B1 | Sony Music Entertainment
A global smash hit via TikTok: Sony Music goes multi-platinum with a disco remix and its own meme account
From 1980 to an instant viral hit in 2024
🎶 Pedro, Pedro, Pedro, Pedro, Pe' 🎶
Originally recorded in 1980, Raffaella Carrà’s catchy disco tune enjoyed a huge revival in 2024. In the newly released version by DJs Agatino Romero and Jaxomy, this Italo-pop classic has become a global hit almost overnight. Key to its success was the all-on-TikTok campaign by its label B1 | Sony Music (@sonymusic).
Goal
The main objective was to boost streaming figures for the two artists’ remix with creative and authentic TikTok content. A parallel aim was to establish the newly created meme character Pedro the Raccoon as a viral phenomenon and brand within the community.
Strategy
As the perfect recipe for success, B1 | Sony Music came up with a three-pronged content strategy deployed via TikTok. In delivering the ads, the music label used the objectives Reach & Frequency and Community Interaction as well as utilizing Interactive Add-Ons to optimally support momentum, reach, and interaction with its content.
To start things off, Sony Music launched a creator campaign with music influencers such as Vici Clausen inspiring the TikTok community to fall in love with the track. In just four days, Vici’s video alone achieved 3 million organic views. Boosted by Spark Ads, the number of views grew to 6 million.
The Pedro the Raccoon meme account was unveiled on TikTok in parallel. As well as publishing posts, this account even broadcast a livestreamwith Pedro that lasted several hours. This account also quickly proved to be a valuable campaign driver, not only gaining 132,000 followers but also achieving a brilliant 15 million views with a single video, aided by targeted use of SEO keywords.
Contributing to the third strategy pillar, the two artists Agatino Romero and Jaxomy also posted content relating to the campaign on TikTok. Their most successful posts were also boosted by Spark Ads, generating tens of millions of views.
Results
Every step of the campaign was designed to make the most of the creative potential and spectrum of TikTok as a platform. This resulted in Sony Music’s three-pronged strategy gaining viral momentum that extended far beyond the campaign.
In the DACH region during the campaign period alone, 35 million streams and 1.5 billion views were generated for 1 million videos. At the global level, the figures rose to an astounding 500 million streams and 49 billion views for 36 million videos.
The track reached the top 3 in the German singles chart and shot up to #1 in the Viral Top 50 on Spotify. Sony Music secured platinum record sales in four countries (Belgium, Finland, Poland, and Hungary), as well as gold record sales in eight others (Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, and Sweden).
Agatino Romero recorded 65,000 followers on his official TikTok account, with Jaxomy clocking up 130,000 followers. The pair were outdone only by Pedro himself, who gained 132,000 followers.
In recognition of their incredible success, Sony Music also won the prestigious Greatest TikTok of the Year award at the 2024 TikTok Ad Awards taking first place against competitors from across Europe and Israel.
With this campaign, we not only boosted the streaming numbers for “Pedro” far beyond our expectations but also established Pedro the Raccoon as a cult figure within the TikTok community. The combination of creative content and targeted boosting unleashed a global momentum that has exceeded our expectations by miles.