“Sponsoring big talent requires writing a check. Sponsoring emerging talent really means walking the talk and helping walk in their shoes with them,” says Chris Epple.
“Emerging music for us is our big focus,” says Epple, vice president, marketing Americas, Harman International. Building marketing efforts based on emerging talent – discovering and cultivating new voices – is not as big a splash or an easy sell to management as sponsoring a major artist tour, but it does score big when it comes to cultural relevance, he says.
“I think it’s really important, especially in a post-COVID world, that you’re present with your consumers and you’re in places where culture happens,” says Epple. And the place where it is happening now is the SXSW Festival, where Harman has planned a series of activations around its JBL brand of speakers and headsets, to cement its place as the brand of choice for both professionals and sound lovers. Epple notes discovery is a big part of the SXSW experience – highlighting new and emerging artists – and this dovetails with JBL’s drive for cultural relevance.
“We feel like SXSW is the perfect place for JBL. It’s everything we stand for: emerging sound, being at the forefront of culture,” says Epple. “It’s really very similar to JBL’s creative spirit.”
Epple will speak at Brand Innovators’ Leadership in Brand Marketing Summit in Austin, talking up Harman’s commitment to emerging talent at the core of its brands.
Harman’s SXSW activities kicked off with the JBL Campus Run Club at the University of Texas campus in Austin. The March 11 two-mile run was hosted by content creator Gabby DePietro. Participants wore JBL headphones synced to a curated playlist. The event relied on the UT community to drive and amplify that story, to get the community involved, said Epple.
Harman is the Official Audio Partner of SXSW, and is running six activations in the festival, both on the festival stages and on the streets around Austin. It has a paid media partnership with Rolling Stone and its Future of Music concert series at SXSW, presenting performances by emerging artists. “That’s going to be one of our primary megaphones,” says Epple. And to add to the surround-sound experience, pedicabs around town will be equipped with JBL Party Box sound systems playing the emerging artists discovered by the JBL Music Academy, the brand’s talent mentorship program.
Harman’s key activation at SXSW will be the JBL Livebrary, a series of events tied to its JBL Live line of headsets. Harman will take over part of the Austin City Limits venue to present music sets by star DJs such as Steve Aoki and LPGiobbi along with emerging musicians; the venue will also offer immersive and interactive experiences and other programming designed to help visitors sample the sound of JBL’s premium headphones.
The core of the SXSW activities are built around the JBL Music Academy, the brand’s musician mentorship program, which is the backbone of much of Harman’s emerging artists focus. The Academy is an annual program where early-career artists apply and audition to join a workshop led by DJ Martin Garrix at his Amsterdam-based studio. Musicians, singers, songwriters and producers get coaching and support from music professionals (singer Benson Boone, a JBL spokesman, paid last year’s class a visit) and opportunities to perform at professional venues.
The hope is these artists will grow into Benson Boone-level stars while keeping their relationship with the brand that got them started, said Epple. “It really is around creating an ecosystem,” he says.
“We’re with them from the outset of their career, we provide them with the tools, the resources, the connections, the platform – literally the products that can help them with their career,” he said. “We feel like we’re going to build that relationship for life.”
Ripples on a Lake
Harman – the parent company of sound brands such as Harman Kardon, JBL, Marantz and Denon – centers many of its marketing activities on real-world activation, because experiencing sound is the most effective way to appreciate those brands, says Epple. Because its products span a range – from consumers gaming or listening to music through headsets to professional musicians and producers of major tours – Harman tries to appeal to a wide variety of audiences, but always through the connection to sound and music, says Epple.
“We really like to be a brand that’s connected to artists at all levels throughout their entire daily lifestyle,” says Epple.
Events and experiential marketing are important not just for themselves, says Epple. Especially in a high-profile spot such as SXSW, activations work by creating ripple effects and amplifying their message, he says.
“I always like to remind my team that the event is a little rock, but it’s a rock in a lake, and there’s all the ripples you need around that,” says Epple. “What else are we doing globally to make that message get really wide? We try not to focus just on the experience, but rather how everyone around the world can experience it.”
At SXSW, Harman is working with media and influencers from around the world to amplify all its efforts. The company is working with influencers from across North and South America coming to Austin for the festival, “a whole team of emerging content creators on site, creating their content, pushing it out through their channels to their audiences,” says Epple. This amplification works because it gives an authentic voice to the music fans, says Epple.
“It’s in their voice, in their tone, to their people,” says Epple. “It’s the way that their fans want to receive their content.”
