Olivia Rodrigo is a three-time Grammy winner, a multiplatinum artist and—for the better part of next year—a relentless touring salesperson for her latest album, Guts, released earlier this month.
To Sony Electronics, however, she’s both a creator and instructor.
Last year, Sony released its $200 LinkBuds S wireless earphones as a go-between for its $280 WF-1000XM4 professional noise-canceling earbuds and its starter $100 WF-C500S models. Designed as a noise-canceling version of Sony’s preexisting LinkBuds ($180), the LinkBuds S were built so Gen Z users would never have to turn them off—switching from music to ambient noise to calls and back based on activity.
“It’s more than a product, it’s a lifestyle,” said Maya Wasserman, Sony Electronics’ director of marketing for home and personal entertainment. “It’s supposed to be a product that stays with you all day.”
But what if Sony’s target users weren’t accustomed to having buds shoved in their ears for most of their waking hours and didn’t see how this product would change their minds? Enter Rodrigo, her producer Daniel Nigro and a little audio tinkering.
After designing the LinkBuds S x Olivia Rodrigo out of reclaimed plastic and giving them a marble pattern of her bespoke violet shade (so no two pairs look the same), Rodrigo and Nigro came up with custom preset equalizer settings for Sony’s Headphones Connect app that they felt yielded the best listening quality for both Guts and its preceding album, 2021’s Sour.
It didn’t matter that Rodrigo was signed to Universal Music Group instead of Sony Music (though she is a Sony Music Publishing client). Sony saw a creator with a fervent fandom who not only wanted to attach her brand to a product, but provide the ideas that brought it to life. When a brand is selling not only a product but a shift in daily routine, commitment is the core of the campaign.
“When we’re thinking about Gen Z and how to connect with that segment, there’s no better voice of Gen Z than Olivia Rodrigo.. but it’s deeper than that,” said Jordy Freed, director and head of personal entertainment brand and business development at Sony. “She’s very intentional about her creative direction and what she wants to do.”