For Harry Styles’ sophomore album, Fine Line, Columbia Records brought the fictional island of Eroda, the setting of the music video for lead single “Adore You”, to life. Launching with a Harry-themed message generator in October 2019, we began collecting fan data that became the foundation of our Fine Line roll out. Including addressable audience data from Harry’s social handles and YouTube channel, we identified 8.5MM fans around the world, and targeted these individuals with cryptic advertising inviting them to visit Eroda. The ads were translated into 6 languages across social, display, video, and audio channels. The campaign ignited international intrigue, with articles, reddit threads, and worldwide trending topics all asking the question, “What is Eroda?”. We invite you to explore the mystery of Eroda and join us for the execution of the most innovative music marketing campaign of the year.

Our Eroda campaign wouldn't have been possible without the unique concept that is the “Adore You” music video. The video is in a complete world of its own - a forgotten fishing village where superstitions run high and it's perpetually cloudy. With a witty fan base like Harry’s, we immediately knew we could take the fans on a wild journey through our social handles and that they would be there to decipher every code we threw their way. The video’s peculiar script would become the blueprint for our social handles and website updates. We updated the Twitter daily with various rules from the island, tourist information and travel guides; while consistently changing small details on the island’s website so nothing ever quite made sense. We were able to build anticipation, spark Discord & Reddit conversations, and ignite Harry’s fan base, all while never even tying it to him yet.

The DYKWYA generator was crucial in two ways: site pixels built an active retargeting pool we could utilize across social platforms and the Google suite, and social sharing functionality drove a spike in followers across Harry's dormant social handles. These sources became our global universe. In total, we identified +8.5MM fans around the world, and began to devise a media plan focusing on markets with the highest level of engagement, considering site traffic and social activity. Once we finalized our Erodian brand identity, including a glitchy, anachronistic website, social channels, and physical collateral, we began targeting fans across 4 continents and in 6 languages, inviting them to celebrate fake holidays, catch mythical fish, and stay at unsearchable locations on the island. To increase intrigue and expand the scope of the campaign, we also targeted ARG and gaming fans with a pop music affinity qualifier (as applicable) using social platform data.

Twitter was our key social platform throughout the Visit Eroda campaign. Official Eroda handles fueled all conversation, while key #VisitEroda hashtags kept the momentum alive. Fans shared their findings using the tag and our official account acknowledged and responded to fan findings in a vague but peculiar manner. Website updates were shared to Twitter, as we simultaneously leaked information throughout the web, while spreading IRL content of brochures, pins, and island merch throughout the internet / platform. We gave fans a reason to keep coming back daily to discover more. The more invested you were in Eroda, the more the Eroda account would reveal. The worldwide impact of this campaign was felt as “Eroda” trended #1 worldwide on Twitter multiple times before Harry’s name was even connected to our campaign.

Eroda trended #1 worldwide on Twitter before Harry’s name was ever mentioned or explicitly connected to the campaign, and continued to trend following the reveal. Fans created bootleg merch, posted Eroda tattoos, and drove the social handles to nearly 600K followers overall. In the following weeks, Fine Line became Harry’s most successful launch, topping the Billboard 200 for two weeks and earning one of several Grammy nominations for Music Video of the Year for “Adore You”. Fine Line was named the 4th most streamed album Worldwide on Spotify in 2020, and fans are still tweeting about Eroda to this day.