKILL CHECK
BrandGIBSON GUITAR
Product/ServiceEPIPHONE LES PAUL BJOERN GELOTTE SIGNATURE EDITION
Category I03. User Experience
Entrant Company SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Advertising Agency SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Media Agency MEDIAPLUS Munich, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Alexander Schill Serviceplan Chief Creative Officer
Matthias Harbeck Serviceplan Executive Creative Director
Hans-peter Sporer Serviceplan Executive Creative Director
Franz Roeppischer Serviceplan Creative Director
Lorenz Langgartner Serviceplan Creative Director
Shari Bremer Serviceplan Art Director
Nicolas Klein Serviceplan Art Director
Florian Daldrup Serviceplan Copywriter
Juliane Weber Serviceplan Account Supervisor
Lukas Pachoinig Mediaplus Media Planning
Frank Graefe Eat/Sleep/Design Illustration
Henan Wiesink Henanx Music Consultant
Thomas Vidovic Universal Music Publishing Key Facilitator
Stephon Karolus Skfilm Creative Producer/Dop
Bjoern Gelotte In Flames Music Producer/Sound Design
Felix Hofer/Felix Duczek/Julius Conrad/Tom Batoy Henanx Music Producer/Sound Design
Jonathan Davies Shazam Director Eu Music Partnerships
Hollie Parlour Shazam Senior Client Services Manager
Jan Kubran Sony Music Entertainment Germany Head Of Music Licensing Gsa
Marcus Gums Kmg Germany Vice President Synchronion Dach

Creative Execution

Through print ads in relevant music magazines and in-store posters, we challenged guitar players to prove their skills: They had to perfectly play a difficult solo, written by Björn Gelotte himself. The perfection was measured by using Shazam like never before: As a musical judge. Because we had placed perfectly played master recordings of the solo – recorded in different setups and adapted to the Shazam search algorithm – in the Shazam database. Only if the user played well enough, Shazam would detect a match and reveal a website with the chance to exclusively pre-order or even win the new Les Paul.

During the promotion period, countless guitar players tried to master the solo. Because those who weren’t good enough didn’t produce a measurable result within Shazam, we can only guess the numbers. What we know: Even though only very skilled guitarists could play the solo perfectly in our tests, Shazam measured 250+ successful matches. One lucky guitar mastermind got the new Les Paul for free. The rest of the first production batch was sold out, before it was even in stores. Not least due to the Les Paul Skill Check, the 2015 Les Paul Signature Edition is now at the top of every guitar player’s wish list.

OBJECTIVE: In 2015, leading manufacturer of premium guitars Epiphone by Gibson announced a new Signature Edition of their most famous model: the LesPaul – played by legends like Slash, Jimmy Page or James Hetfield. Promote this new edition, designed by Björn Gelotte, guitarist for famous Swedish metal band “In Flames”. CLIENT CHALLENGE: Everyone wants a Les Paul. But once you have one, you’re set for years. Epiphone still has to keep up demand for annual product launches. TARGET AUDIENCE: Ambitious amateur, semi-pro and pro guitar players. Familiar with the history of the Les Paul. Interested in rock/ metal. From DACH region. INSIGHT: Musicians love to be challenged. STRATEGY: Challenge + Exclusivity = Extreme Attraction. IDEA: Let guitar players prove their skills, by perfectly playing a difficult solo written by Gelotte himself. Let them measure their precision through a familiar channel: Shazam. Reward them for perfect performance with exclusive benefits.