Guitar Center looks to inspire music buffs with new social video series

Dive Brief:

Guitar Center has enlisted noteworthy and rising musicians to appear in 25 artist videos as part of its Make Music campaign, the company announced on Thursday. The series will be featured on the company's YouTube channel and its website until Dec. 24.
The series kicks off with Grammy-winning R&B singer H.E.R. As part of the campaign, the company is asking people to create videos detailing why they make music and post them to social media using the hashtag #WhyWeMakeMusic.
The retailer's digital video series could help it connect with music fans and potential customers as it prepares for an unprecedented holiday season and faces bankruptcy.

Dive Insight:

Guitar Center's Make Music initiative taps notable and emerging musicians, producers and artists as the retailer seeks to engage music fans and potential customers early on this holiday season. By running the videos on its core website, the retailer can push consumers who may be wary of shopping in stores to browse its e-commerce site and make purchases online.

With the campaign, Guitar Center not only wanted to understand the impact that music has on the artists featured in the video series, but it also wanted to share joy and wisdom with viewers during a stressful year, Jeannine D'Addario, Guitar Center's chief marketing and communications officer, said in a statement.

"The past year has presented many challenges, but it is clear that the importance of music as a means of comfort has become more and more front-and-center," D'Addario said.

The video series arrives as consumers engage with more digital content and streaming video as the pandemic continues to upend usual activities. Similar to Guitar Center, Bud Light Seltzer in May enlisted artists for its own virtual weekly music series shared on YouTube to digitally connect with fans, while supporting the American Red Cross. Meanwhile, brands like McDonald's and Crown Royal have teamed up with artists like Travis Scott, Ari Lennox, Anthony Ramos and J Balvin as they attempt to tap into pop culture to engage younger consumers.

Along with the unusual holiday season, Guitar Center is facing a potential bankruptcy filing after missing an interest payment of roughly $45 million last month, per The New York Times.