Transforming Sponsorship into Platform
Business challenge: How does a brand scale a founder-led movement without taking it over, or diluting the voice that made it worth scaling?
“How does a brand host a room that isn't its own?”
Multi-year partnership with the LOVELOUD Foundation to scale a live music platform in service of LGBTQ+ youth.
The challenge, the decision, and the impact, in three paragraphs.
LOVELOUD was a cause-led festival built by artists for LGBTQ+ youth. It did not need a title sponsor. It needed a partner willing to move it from benefit concert to stadium-scale civic platform without becoming its face.
We entered as principal partner rather than title sponsor, funding production, national livestream distribution, and youth-services amplification while ceding every creative, editorial, and casting decision to the LOVELOUD Foundation.
35,000+ in the stadium, 7M+ livestream viewers, 5B earned impressions, and more than $1M raised for LGBTQ+ organizations. A template the company, its employees, and the community could all point to.
The right partnership is the one where the brand is proud to be listed second.
A cause-led music festival built by artists for LGBTQ+ youth, their friends, and family didn't need a corporate host. It needed a partner willing to help take it from a benefit concert to a stadium-scale experience without changing its meaning.
The brand's role was not to lead the room but to make the room possible, and to be proud to be listed second on the marquee. Cultural credit follows the partner who protects the founder's voice, not the one whose logo goes largest.
Enter as principal partner rather than title sponsor. Fund production, national livestream distribution, and youth-services amplification, and cede every creative, editorial, and casting decision to the LOVELOUD Foundation, Dan Reynolds, and the artist community.
A multi-year commitment across live production at Rice-Eccles Stadium, a nationally distributed livestream, an artist lineup led by Imagine Dragons with Zedd, Mike Shinoda, Grace VanderWaal, Tyler Glenn, Wrabel, VINCINT, and Parson James, and appearances from Tim Cook, Gus Kenworthy, Julianne Hough, Alfonso Ribeiro, and Spencer Cox. Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage to introduce Imagine Dragons, a signal, not a sponsorship.
35,000+ in the stadium and 7M+ livestream viewers through the brand's distribution. 75M social video views and 5B earned media impressions attached to the brand. More than $1M raised for LGBTQ+ organizations through festival proceeds, and a template the company, its employees, and the community could all point to.
What this taught me: The right partnership is the one where the brand is proud to be listed second.
The platform, as it circulated in the wild.
- LOVELOUD 2019 livestream clipYouTube →
- Imagine Dragons, Mike Shinoda to headline festival for LGBTQ charitiesRolling Stone →
- Imagine Dragons lead singer's festival celebrates the LGBTQ community in Mormon countryGood Morning America →
- LOVELOUD: in the roomVimeo →
- LOVELOUD: the momentVimeo →
- LOVELOUD: livestream cutVimeo →
Three more capabilities chosen by strategic similarity.
Building Credibility with Skeptical Audiences
How do you earn trust from an audience that has learned to discount corporate participation in its culture?
Designing Cultural Moments That Accelerate Business Growth
How does a new streaming platform launch inside the most crowded media weekend of the year, and become one of the stories, not a footnote to someone else's?
Giving an Artist Real Authorship Over a Brand Platform
How do you make a long-standing community relationship felt rather than explained?
Building Brands That Communities Choose
The strongest partnerships start with serving a community need.
The best conversations begin with a difficult question.
If a version of this challenge sits on your desk, I’d like to hear it.
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