High-Stakes Match Play on the Course of Creativity

Taking place every April, the Masters is the first major golf tournament of the year. Thought of as the Super Bowl of golf, in 2023 the tournament's final round recorded an average of 12.058 million viewers, making it “the most-watched golf telecast on any network in five years.” As a result, each year presents an opportunity for brands to reach an affluent and engaged audience of millions. 

This year, the seasoned specialists at SOUTH Music were approached to work on the music and sound for four Masters-themed AT&T spots as part of their new series, “Connecting Changes Everything.” Due to broadcast in the lead up to and during the course of the week-long event, there was a lot riding on this project and timelines were tight. 

In collaboration with BBDO, SOUTH Music oversaw the music supervision, original composition and custom cover music requirements on all four commercials. Matt Drenik, creative director, tells me how the team got their ducks in a row in preparation for the task at hand. “From the offset we knew the creatives wanted to have a wide breadth of musical options in both the custom and supervision worlds, so we aimed to be as well prepared as we could.” 

Brought in as a part of the agency team to help BBDO and AT&T reach their creative goals, Matt, Dan Pritikin, partner and creative director, and the SOUTH Music team were looked on to instil faith in the project from a sound design perspective. “We really acted as music consultants on this campaign, flexing all our muscles - from music supervision to original compositions to custom covers - working across all four spots simultaneously due to the tight deadlines.” 

The music and sound company have a storied history of working on similar projects for the likes of Cadillac, Lowe’s and Nikon. While unique in their approaches and deliveries, Matt explains how the common denominators of these jobs - efficiency and inspiration - remain the same. “With so many moving targets, our crew needs to be buttoned up and ready to help the brand achieve their ultimate goal. If it’s supervision, we are trying to land the best song possible. If it’s custom, we are always aiming to elevate the storyline with a perfect score. Sometimes it’s a bit of both, like Nostalgia.”

Nostalgia is the 80’s themed commercial in the AT&T series which the team ​​crafted a number of custom songs for, designed to enhance the storytelling device at the heart of the 30’ spot. “The creatives wanted to use a popular track for this spot, that is, until the storyline shifts and the viewer realises the characters are actually in the present day. At that moment, the music needed to shift into a modern interpretation.”

The first port of call for this spot was finding the perfect track to do the brief justice by evoking immediate nostalgia. “One of the things that we love about working with BBDO and AT&T is that we have a very collaborative relationship. We can quickly bounce ideas off each other and figure out if something is working or not.” 

“Once we all agreed on 'Kids in America', we set out to write the perfect rendition that helped transport the spot into the present day. We tried some more modern hip hop, trap, cinematic renditions, but eventually ended up with a beautiful piano interpretation, which leaned cinematic, but not over the top. 

On another spot in the series, Juggling Rose, starring pro-golfer Rose Zhang, the original music choice was subject to a last minute switch-up following a change in creative direction. However, being prepared for last minute changes is all part of the job, says Matt. “We are always prepared, having learnt from past experiences of needing to pivot very quickly and navigate new ground as the creative changes.” 

This was the case with Juggling Rose, whereby the music supervision needs were shifting meaning the team had to find the perfect song to match not only the visuals, but also the overall storyline. “Our excellent crew of supervisors worked tirelessly to find not only the right lyrical bed, but the right tone and vibe too. Sometimes this can be extremely challenging, like finding a needle in a haystack. Luckily, we connected with an artist we loved and were able to secure her unreleased track for the spot.”

For Epic Bad Golf Day, featuring Ben Stiller, the team provided the client with a variety of solutions; conducting multiple music searches, creating original cinematic scores, custom songs and a custom cover. “It’s important to be a true collaborator throughout the process,” says Matt. “Sometimes that leads you down a road that ends up being wrong, and you have to be able to quickly turn and go a different way. The creatives were ambitious and wanted to hear a lot of different directions. And as a partner, we are there to explore with them. With each shift in direction, the musical piece became more defined. Sometimes seeing what doesn’t work can be the most important part of the discovery process. With this one, we landed on an iconic track that has a lot of equity in it – it’s perfect!”

An entirely different approach was taken when crafting the sound for the Family Business spot, which features a custom cinematic score as opposed to a pop music cover. Matt tells me why the decision to create an original score was inspired by the creative. “While we did play with some instrumental covers of more famous songs during the exploratory phase of this one, we kept coming back to the storytelling power of a more custom cinematic score. There were a lot of references to classic mob films which we nodded to, but ultimately the action, casting, and VO were so important to the overall spot, that our music needed to act as the cherry on top. Not as much of a “lead voice” as with the rest of the campaign. In the end, this gentle touch is what allowed for the music to help in the spot’s misdirection while giving it a bit of a wink.”

A mammoth feat, delivered under stringent deadlines, SOUTH Music delivered music and sound that accurately conveyed their multifaceted capabilities. From intuitive compositions to fresh new cover music, the project was a culmination of SOUTH’s wide-ranging skill sets and creative prowess. Overjoyed with the final four films, Matt gives props to his hardworking team: “Our supervisors and composers knew that - on a project like this - the musical target can move from one day to the next, and with that movement comes changes in the creative in regards to who the best composers might be, depending on the genre. It forces us to be efficient and work quickly, but we always remain inspired by the work.”