This year, we were given the unique challenge of launching Apple Music’s first-ever Super Bowl Halftime Show partnership.

This was a opportunity for reinvention - and we didn’t want to simply approach the Halftime Show as its latest sponsor. Instead, we set out to re-define how a brand could show up in this unique moment by building anticipation as a collaborator and amplifier.

Our challenge was to create a new brand identity for the Apple Music Halftime Show that would highlight Apple Music’s natural connection to the year’s biggest moment in music and clearly distinguish ourselves from past partners. A clear refresh that would set the tone for the new Halftime Show direction in years to come.

In making Apple Music an undeniable part of the show, our objective was to generate maximum brand awareness and organic reach in the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl.

The Halftime Show is the most watched music performance every year, with more than 100M viewers worldwide. And for the first time in the history of the show, a music company was at the helm. We needed a new identity that would truly reflect and celebrate what the show is about: Music.

The idea? An ever-evolving, living identity. Driven by sound. Designed to come alive with music.

We wanted the show’s identity to be the living embodiment of the artist and their music, so we developed the concept of particles that would animated based on different musical inputs. We also set out to create a clean and simple system to cut through the maximalist world of sports. In the weeks leading up to and during the Super Bowl, this living identity came to life with every beat, every note, across all assets.

A living identity system that reacts to various musical inputs. Every beat creates new versions of the logo, from the quietest to the most energetic expressions.

This flexible system was created for the 2023 Super Bowl Halftime Show, but will evolve to suit halftime artists for years to come. This sound reactive animation approach was applied to film titles, key visuals, show promos, retail stores and digital.

The Show Intro also reacted to sound, moving to a custom version of “What’s My Name”. It featured Rihanna’s silhouette walking and holding the football – a nod to her iconic announcement post.

During the show itself, we wanted this animated logo to be in sync with the performance. So we created 3 animations that were subtly different and reacted to different musical BPMs. This was the first time an animated logo bug was used during a Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Our identity was the connective element of this campaign. The living logo was an essential to threading together our communications throughout this huge moment. With a campaign that generated over 400 million views overall and contributed to the second largest Halftime Show audience of all time, our identity was key to making this moment a moment only Apple Music could pull off.