Performance Enhancing Music
Samsung x Optus
Issue 60 | September 2021
Agency
CHE Proximity
Creative Team
President SEAU Brian Cha Director of Product Marketing Eric Chou Head of Brand Marketing Hayley Walton Group Partner Marketing Manager Jason Ridge Channel Marketing Manager Danielle Hoppitt Marketing Manager Alicia Malmur Marketing Executive Lilly Lloyd Optus Director of Sponsorship & Retail Marketing Benjamin Lawless-Jennings Associate Directors, Sponsorship Danielle Rapley, Jen Coleman
Production Team
Chief Creative Officer Gavin McLeod Executive Creative Director Justin Ruben Creative Directors Richard Shaw, Jeremy Hogg Senior Art Director Daniel Smith Senior Copywriter Ernie Ciaschetti Head of Art Tim McPherson Senior Digital Designer Joe Tran
Other Credits
Head of Strategic Production Tash Johnson Executive Producer Sophia Tubby Production company Revolver Director The Glue Society Other Group Account Director Grace Vizor Account Directors Peter Thomas, Blade Griffiths Senior Account Manager Raisa Mushrafi Planning Director Alex Connell
Date
July 2021
Background
Samsung and Optus were official sponsors of the Tokyo Olympics. But instead of doing a traditional ad campaign claiming they were supporting their athletes, they wanted to do something that actually did.
Idea
Athletes are scientifically proven to perform better in front of a crowd. But the stands in Tokyo were largely empty. However, research and testing had shown that within music there were multiple layers which could be manipulated to get athletes into their desired mental and physical states for competition.
Samsung and Optus set out to create Performance Enhancing Music to enhance the individual performances of Australian Olympic and Paralympic athletes.
Each athlete’s track was personalised by musical genre, artist selection, athlete affirmations, moments from their sporting past, tempo, BPMs and isochronic tones.
Some of Australia’s most celebrated musicians (Sheppard, Karnivool, San Cisco and Alex the Astronaut) collaborated in the project.
The athletes embedded their audio tracks into their daily training and pre- performance regimes.
The campaign was released via a short documentary and the tracks published on Spotify for the public to experience. The idea extended into social, PR, OOH as well as a SnapChat lens that let amateur athletes create their own Performance Enhancing Music.
All the tracks can be found on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/6o5iB2D2 UTJeJutBFXpLTR?si=FRoRYq1jT2KwfCqzP tdCiA&dl_branch=1&nd=1
Results
Performance Enhancing Music has had over 6 million views on social media and the full playlist over 25,000 listens on Spotify. As well as earned national media coverage.
There is more activity now the Paralympics is underway.
Our Thoughts
I think it’s fair to say the athletes involved in this experiment had mixed fortunes though at the time of writing, Nic Beveridge has yet to compete in the triathlon at the Tokyo Paralympics. Steph Catley was part of the Australian women’s football team that came horribly fourth. Poppy Olsen came fifth in her skateboarding event and Mack Horton was part of the team that won Bronze in the 200m swimming relay.
The real winners, of course, are Samsung and Optus, who have successfully raised awareness of their sponsorship deals and generated increased brand love in this sports- mad country.