Among Driven Youth, we needed to quantitatively lift brand power drivers by 3 points – Trusted Brand, Leader in Computers, Innovative Brand, Right Products, Proud to be Seen With – all while elevating the HP positioning of “technology in service of humanity.”

During shelter in place, HP’s products were more relevant than ever, but their core audience of Driven Youth was suffering, struggling and rising up.

Rather than focusing on the hard sell of product, we recognized that this was a unique moment for HP to instead be in service, and that a focus on co-creating, enabling and amplifying diverse creative voices would be a stronger brand message than just an ad campaign alone.

We enabled the democratization of music production from home.

Who needs a label, recording studio, expensive software when you have an HP computer, some collaborative mentors, and the hunger to create?

With the goal of shifting perception with a demographic that is digitally savvy, defines themselves through music and is focused on social good, we built our strategy around three key principles.

1. Dwell in Culture: We embraced the pillars of Gen Z culture, selecting music as a focus for cultural passion, influence and creative expression.

2. Amplify Diverse Voices: More than ever, HP needed to walk-the-walk in diversity and inclusion, featuring and supporting underrepresented communities.

3. Serve a Purpose: To truly engage Driven Youth, our marketing efforts had to provide a tangible benefit and create a deeper engagement with the HP brand.

We launched two simultaneous music projects.

We created HP’s Genius Home Studio, virtually pairing aspiring and established artists to collaborate on original music using HP laptops and a custom soundboard. It started with a video tutorial and editorial on beat making, and ended with the creation of an interactive music video. Well-known artists like Mike WiLL, OffSet, the NaeNae Twins and Glassface were all part of the production.

We distributed the series across Gen Z’s favorite platforms including Twitter, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

We partnered with Live Nation to produce a two-part mini documentary featuring Kehlani, a person of color, part of the LBGTQIA, and a working mother of undeniable talent and perseverance. During the pandemic, she leveraged personal technology to continue creating music and moving her career forward.

Together the programs provided inspiration and tools to support the creative community, all while driving reach and impact for HP.

Between the two programs, we drove +5.7 million custom content views, +550,000 social interactions and 61.7 million media impressions.

The Genius video pre-roll outperformed the 76% video completion rate benchmark, delivering 83%.

We drove well above our goal for brand power drivers, driving double digit lifts across key attitudinal measures.

For Genius, “HP is an Innovative Brand” increased +12%, “HP has the Right Products” increased +31%, and “HP Offers Products I’m Proud to be Seen With” increased +17%.

For Live Nation, “HP is an Innovative Brand” increased +21%, “HP has the Right Products” increased +15%, and “HP Offers Products I’m Proud to be Seen With” increased +16%.

Because of its success, HP has extended the program, doubling down with Genius to add features to the Home Studio tool and to create more collaboration and music.

In the words of Offset “Shout out HP. Y’all did your thing with this production.”