Title	REVERSE GUITAR SIGNING
Brand	STUDIO BRUSSEL
Product/Service	MEDIA & PUBLICATIONS
Category	B08. Use of Events
Entrant	DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
Idea Creation	DDB BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

Name	Company	Position
Odin Saille	DDB Brussels	Creative Director
Peter Ampe	DDB Brussels	Creative Director
Jan Schoofs	DDB	Copywriter
Jonas Caluwé	DDB	Art Director
Romy Vierhouten	DDB Brussels	Account Executive
Kirsten Vanderbeke	DDB	Account Executive
Francis Lippens	DDB Brussels	Business Director
Sven Verfaille	DDB Brussels	Designer
Céline Godaert	DDB	DTP
Steven De Vlieger	DDB	DTP

The Campaign

At the music festivals, all brands try to catch people’s attention by handing out free gadgets, such as clothes, sunglasses, hats, drinks etc. Whilst the reach of these gadgets might be fine, they’re definitely not making an impact. Studio Brussel wanted to reach the audience in a more meaningful way, to prove they are still the number one festival radio. Signed guitars are the Holy Grail of rock&roll. Rock stars put their autograph on guitars, and then these become true collector’s items. But at Rock Werchter, we turned this around. We invited everyone on the festival ground to put their autograph on a guitar for rock star Dave Grohl. We called it The Reverse Guitar Signing. With the Foo Fighters playing the main stage later on in front of 80.000 music fans, this was our shot at making a hell of a lot more impact than any gadget imaginable.

Creative Execution

Throughout the 4 days of the festival, hundreds of people stopped by the Studio Brussel booth and signed the guitar meant for Dave Grohl. Dave himself wasn’t aware of this. He only received the guitar during an interview with one of Studio Brussel’s hosts, right before the Foo Fighters closing show on Rock Werchter’s main stage. The goal was twofold: get as many people to show their love for the Foo Fighters by signing the guitar, and get Dave Grohl to accept it as a gift and maybe play a few chords on it during the interview. Not only was Dave clearly moved by the thoughtful gift (“no one has ever done this for me!”), he even rocked the guitar on stage during the live show, and explained the idea in front of 80.000 fans.

During our interview, Dave was clearly moved by the gift (“no one has ever done this for me”). But what happened then surprised us all. Later that night, Dave appeared on the main stage in front of 80.000 music fans. He took our guitar and explained the whole idea in front of the crowd. And then, he played a 15-minute version of Monkey Wrench on the guitar, one of their biggest hits. So while other brands were confined to their booth, Studio Brussel made it to the festival’s main stage. Proving that no one else understands music better. Our fan-signed guitar even made it beyond the main stage. It was featured on the most important Belgian news media and different music blogs worldwide. Even Loudwire – the web’s biggest hard rock and metal site with over 1.3 million fans – covered the story.

At the highly popular music festivals, media space is tightly regulated. Even key partners have to play by the rules and know exactly where they are, and aren’t, allowed to be present. As one of many key partners for Rock Werchter, the biggest Belgian festival, Studio Brussel had the same media space available as everyone else. But by showing a true understanding of music culture and the love fans have for their idols, they managed to break free of these confines and use one of the biggest live gigs at the festival as a new and authentic media outlet.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The love for music is what unites festival visitors. That’s why our presence there had to be about music itself. As a result, our approach didn’t start from the idea to reach as many people as possible, but that we had to be as relevant as possible. So we didn’t just want to hand out free gadgets. We wanted to do something that cut a little deeper. To prove that Studio Brussel understands music better than anyone else, we looked at how people usually interact with their idols. And it’s often the same: standing in line for hours to catch a glimpse of a rockstar and hope to get a selfie or an autograph. We turned that around. Instead of waiting for an autograph from your idol, Studio Brussel gave the fans a chance to give their autograph to their idol.