In just 2 years, Google+ has signed up 500m users, with 135m of those active in the stream in the last 30 days (30DAs). But that’s only just over 25%, with a huge number of warm leads. We wanted to drive more of these early adopters to become active by positioning Google+ as a credible social destination for music lovers.

This young and marketing-savvy audience demand authentic experiences, but whilst tech and media have evolved, their dream has remained the same - they dream of meeting their idol. We wanted to show how Google+ could give them an experience that wouldn’t be available anywhere else on the internet, and inspire them to use Hangouts with other music fans. We did this by reinterpreting the classic album signing for the digital age, with the medium becoming the creative idea.

In the Hangout Ellie joined as herself on one computer, and as another user on a different computer. On the second, she screen shared a Photoshop window where she signed JPEGs of her album cover with a Wacom tablet. A simple hack that anyone can do, but only on Google+. Lucky fans joined from the Event page, where the signing also streamed live on YouTube.

With no web build, we facilitated an intimate human interaction, in a way seldom seen online. All whilst fans tried the product, and even more watched the magic of Hangouts on YouTube.

With no web build or media spend, and using only Ellie’s existing social channels, we reached over 20m people, featuring on outlets such as BBC Radio 1, ABC News, Mashable and NME. This lead to 500,000 fans signing up and adding Ellie to their Circles. 4,000 attending the live event, 100,000 viewers watching the broadcast online, and Billboard Magazine decreeing Google+ “the future of music” in a double page feature.

During 2013 Digital Signings will scale worldwide, free to use by any artist or record label, with partners already onboard in 11 countries, bringing more fans on Google+ through their passion for music.