METROPOLE ORKEST | METROPOLE TWEETPHONY | 2013
The Orchestra That Was Saved by a 140-Character Tweet / METROPOLE ORKEST "METROPOLE TWEETPHONY"
A Dutch orchestra on the verge of disappearing due to budget cuts had a full 52-piece orchestra perform a song live that was composed entirely on Twitter. You didn't need an instrument, just 140 characters.
The problem
Because of cuts to public broadcasting budgets in the Netherlands, the very existence of Metropole Orkest was under threat. The original request was simply "do something on social media," but the two creatives in charge decided to tackle the budget problem head-on instead.
The insight
They realized that the only way to show people why the orchestra mattered was to let the world witness their actual power to create beautiful music. Thinking about how to combine the way social media moves people with that musical power, they landed on the idea: let people play the orchestra through Twitter.
The idea
Under the slogan "Let the Metropole Orchestra play," they built a website where anyone could compose a short melody of up to 140 characters using an on-screen keyboard and tweet it. The best of the submitted melodies were arranged into sheet music on the spot and performed live by the 52-piece orchestra. The performances were recorded and sent back immediately to the person who composed each melody.
What happened
Thousands of people took part by composing melodies over Twitter, and 33 of those songs were performed in the final show. Major media outlets, including national news broadcasts, covered the campaign, and afterward parliament decided to continue funding the orchestra through 2017. The campaign won Gold in PR at Cannes Lions in 2013, along with eight awards in total, including from D&AD and the Webby Awards.
Afterthought
There's something amazing about the simplicity of the idea: if there's no budget, just play. And instead of just asking people to "please come listen to us play," they turned it into a once-in-a-lifetime experience for participants: "we'll have a real orchestra perform your own 140 characters." It makes sense that one of the people behind it said they got goosebumps again and again listening to those 52 musicians play that day. This is a great reminder that advertising can actually be used to save something real.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2013
