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Commentary December 12, 2024

Olivia Rodrigo Is Back With Another Immersive Experience

This time, the singer has partnered with Sony and the New York MTA to take over a whole subway train with a mix of print and promo.

By  Brendan Menapace

Key Takeaways

• Olivia Rodrigo’s Expansive Promotional Campaigns: Olivia Rodrigo has been engaging in large-scale promotional activities, including a building takeover in Manhattan and a recent collaboration with Sony and the New York MTA, transforming a subway station and train cars to promote her brand and music.

• Innovative Use of Print in Digital Promotions: Despite promoting digital music and technology, the campaign heavily utilized print media. The subway cars and station were adorned with co-branded print advertisements, transformed maps, and themed decorations, showcasing the power of print in creating immersive brand experiences.

• MTA’s Co-Branding Initiatives: The New York MTA has a history of co-branded initiatives, such as special MetroCards featuring New York icons. This campaign with Olivia Rodrigo and Sony might be one of the last to feature printed MetroCards as the MTA transitions to digital payments.

At this point, we have to wonder whether Olivia Rodrigo has plans for world domination – or at least conquering New York City.

First, it was a building takeover in Manhattan last September through a partnership with American Express and Spotify, where walls were decorated with print displays and balloons, rooms were decorated to look like themed bedrooms, and fans left with plenty of special branded merchandise.

Now she’s partnering with Sony as well as the New York MTA to take the promotional campaign to the streets – or at least under them.

Commuters could take a special “O Line” subway car, which was decked out in Rodrigo and Sony co-branded print advertisements rather than the usual things like injury lawyers or reminders not to smoke on the train. Even the transit map was transformed, with each stop being renamed to reflect a Rodrigo song or lyric, like “Lacy Avenue” or “All-American B*tch Road.”

The whole thing took place at Bowery station, which was fully transformed into a purple color palette like her previous installment in 2023. Once fans actually got onto the cars, they could take pictures with props or in front of a selfie-friendly mirror, according to The Knockturnal.

Moving into the next car (which is typically a no-no during normal subway rides but encouraged during the promotional event), fans could try the Sony LinkBuds, which were supposedly set to two specific EQ settings by Rodrigo herself, perfect for listening to her albums GUTS and SOUR.

There was also a subway sketch artist, who would gift fans the drawings.

In the last car, fans could grab an “Obsessed” sash from the ceiling to take home or have their fortunes read by a tarot card reader.

When fans disembarked from the experience, they got a branded tote bag full of smaller gifts like candy, a beanie and a branded MetroCard.

MTA Co-Branding

This is sort of a continuation of what the MTA has been doing with co-branded initiatives, specifically with its printed MetroCards. Through the years, the MTA has worked with New York icons for limited runs of special MetroCards.

This might be one of the last times they print someone else’s brand on the paper cards, though. Back in May, the MTA partnered with indie rock band Vampire Weekend for branded cards and announced that there would only be two more co-branded cards until the program is phased out as digital payments become the norm.

MTA had only one more co-branded MetroCard up its sleeve, which it debuted this month: A collaboration with Instagram, featuring some New York creators.

But, just because the MetroCard program is over doesn’t mean that print products are on the way out.

Print-Heavy Promo for Digital Music

Even in a modern promotional campaign meant to advertise cutting-edge music technology and digital streaming, print was the star of the show. To create the immersive display and “take over” the subway, Sony and the MTA had to turn to print products to replace the standard advertisements and route maps.

And, as we’ve seen in other events like this, the brands use wide-format printing to cover walls or even things like vehicles to make sure no brandable space is left behind, as Rodrigo even did in the Paris Metro last year.

When thinking about blending print and promotional products together, it’s logical to think about the promo side first – especially if that’s the distributor’s background. This can mean putting together a gift set and then designing a branded box or bag. That’s a great idea, and is endlessly valuable in this day and age where kitting is so popular.

But there’s also plenty of space – literally – for print to be the focus and promo to serve as a complementary piece, like the branded gifts given out at the end of the “subway ride” here.

With a well-executed print display, you create one giant brand visibility exercise that continues after it’s over with thoughtful promotional gifts.

Brendan Menapace

Content Director, Print & Promo Marketing

Brendan is the content director for ASI's Print & Promo Marketing media brand, which brings together the promotional products, apparel, commercial print and product decoration industries. His coverage includes in-depth company and personal profiles, trend pieces, and multimedia content.

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