Beats, the Apple headphone, is turning to one of the most popular creators in the world as it plots a new approach in its marketing efforts.
While Beats traces its origins to the music industry (it was founded by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, after all), in recent years it has leaned into sports (just look at its launch for Powerbeats Pro 2 earlier this year, with LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Shohei Ohtani).
For its latest effort, however, it is pushing into new territory: The creator economy. Beats is working with the popular streamer and YouTuber IShowSpeed (real name Darren Jason Watkins Jr.) for a campaign, launching with a cinematic campaign during one of his livestreams.
Beats CMO Chris Thorne tells The Hollywood Reporter that working with Speed is a logical move for the audio brand.
“We’ve obviously worked a ton with athletes, a ton with musicians, but we really hadn’t done anything big with the streamers, the creator economy, and we wanted to get into that space, given their popularity, especially with a youth market,” Thorne says. “Beats has always been an amazing brand for the youth generation. And now, the company’s nearly 20 years old, and we’ve been through multiple youth generations, and I think to really connect well with the current one, we need a bigger presence in in that area.
“As we looked around, IShowSpeed just seemed like the perfect fit for Beats,” he added. “He’s just kind of this amazing blend, he’s an unbelievable athlete, he’s getting into music. He just feels like someone who should be in the Beats family, the defiance that he operates with, how he does things his own way, the entertainment value he provides to his audience.”
“To be the first streamer to join the Beats roster means a lot because it shows how far we’ve come,” IShowSpeed said. “Being alongside global icons like LeBron, Angel Reese and Shohei just proves that there’s no doubt that creators now stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the athletes who are actively shaping culture. I’m excited to work together and keep building on what we started with this film.”
The debut film, which Speed debuted Friday, is inspired by a recent trip he took to China, where he took kung fu lessons.
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“We saw the popularity and how engaged his audience was when he when he took the trip to China and did the kung fu training sessions,” Thorne says. “So that was the insight there of, how do we take that further and give them even more. I think also for the product Power Beats Pro w, we believe it’s the most stable in ear headphone in the world with the ear hook just locking it in place, and with the artistry and athleticism and all the movement of kung fu, what an amazing way to show off how that product stays in place.”
Thorne notes that Beats doesn’t do short-term deals with its celebrity partners: “we want them in the beats family for a long time,” so expect quite a bit more Speed in the future, alongside the roster of superstar athletes, which include James, Ohtani, Reese and Messi, as well as NFL star Patrick Mahomes.
But the company does not intend to slow down, with Thorne teasing more deals from the world of creators, gaming, and from the world of music.
The other huge thing we’re seeing is the resurgence of the over ear headphone category, and that’s [Beats] Studio Pro, which we launched a couple of years ago, continues to accelerate in the market, which is really exciting,” Thorne says. “I think that’s a great headphone for the creator economy. So you’ll see more from Beats there. You’ll see us more in gaming and obviously in music, it’s an amazing sounding headphone, and where Beats had its roots with Dr Dre and everything.
“I think on the talent side, you’ll continue to see more of the amazing elite athletes across a wide variety of sports,” he added. “Historically, you probably saw a lot of a lot of NBA players wearing Beats, and you’ll certainly still see that, but now you will see a lot more in in soccer, obviously Messi, but throughout Europe, we’re now doing a lot more in Formula 1, with some of the top drivers there.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.hollywoodreporter.com ’
