A Cannes Lions 2014 Design finalist, Ogilvy & Mather Philippines’ ‘Listen with Respect’ campaign positioned the headphones as a way of respecting the music, and the artist to create an on-ground experience to launch the Sony MDR headphones range in the Philippines.
“Critically it was a piece of work that didn’t have any conventional advertising. So this was really led by activation and through PR. And so as an example of the type of work we want to create where a great idea can come from anywhere, it’s something that we’re very proud of,” said Richmond Walker, Group ECD of Ogilvy.
Walker said the idea behind ‘Listen With Respect’ was that people could pay respect to true artists by listening on Sony MDR headphones. “In implementation, there are areas where you could listen on the headphones and there’s copy explaining the details of each particular artist,” Walker said.
They identified three of the biggest names in music history – The Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles – and created portraits for each. Artists used different objects to highlight the dedication of each artist, including 40 years of concert tickets, more than 3000 guitar picks, and 2000 drumsticks.
“Obviously we’re proud of this for a number of reasons,” said Walker, adding that people keep trying to buy the installations, and they may even auction the work.
Giving the campaign local flavor, they then took Filipino music legends Bamboo and Ely Buendia on tour. “We really work for hard for that perfect sound so we just hate it when people listen to our music or any other music on teeny tiny old headphones,” Bamboo said.
“We just want our fans to hear our music in the best possible way,” Buendia said.
