Behind #BieberIsland: How one of the biggest marketing events of 2015 came together

Justin Bieber’s concert on Cockatoo Island brought together media companies and brands for one of the largest marketing exercises of the year. Nic Christensen looks at how the whole collaboration was activated in three weeks. 

There’s nothing that can adequately summarise the piercing sounds the “Beliebers” – in this case a group of 1,000 teenage girls – make when they scream in unison.
Needless to say Bieber fans are exceptionally loud, but on the plus side there’s no public rioting – this time.

The public safety concern is clearly something that the companies behind this carefully stage managed event – Universal Music, iHeartRadio, Optus, Sunrise, the Kiis radio network – have all thought about (particularly after a 2010 incident saw fans cause chaos in the streets of Sydney after a Bieber concert at Circular Quay got cancelled.)

This time around nothing is left to chance. The concert is carefully stage managed, with access restricted to just 1,200 ticket holders plus sponsors, guests and, of course, key media partnerships that brings the event to millions of Australians.