We had a great time in #Cannes last week discussing the intricate decisions that shaped Chase's celebration of the global West African diaspora in its top-performing campaign, 'A Taste of West Africa.' On the mics, we had: 🎤 Stanley Lumax - Executive Brand Marketing Director, Chase 🎤 Haywood R. Watkins III, Group Creative Director - Droga5 🎤 Adrianne C. Smith - Founder, Cannes Can: Diversity Collective (CC:DC) 🎤 Chaucer Barnes - Chief Marketing Officer, UnitedMasters In addition to discussing the campaign soundtrack (shout out to Mike Ladman for the music supervision on this one), the conversation delved into the importance of authenticity in advertising and brand campaigns. For the Chase spot, this meant casting talent with actual roots in West Africa who have a deep connection to Jollof rice, the pride of West African cuisine that features as the centerpiece of the story. The campaign also highlights how the right artist can play a significant role beyond simply syncing their music. Not only did Nigerian Afrobeats producer and UnitedMasters Artist Partner Sarz soundtrack the campaign with his song "Happiness," but he also joined the cast of on-screen talent featured in the spot. This allowed the brand to harness the power of Sarz's fan community, which includes 4.3M monthly listeners on Spotify and led to Chase Sapphire's highest-performing Instagram post of all time. Speaking about institutionalizing this practice, UnitedMasters' Chaucer Barnes explained that this opportunity is available to all brands that want to do the work. "You can find the very next Sarz that actually matches your ideal and what your cast is talking about by fishing in the exact same pools." Enjoy a clip from the panel below for more insights into the commercial and why brands should prioritize connecting with community-based talent that is authentic to their audience. #canneslions2024 #synclicensing #advertising #musiclicensing #unitedmasterssync #musicsupervision
Brent Chandler 🙏 Truth!!! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
Yay Stanley Lumax 👏🏾👏🏾
Such an insightful discussion on authenticity and cultural connection in advertising!