-A “NATIONWIDE YEAR LONG FUNERAL”, giving kent fans an organised chance to reminisce and “say goodbye” to kent with dignity – together with the band.

-The main campaign symbol: A drummer girl with a skeleton-painted face, leading a farewell march.

-Other campaign elements reflected a number of funeral traditions, with creative assets inspired by e.g. obituaries and memorial sites.

-The “funeral” went through four distinct phases spread out over the year.

1/SPRING/March 13th-14th

ONLINE VIDEO TRAILER

-Announces kent’s final album/farewell tour.

-Trailer features “skull girl” marching with characters/symbols from kent album covers/singles/videos.

-Released via kent’s social media channels.

-Surprise release of single “Egoist”.

2/SUMMER/May 18th-20th

ALBUM PRE-LISTENING EVENT/DIGITAL COUNTDOWN-COLLABORATION/ALBUM RELEASE

-Unique tailored album pre-listening event in kent’s hometown/livestreamed.

-Fans/public invited via kent’s social media and posters around Sweden.

-Final album released following Spotify’s first video-based-24-hour-countdown takeover.

-Press celebrated with kent-dedicated podcasts/tribute magazine/extensive press coverage.

3/FALL/September 16th-December 31st

BEST-OF-ALBUM RELEASE/RELEASE “KENTIPEDIA"

-Best-of-album with four new tracks released alongside interactive co-creation website “kentipedia”

kentipedia:

-Fans can scroll through kent’s entire history/add memories.

-Nine influencers share kent-memories in online videos.

-“kentipedia" becomes a permanent memorial site on New Year’s Eve.

4)WINTER/September 23rd-December 18th

FAREWELL TOUR

-26 concerts/19 cities/4 countries. Three final arena shows in Stockholm.

-Video to “Sista sången” (“The Last Song”) with concert footage released.

- Fan-initiated farewell marches and church/gym say farewell.

MEDIA REACH

-153 million media reach +553 articles (Swedish population=10 million).

-Coverage biggest/most positive throughout kent’s career. E.g. Sweden’s largest news outlet published/sold kent-themed magazine. Swedish public service-radio produce 16-part-kent-themed podcast.

ENGAGEMENT

-All-time-high-activity in kent’s digital channels. E.g. Online-video trailer organic reach=3,608,84/views=1,800,000/likes=21,000/shares=13,681/comments=3,858.

Pre-listening-event livestream-views=250,000. “kentipedia"=24,000 visits within 24h+1,540 fan-memories added.

-Massive event/concert turnouts. E.g. Pre-listening-event held twice/sold out tour.

-Independent initiatives: Fan-arranged farewell marches+pre/post-concert club-parties. Company-launched kent-themed campaigns/events/ads/websites/auctions.

-Spotify creates whole kent-themed “Year in Music”-website.

IMPACT/SALES

-Within 24h of retirement-announcement, every 8th Swede listens to kent on Spotify.

-All tracks from final album entered Spotify’s top-50 chart.

-Final album+best-of-album entered #1-national-album-chart.

-Final album certified platinum in sales and was the best selling Swedish album 2016.

-Single “Egoist” entered Spotify-chart at #7. On national radio chart +5 months.

-kent won two Swedish Grammy’s: Best Rock+Best Album.

-kent now officially entitled “Sweden’s biggest rock band”.