Three doesn’t just bring people together through technology, it connects them through music too.

As the sponsor of Ireland’s landmark music venue, Three have been a name in the Irish music scene for some time. But Irish musicians were struggling to be heard. Music venues around the country were shutting down, and only 12% of the acts playing in the 3Arena were homegrown.

Three wanted to be more than just a badge on a building. They wanted a campaign that could make a lasting contribution to Irish music, and safeguard its future: By connecting emerging local musicians with a wider audience.

Irish musicians are struggling to find their voice in an increasingly globalised market, so Three Mobile launched a collaborative campaign that would lend them theirs.

Music connects people. It drives emotive bonds to the artists and their music. It makes a crowd feel, form tribes and creates a culture of togetherness. As a mobile network, Three connects people, making them best positioned to celebrate the connections that are Made by Music.

Choosing three up and coming artists allowed Three to cement their new music positioning whilst giving credence to the Made by Music platform. We set out to create engaging content to target the demographic of 18-24 year olds, which demonstrated Three’s presence within the music industry, and made a credible contribution to it culturally. To appeal to this demographic, we created something that they consume regularly, music videos. Through music videos, we supplied the artist with a platform that reached beyond their tribe, giving them an opportunity to entertain fans and emotionally connected them with the platform.

We needed music fans and people in the industry to sit up and take notice and we knew we couldn’t do that with a traditional advertising campaign. Instead of making ads, we brought up-and-coming Irish talent to the masses in the most native way – music videos on YouTube.

The #MadeByMusic platform was designed to champion emerging Irish music acts, and to celebrate the power of music to connect people.

We took three up and coming artists, commissioned music videos for each of them, and supported them with online ads and a fully integrated campaign. We launched the campaign with a live performance and a Q& A between the artists and a respected interviewer within the industry, Edith Bowman. Then we threw the weight of Three’s media spend behind each artist, exposing them to a wider audience and giving them a platform to take their music to the next level.

-The campaign produced a collaborative track that went on to win the artists - Jafaris, Saint Sister and Kormac - a nomination at the Choice Music Prize, Ireland’s answer to the Grammys.

-One of the artists in particular, Jafaris, went on to earn international acclaim, with features in global music publications like NME, Clash and The Fader.

-Ad for Jafaris’ music video was the highest-performing ad on YouTube, globally. To put it into perspective, this Irish rapper beat an ad for Beyonce and Jay-Z’s new album by 160%.

-309% increase in Jafaris’ Spotify plays

-Uplift in Instagram followers by 61%.

-3000% increase in YouTube views.