Johnny Wright estimates he was the first partner of Justin Timberlake to learn that his star management client had finally recorded new music, in mid-2012. Gary Tobey, CEO of Target’s media-buying firm Haworth, was “probably the third or fourth,” Wright says.
“We’d been talking for five years now, in anticipation of when Justin would come back to music,” Wright says. “For a while it was, ‘No bonuses this year, guys.’ But the conversation would always end with, ‘Let’s do something big when Justin’s ready to come back.'”
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Announced through a splashy commercial that aired immediately after Timberlake’s performance during this year’s Grammy Awards, Target’s deluxe edition of “The 20/20 Experience” immediately became a best seller. The album is already the top seller of 2013 — with more 2.5 million U.S. copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan — and Target has moved 663,000 copies of its deluxe edition, according to sources, becoming “one of our top three best-selling albums of the past decade,” says Anne Stanchfield, Target’s lead music buyer and divisional merchandise manager of entertainment.
The retailer spent an estimated $7 million-$10 million in media dollars behind the ad campaign for the first album, and this week will likely shell out another $7 million for “The 20/20 Experience — 2 of 2,” filmed at Maxwell’s in Hoboken N.J., based on Billboard estimates of previous Target album campaigns. “The response was overwhelmingly positive among Justin’s huge community of loyal fans,” Stanchfield adds. “As we move closer to the release of the second half, there continues to be a lot of excitement from Target’s guests for ‘more JT.'”
The Target deal was part of a flurry of activity that marked Timberlake-whose celebrity and recordings are able to cross genre, gender and demographic lines — as one of the most brand-friendly artists in music. Within a month of announcing his return, Timberlake would appear in national ad campaigns for Target and Bud Light Platinum, where he picked up another creative director title, and in March added a third brand partner in MasterCard, which hosted a private show in New York for members in April and prepped a sponsorship of his world tour.
RCA president/COO Tom Corson worked with Wright and Timberlake’s team to build a release schedule for the two albums, which at one point were thrown around as a series of five four-track EPs. Once they decided upon two albums — one more major-chord for the spring and summer, one a bit darker for the fall and winter — the label and management started locking in brand partners, with a Sept. 30 deadline to qualify the combined albums for Grammy consideration.
“He’s challenging all of us to sell albums — it’s a demand question. Is it risky? Sure. But high risk, high reward,” Corson says. “In this day and age, the brands are delivering really state-of-the-art, fully integrated marketing.”
All this caught the notice of Clear Channel’s Greg Glenday, who was able to package sponsorships for the third annual iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas based on Timberlake’s participation. MasterCard came on as a first-time sponsor and put media dollars behind Clear Channel’s on-air “Priceless Premiere” of Timberlake’s single “Take Back the Night” in July, playing the song at the top of every hour for 12 hours with brand messaging. Studio 20th Century Fox quickly agreed to host the premiere junket for Timberlake’s film “Runner Runner” (out Oct. 4) in Vegas to coincide with the event. And Bud Light Platinum stepped in to take over the festival’s VIP lounge, complete with creative input from Timberlake himself.
“Obviously, he’s a busy guy,” Glenday says, “and I don’t know how much time he actually spent with this, but it’s great that he was involved in the design of it. It feels more personal.”
The rollout of the first album had an almost impossible combination of the element of surprise and ubiquity. Timberlake had a blanket approach to major events like the Super Bowl and the Grammys, as well as a key TV platform with NBC — where he did a full week of “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” and “Saturday Night Live”-and major music-specific moments at the BRIT Awards and South by Southwest. “Are You Sick of Justin Timberlake Yet?” the Atlantic Wire asked in March before “The 20/20 Experience” had even reached retail.
The promotional blitz for the second album is no less of an onslaught. On Sept. 21, Timberlake closed out iHeartRadio with a triumphant hourlong set, during which he premiered three new songs from the album — second single “TKO,” Middle Eastern-tinged banger “True Blood” and emotional ballad “Only When I Walk Away.” Three days later, he shut down Hollywood Boulevard with a performance for “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” sponsored by Lexus. That same day, he appeared in the second installment of a two-part “Today” interview, and a viral clip aired that night with Jimmy Fallon in which the two spoke entirely in hashtags (8 million views and counting), part of a month-long partnership where Timberlake has appeared on “Fallon” every Tuesday in September. On Sept. 29, the eve of release, he will play the iTunes Festival in London and will release an EP of his performances shortly afterward. And on release day, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” will air an hour-long album-release episode featuring interviews and performances.
The equally large volume of promotion from Timberlake’s endorsement deals can also border on clutter, but thus far his brand partners have little reason to feel slighted. Tiffany Coletti Titolo, managing director of ad agency Translation, reports a “meteoric rise to fame” for Bud Light Platinum’s campaign, with “social participation up year over year.” In 2012, the beer debuted with sales of 23.5 million cases (2.25 gallons each). It was Anheuser-Busch InBev’s best introduction since Bud Light Lime in 2008, according to Beverage Information group analyst Adam Rogers. Titolo says sales are “steady and happy” in 2013, and that “all the people involved on the Platinum side are extremely pleased with the results we’ve seen in a short amount of time.”
Timberlake’s touring ramped up quickly in 2013, too-the result of a $20 million deal Timberlake signed with Live Nation in 2009 with the expectation that he would hit the road in support of a new album by 2014. The Legends of the Summer stadium tour with Jay Z was assembled so fast, Timberlake’s brand partners didn’t have enough time to become an official part of it. That’s why MasterCard was thrilled to be the official partner for the “20/20 Experience” world tour, which kicks off Nov. 4 at Boston’s TD Arena. Timberlake will net $3 million from a global deal with the brand through 2015, according to multiple executives familiar with the deal, with additional marketing outlays still being determined for a planned ad campaign featuring Timberlake.
“We’ve already delivered exclusive presale opportunities — which will continue as new show dates and stops are added — to our cardholders,” says Michael Robichaud, group head of MasterCard’s global sponsorships. “We’re also working closely with Timberlake’s team for the benefit of fans and cardholders to deliver exclusive access to co-created content, premiere events and truly unique experiences. While we can’t say just yet what those are, we can promise they’ll be amazing. We’re focused on delivering the unexpected while also bringing fans closer to the music.”
Wright credits Timberlake’s own work ethic, as well as the help of childhood buddies-turned-business partners like Trace Ayala, for ensuring each deal gets the proper attention. “Everybody is looking at this from the same process — we’re all in this to win together,” Wright says. “No one’s saying, ‘That’s not in my pay scale.’ It’s like a family movement right now.”