“brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo was one of the world’s most hotly anticipated music videos, and was funded and created by Apple to show off the power of iPad.

It took a hold of pop-culture during its pre release tease, exploded in conversation on launch day, and kept attention for weeks afterwards. And Apple and iPad were at the center of the story, because the art, technology, and creativity that was on show in Olivia’s music video, is the same that’s available to fans on their iPads at home.

TikTok and Instagram is a place where Gen-Z and Millennials show off their creativity. In particular, their digital art. It’s a place to show off illustration and animation skills in quick, compelling content for a huge audience. And iPad dominates that conversation. If you’re a digital illustrator, you’re likely using iPad, Apple Pencil, and it’s exclusive illustration app, Procreate.

The uncovering of this huge conversation surrounding iPad, was the genesis of this brief and project. We wanted to Tap into this playful creativity already happening among such a huge audience, on an app that enables creativity in unprecedented ways. Our goal was to create a moment that this young target audience couldn’t ignore. To celebrate the creativity on iPad already happening, and inspire even more of it. And we found the perfect partner — Olivia Rodrigo.

A music video for one of the world’s biggest pop stars, powered by iPad.

Procreate is an exclusive illustration app for iPad, and hidden within its settings is a magical feature called FacePaint. It uses the built-in front facing camera (the same camera and technology that powers Face ID) to let you draw live on your face and create augmented reality masks. The idea was to show off this amazing feature, and therefore show off the power of iPad, with the help of Olivia Rodrigo.

In close collaboration with her and her team, we created a set of masks that became the centerpiece of a new music video for her track “brutal”. An advertising campaign on social media and TV of making-of footage and how-to content then inspired fans to make their own masks to celebrate the launch of the video.

Typically, branded music videos demand gratuitous product shots and branding throughout. The product gets in the way of the creative idea and they aren’t true partnerships. But this was different because iPad is the world’s most versatile creative tool. It wasn’t just a product to feature in the video it was central to actually creating it. The only iPad “branding” in the music video are the AR masks created on iPad that Olivia wears throughout.

Our strategy was to run an integrated ad campaign around the launch of the music video to own the conversation surrounding the release. We showed every one of Olivia’s millions of followers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, through paid social ads, and a :30 TV commercial that the music video was #MadeOniPad.

Each mask was created in collaboration with Olivia and Apple. Designed to show off the power of iPad, and help tell the story of Olivia’s track “brutal”.

After the launch of the music video, A set of “How-To“ videos were created for TikTok and Instagram. We partnered with three influencers who use Procreate to make digital art content. They taught their millions of followers how to make masks just like Olivia. Fans made their own masks on their iPads and posted them to their own social channels.

An ad campaign of six, fifteen, and thirty second videos accompanied the launch of the music video. As well as the YouTube pre-roll of the official music video. Each included Making-Of footage from the shoot, and pre-production. This showed the world, on TV and on paid social, how to use their iPads and Procreate to make their own masks.

Number 1 Trending Video on YouTube on launch day

Number 1 Video on Vevo for 3 weeks

37 Million official music video views on YouTube

22 Million TikTok music video teaser views on Olivia’s Page.

18 Million TikTok How-To video views on influencer pages.

243 Million total campaign views (including paid TVC and Apple channels)

Press Quotes:

“This isn’t your run of the mill celebrity tie in.” Fast Company

“The result was a lesson in range, augmented reality, referential beauty — and it’s a complete visual treat.” Vogue

“Apple shows off the extraordinary power of its brand to touch every piece of pop culture.” Fast Company