CONNECTING TO A CAUSE THROUGH MUSIC

How could Lipton contribute to the anti-racism cause and win on social? Our solution was to pivot to the healing power of music and put story first. The result was a real film that attracted A-list talent on a B-minus budget

A challenging brief

Pepsi-Unilever brand Lipton had asked us to help shape their social strategy, building an audience behind their higher brand purpose of ‘quality connections’. One of the purpose building blocks already in place was a partnership with Peace One Day, a UN-affiliated not-for-profit. When Peace One Day pivoted to anti-racism as a cause, Lipton asked Redwood to help it find an authentic and credible approach that could build brand love – without risking a brand backlash.

A committed approach

Rather than tackle anti-racism head on we argued that Lipton’s quality connections purpose could credibly highlight the historic role of music in bringing different people together. Having identified this brief as a perfect pilot project for the newly launched Redwood Studios, we then invested our own pro bono time into developing what would become Together We Hear, a long-form documentary connecting three pairs of musicians from different genres and eras. This level of commitment encouraged Lipton to take what the CMO called a ‘pure purpose’ approach – brand-recessive, talent-led and real.

A credible cast

Lipton’s pure purpose approach paid back immediately when artists like Nile Rodgers, Eve, Craig David and Emeli Sandé all gave their time to the project for free. Our editorial model also secured credibility and visibility by bringing in Time Out as a co-production rather than commercial partner. The full-length documentary premiered on Time Out globally on 4th June 2021, with an introduction written by their International Editor, and was supported by a range of social and editorial promotion including talent interviews and short-form assets across Instagram, Facebook and talent social. Ultimately, by committing to the broader issue, developing the idea as a piece of programming and letting the talent tell their own true stories at length, we were able to produce a more authentic storyline that drove brand respect and created more credible social assets.