VERZUZ BATTLE

Brand

Industry

Background

When the worldwide catastrophe that is the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it not only resulted in death and unemployment, but also in a global lockdown to avoid getting sick. With the absence of live events, people began looking for ways to keep their minds occupied and themselves entertained via books, movies, television shows, podcasts, and even social media.

Timbaland and Swizz Beatz, two of the most successful producers in the music industry, saw this as an opportunity and decided to join forces to make the lockdown experience a little less miserable for the public. Their idea was Verzuz, a friendly online competition between some of the top musical artists and groups throughout hip-hop history.

The event took place in Atlanta, home to both artists, inside Magic City, the premier strip club in Atlanta that is synonymous with the city's culture and thriving music scene. To prevent any future outbreaks, everyone from staff to talent needed to get a COVID-19 test, which was administered onsite.

The battle was live-streamed on Instagram & Apple Music for free, allowing the entire world to view and interact in real-time. Everyone from artists, celebrities, athletes, and even brand accounts was in the comment section expressing their excitement.

Idea

After the first season of Verzuz emerged as a cultural phenomenon, Swizz Beatz and Timberland wanted to continue building the programming and kick Season 2 off with a banger.

What seemed impossible given their history, we reached out and secured ATL hip-hop legends Gucci Mane and Jeezy to battle it out for the Season 2 opener of the "Verzuz" series, which proved to be a hit-packed battle that lived up to the sky-high hype and created a monumental moment for the culture.

Before the artists began, we had a surprise appearance from Stacey Abrams, who was running for governor of Georgia, and wanted to use this moment to encourage Georgians to get out the vote in her state.

Sponsorships were secured with Ciroc Vodka and Red Bull, who both had product placement on the stage throughout the entire live stream.

Results

1,800,000+ concurrent viewers
5,500,000+ total viewers
126,800,000+ in-stream likes
1,300,000+ unofficial YouTube/Facebook viewers
7,000,0000 impressions
#1 trending topic on Twitter
- The highest tweeted #Verzuz battle ever
- 1,600,000+ Tweets (U.S.)
- 3,200,000 Tweets (Global)