Making headlines at the ARIA Awards

With so many brands activating at the 2019 ARIA Awards, how could YouTube Music maximise its partnership and build brand and product awareness among its target audience of music listeners? They needed a huge earned media moment to cut through.

Leaning into the recent history of the ARIAs and the audience’s triple j alignment, Bolster engaged former radio presenters Matt Okine and Alex Dyson to reunite for the awards.

To announce their partnership they starred in a teaser video that seamlessly integrated YouTube Music’s interface and depth of catalogue.

They also parodied a past nominee from the Best Video category: Vance Joy’s classic ‘Riptide’. Directed by Tim White (an ARIA nominee himself), the parody video was a huge hit.

It premiered on Channel 9’s TODAY show and racked up 1.1-million video views on YouTube’s main channel. It further connected YouTube to ARIA’s history and led to 10 earned media placements.

On ARIA day, Matt and Alex stole the show.

They impersonated singer Tones and I, creating a stir on the red carpet with Matt wearing Tones’ distinctive tracksuit and Alex in a monkey suit in reference to her hit song ‘Dance Monkey’. Later that evening – while still in costume – they presented the YouTube Music award for Best Video. A snippet of their reunion video was included in the Channel 9 TV broadcast.

The campaign was rounded out with a behind-the-scenes video that referenced YouTube’s viral “Get Ready With Me’ series.

It featured a cameo from YouTube creators Skit Box and further amplified via a premiere on Pedestrian TV and social channels of Skit Box and Matt and Alex.

Generating three times more social media shares per article than other ARIA articles, the Matt and Alex reunion put YouTube Music at the forefront of this year’s ARIA Awards coverage.