Snapdragon engaged tech-savvy music lovers on QQ Music by introducing a new audio tier: Snapdragon Premium Sound Quality. The brand formed a first-of-its-kind tech partnership with Tencent, integrating its AI processing into the platform to deliver unparalleled sound. To demonstrate the difference, Snapdragon enlisted famed producer Zhang Yadong to curate playlists, star in branded content, and explain the tech's impact.
As the industry leader with cutting-edge technology, Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips enable many of the most important mobile device features today, including unparalleled audio quality. But even though it's the engine that powers so many of the top smartphones in the Chinese market, Snapdragon chips still struggled with brand recognition among many end consumers.
The tech enthusiasts who love to dig into the details and specs of different technologies already know just how superior Snapdragon is, but the brand needed a breakthrough strategy to reach and attract a broader audience.
For these audiences, Snapdragon was an easily recognizable symbol of quality. The brand needed to visually demonstrate Snapdragon's leadership in on-device AI through real-world commercial applications. The brand also aimed to boost brand recognition and awareness for Snapdragon, with an initial focus on "music," a key passion point, to stimulate purchase intent.
It was the first year of partnership between Snapdragon and QQ Music to deliver a deep technology-driven brand experience.
Snapdragon targeted avid music lovers, a group in which 47 percent are tech enthusiasts and 33 percent are tech experience seekers. Among these music lovers on QQ Music, 69 percent use wireless headphones for their listening pleasure, with 45 percent of these headphones are equipped with Snapdragon chips. On average, they dedicate around 80 minutes per day to enjoying music.
When it comes to music, audio quality has become an increasingly important consideration for listeners, with 70 percent of music lovers citing high-quality audio (above mp3 standards) as a major factor when purchasing devices.
However, with the advent of music streaming platforms and the now widespread popularity of wireless earphones, it's become harder for music lovers to hear high-quality audio the way it was meant to be heard. While these technologies have democratized access and increased convenience, the audio quality has suffered, as it undergoes more stages of compression and processing before it reaches the listener's ears.
Snapdragon's powerful AI processing technologies address this pain point, with Snapdragon-embedded devices allowing users to hear how music was originally intended to sound. Given how complex and technical this process is, the usual "show and tell" method of communication wouldn't cut it — it had to let consumers feel and hear the difference themselves, at scale.
Thus, the brand decided to form an industry-first business partnership with Tencent's QQ Music app, the largest and most popular music streaming platform in China, to launch a new level of audio quality: Snapdragon Premium Sound Quality.
The idea was to leverage Snapdragon's superior AI processing ability to deliver a technical breakthrough for QQ Music, significantly improving the speed, power efficiency, and quality of its audio processing, ultimately delivering an unparalleled listening experience for QQ Music's users.
This superior audio experience would be made available in the form of a new branded audio quality level, with users now given the option of streaming in standard quality, high quality, hi-res lossless quality, or the new top-tier Snapdragon Premium Sound Quality. But this highest audio quality would only be available for QQ Music's paid premium subscribers, thereby creating a win-win partnership that drives subscription revenue for QQ Music while positioning Snapdragon as a symbol that represents the highest level of audio quality available.
To maximize impact, a substantial 60 percent of the budget was allocated to bolster Snapdragon's core partnership with QQ Music. This strategic investment encompassed technology integration, media promotion, and user incentives.
Recognizing the influential power of artists, the brand dedicated 20 percent of the budget to collaborations, securing high-profile endorsements, and creating engaging content that resonates with audiences.
The remaining 20 percent of the budget was strategically used to extend Snapdragon's reach across various platforms. These included social media sites like Weibo and WeChat, Chinese tech platforms such as iFanr, and China's largest podcast platform, Ximalaya. Snapdragon's multi-platform strategy prioritized engaging content formats including tech articles, interactive campaigns, and podcasts. This ensured that its campaign resonated with the target audience and effectively communicated the value of the partnership.
To drive mass awareness and maximize the impact of this partnership with the target audience of music lovers, Snapdragon enlisted legendary music producer Zhang Yadong, who is both deeply respected within the music community and widely recognized by the general public. The brand worked with him to create a series of exclusive content, including:
Snapdragon launched its campaign with a PR blitz in tandem with Tencent, simultaneously releasing the branded videos across socials and driving traffic to the curated playlist that just dropped on QQ Music. From there, users would be able to trial the Snapdragon Premium Sound Quality and hear the difference themselves, before being prompted to subscribe to QQ Music premium.
The brand then followed up with a targeted omnichannel push across QQ Music, WeChat, and Weibo, even integrating offline B2B partner stores like Bose, offering consumers an in-store listening experience on Snapdragon embedded devices.
Despite Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips powering many of today's essential mobile device features, including unmatched audio quality in the Chinese market, Snapdragon continued to face challenges with brand recognition among end consumers, particularly in the area of advanced AI processing technology.
According to the 2023 Snapdragon Global Brand Tracker, Snapragon's association with AI ranked only 13th, indicating there is still significant room for improvement in strengthening its brand image in China.
The QQ Music partnership launch was a huge success — making waves within the music industry and driving accurate brand recognition and associations for Snapdragon, all the while enabling a tangible business lift for QQ Music. Campaign results included:
Brand awareness and engagement:
Brand lift:
Partnership success:
Snapdragon's pioneering partnership with QQ Music has been instrumental in driving successful AI-powered audience engagement. This industry-first collaboration allowed the brand to leverage its superior AI processing capabilities, achieving a technical breakthrough for QQ Music and delivering an unmatched listening experience for its users.
Furthermore, the partnership generated significant positive buzz across various social platforms. This is reflected in the 9 percent increase in the Net Sentiment Rate monitored for the Snapdragon brand, indicating a substantial uptick in positive sentiment.
