Imagine Dragons had the performance of the night at last year's Grammys with their Kendrick Lamar collaboration. This year, they pulled off the most-memorable commercial with the first-ever live Grammys ad -- an elaborate stunt aired in real-time.
Instead of eight 30-second ads, Target opted to give music fans #MoreMusic with their allotted ad time. The four-minute performance of "Shots" in Las Vegas incorporated a 360-degree screen, LED jewelry on fans, helicopter footage and 22 cameras.
"We’re trying to push the boundaries of what you can do with technology," Imagine Dragons front man Dan Reynolds told Mashable.
Famed music director Jonas Akerlund, who directed the multi-million dollar performance on Vegas' Fremont Street, said the magnitude and technicalities of the it became "very scary" because of the live component of the project.
"It’s like a big ass spaceship landed into the middle of downtown in Vegas," Akerlund said. "In the first part of the song you don’t know where they are and then at the end is the big reveal. Katy Perry can do fireworks. We’ll do rock 'n' roll. It’s very rock 'n' roll. I’ve never done anything like this. For me, it’s a huge."
Footage from the live stunt will be used to promote Imagine Dragons' Feb. 17 release date of Smoke and Mirrors, the upcoming band's sophomore album. The physical deluxe Target version of the album will feature four exclusive songs.
"While the idea is simple, the execution is big and bold," said William White, vice president of marketing at Target, describing the ad campaign that earned positive feedback on Twitter.
That @Target ad w/ @Imaginedragons is homerun of content marketing. Live? Cajones. Ads that try to add to the content, instead of leaching.— Bill Werde (@bwerde) February 9, 2015
Awesome show!! ❤️ @Imaginedragons #MoreMusic @Target #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/HUi9jxQDpv— Justine Ezarik (@ijustine) February 9, 2015
Thank you @target for letting me watch @Imaginedragons perform live! #MoreMusic— Brent Rivera (@BrentRivera) February 9, 2015
Way to plug downtown Las Vegas in that Grammy performance @Imaginedragons! That target stage was awesome. — Taylor Rozich (@taylorrozich) February 9, 2015
Can we just talk about how epic it was that Target bought a commercial break and let Imagine Dragons just play the whole time? Awesome— Brooke Wallace (@brookeashley311) February 9, 2015