Guitar Centre, the world's largest musical equipment retailer, recently announced that DJ and producer Steve Aoki will be the latest artist ambassador in the retailer's "All we sell is the Greatest Feeling on Earth" campaign, following previous artist ambassadors Questlove (The Roots) and James Hetfield (Metallica). The Grammy nominated DJ appears in the third commercial spot of the campaign, which debuted nationwide yesterday. The retailer has decided to focus on Aoki as they plan to roll out additional spots featuring artists from all genres, not just rock and roll. As well as being an international producer/DJ and electronic dance music entrepreneur, Aoki is also the founder of the trendsetting record label, events/lifestyle company, and apparel line Dim Mak, a label that, in it's 18 year history, has helped break bands such as Bloc Party, The Bloody Beetroots, Klaxons, and The Gossip.
Steve Aoki's "Greatest Feeling on Earth" spot
The integrated campaign, which spans print, broadcast, digital and online, has been created in the hopes of inspiring people to play music by showing them the indescribable feelings that their idols get from playing a musical instrument, tying into the tagline; “All we sell is the greatest feeling on earth.” In this case that instrument is a set of turntables, which ties in nicely to the recent trend in EDM artists overtaking traditional musicians as the rock stars of the future.
Questlove's "Greatest Feeling on Earth" spot
Aoki said he was “Excited that Guitar Center wanted to work together on a unique campaign that celebrates the pure and simple joy that comes from music.” He agrees that “The feeling that comes from creating music is the most powerful feeling in the world,” and says he is “Honoured to be able to experience it every day,” and hopes to be able to share that joy with his fans through the campaign. Each artist featured in the campaign has shared their own experiences with music, and how playing an instrument has brought them transcendent, life changing joy. Guitar Center will continue to roll out new ads and new ambassadors on a quarterly basis as part of the campaign, who they nab next is anyone's guess.
James Hetfield's "Greatest Feeling on Earth" spot
Dustin Hintz, vice president of brand experience and entertainment marketing at Guitar Center, said their goal with the campaign is to “Inspire more people to get involved with music and learn to play an instrument.” He says that irregardless of the brand name, the company has a firmly held belief that “The inherent joy that music brings defies genre,” and defies instrumentation. He said they chose to put the spotlight on Aoki because they feel he shares their passion for encouraging musicianship and his “Devotion to his craft is palpable.” He says they are “Excited to have him on board."
Official Guitar Center Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from the UK. He owns 7 guitars, 4 keyboards, 3 drum machines, 2 turntables and a microphone (seriously).
