UMA hires new Creative Director for in-house branded partnerships agency BRING
Universal Music Australia’s branded entertainment agency BRING, set up last February, has appointed James Griffiths to the role of Creative Director.
“Griff” was previously at Ideaworks Sydney in the same role, where he won a number of awards.
At Ideaworks he helped recreate Myer’s retail experience, worked with Adidas as part of their All Blacks sponsorship and globally repositioned Chang Beer.
Now at BRING, and again based in Sydney, he has access to 3500 music acts to partner with brands.
Griffiths said, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to be welcomed into BRING.
“It’s an exciting time for the agency, we have a savvy team who are all energised to create world-class campaigns for brands across the region.
“We’re lucky to have access to some of the greatest artists in the world and if we can bring their creativity together with true innovation, we can really differentiate ourselves in the market by offering brands new ways in which to emotionally connect with their fans.”
BRING’s Managing Director Roddy Campbell added: “We took our time to find the right person and can already see that Griff is going to make a huge impact.
“It’s an exciting lane within the marketing sector to be working within as more brands look to tap into the unrivalled passion for music and try new things, creating ownable events and content platforms as opposed to the traditional sponsorship approach.
“I feel our team is perfectly placed with experience and capabilities to deliver a top class, end to end creative solution.”
Campbell himself was recently promoted within the Universal Music Group, becoming Managing Director, New Business for Universal Music Australia and New Zealand.
His brief includes live events, owned media strategy and licensing, and includes BRING as part of his responsibility.
His unit will work closely with the data and technology division, which recently brought inStephen Hunt to head it. It collects the sort of consumer behaviour information which shows brands the best ways to hit their target demographic.
Last month BRING also hired Bauer Media’s Ellie Portch as Account Director.
BRING clients include Optus, for which it produced Lorde’s show on Cockatoo Island, and a series of interactive music events for Lion Brand called ROAM which included Dew Process/Universal Music act Tkay Maidza.
It also worked with the HOST agency for Air New Zealand’s Summer Wonderland campaign, during which Ronan Keating re-recorded the Christmas hit in a southern hemisphere context. The campaign won a Bronze Entertainment Lion at Cannes 2017.
Using the power of music to motivate brand customers, the branded entertainment sector in America had by 2014 reached a value of $2 billion.
Of this, $1.4 billion was a spent on music tours, venues and festivals during 2015. Another $347 million was for worldwide use of music in ads, films, games and TV.
Fees and royalties paid to artists for endorsement and branding deals account for the balance.
As brands become more comfortable allocating more of their budgets to music, the global Universal Music Group has 250 music and marketing experts who have struck deals for its acts for everything from airlines to soft drinks to holidays.
These included Keating spruiking Singapore’s Sentosa Resorts, Shawn Mendes and Papermate, Jessie J and Makeup Forever, and Ellie Goulding and Mastercard.