Context
Grey Benelux asked me to join them as their interim European Creative Director.
Together with their team we worked on the AXE Black campaign, to come up with an activation that could be rolled out globally.
Idea
Magic really happens when artists get to play their music live - and acoustically - in intimate sessions at small venues. This is when they can’t hide behind elaborate stagecraft, meticulously choreographed light shows and pre-recorded backing vocals. To underscore the Axe Black, “Less is More” ethos, we created Blackstage, a global activation where we invited artists to strip their music back to its bare essentials. This series of intimate concerts took place in the middle of the night at special locations for small audiences of around 40 people. With bands like Kensington, Rudimental, Typhoon, Kovacs and “Tout Va Bien” the result was pure musical magic.
The activation was rolled out globally, so each country worked with different partners.
In Turkey the concerts were broadcasted on national TV and in other countries we teamed up with Spotify.
Role: ECD | Client: AXE | Agency: Grey Benelux | Additional credits: copy: Joko Jongmans and Bjorn Diemer, art: Job Bakker, music production: Top Notch & Universal Music