Just a few blocks from Ultra Music Festival, where his band Swedish House Mafia will play off into the sunset tomorrow, Steve Angello kicked off his new brand partnerships — and, unofficially, his solo career — at the unlikely location of the Miami Museum of Art.
The combination Myspace Secret Show and launch party for Kraft’s new MiO energy drink took place in the museum’s open plaza, where a small but LED-loaded stage was set up, alongside a MiO branded station serving different non-alcoholic takes on the brand’s two flavors, including a custom Steve Angello blend. Artist interviews and VIP mingling happened within the museum itself, much to the apparent chagrin of museum officials who tried to block press and other parties from entering. (“We’re a museum, we have art to protect,” one said. Then perhaps don’t say yes to a socially promoted, corporate-sponsored DJ show…)
After identifying the EDM space as “the right fit to target millennials,” according to Gabi Arrillaga, MiO brand manager, Angello was “at the top of a short list” of artists with whom the brand wanted to work. “He’s an icon, a superstar in the field,” she said.
“I wanted to do something creative and out of the ordinary, like I try to do with everything,” Angello said. “They had ideas that I liked and a different perspective from other brands.”
Developed by New York-based agencies SS+K and Ketchum, MiO’s “Capture The Night” campaign consists of digital and social media, in addition to the showy launch event. Creative will feature Angello, and a call-to-action inviting fans to post their night-capturing photos to Instagram with the hashtag #MiONights, which are then aggregated on an attractive microsite, mionights.com, which organizes the submissions by hour (“2 AM to 3AM”) for the suggestion of narrative. By sharing their photos, fans gradually unlock parts of a new as-yet-unnamed Angello track, which will be made available in its entirety at some point in the campaign; and may be included in its eventual video, which will also be created as part of the MiO program.
Angello is the force that brought Myspace and MiO together for the event, and he says it’s just the beginning of his work with the refreshed social platform.
“Without mentioning names, a lot of social media sites are very boring, and very messy, and they limit us in how we can reach our fans. It costs us a lot of money to reach our fans too,” says Angello. “I saw the new Myspace a long time ago, and I was so impressed I felt that I had to be involved. I think it’s a groundbreaking social platform, beautiful, very visual, with great opportunities for music.” [Billboard.biz]
