In June 2023, world-renowned music brand Fender opened its first flagship store in its 77-year history in the heart of Tokyo. Fender is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of electric, acoustic, and bass guitars, amplifiers, and other accessories.

For their world-first flagship store, Fender wanted to combine state-of-the-art music experience with innovative merchandising to engage people of all generations and genres, and at any stage of their musical journey, whether beginner or professional. In order to maximize awareness and excitement, and to educate potential new players about the opening of this new store, we focused on how to deliver the news through “live experience” - the essence of music - to the right people, digitally and in real life.

To celebrate the historic flagship opening, we invited local and global artists who could help bridge the gap between the brand, the hardcore guitarist fans, and the casual music fans, to participate in our 50-day “Fender Flagship Tokyo Countdown.”

Over 50 days leading up to the store, we worked with local and global Fender artists, from rock legends to hidden gems who are natural advocates of the brand, to create a video series of celebration comments and personalized Q&As. Through this exclusive digital content, we engaged music fans through more than 1.2 million content views. As we came closer to the store opening, we drummed up the excitement with two key offline events to conclude the countdown: a pre-opening reception for artists and industry members, and a grand opening ceremony for the media. By previewing the full store content to artists and media, we boosted media exposure with over 1,100 pieces of TV broadcasts, print articles, and online articles in both local and global media outlets, and countless social media shares that heightened the anticipation even further.

The countdown campaign garnered positive sentiment around the brand and the variety of experiences offered at the flagship store, and attracted a huge line of an 11 hour wait to get into the store on the first weekend of the store opening.