Music and marketing make a powerful duet. Across the world, brands increasingly tap into concerts and music culture to reach young audiences. In Ghana, Unilever’s Pepsodent toothpaste saw this firsthand. To help relaunch its Pepsodent Charcoal product, Unilever staged a concert-like “Black & White Timeline” party at the University of Ghana’s Accra campus, featuring stars like Sarkodie (who also headlined the Feb 2024 main relaunch event). Teenagers swayed to familiar beats, drawing them into the brand’s story in a way a billboard never could.

Where Words Fail, Music Speaks

The power of music in advertising isn’t unique to Ghana. Global brands often build entire campaigns around songs, artists, or live in-person events. For example, at the Governors Ball music festival in New York City, Coca-Cola and other sponsors took over creative spaces, fans walked through a giant Coke-branded archway and got free product samples, making the festival itself feel like a “living canvas” of the brand. Tech-enabled activations like drone light shows and custom merch builds (as Gov Ball organizer Alex Joffe noted) further blur the line between a concert and a marketing splash, proving that experiential music events can “unlock creative potential” for sponsors.

Black & White Timeline Party

In Ghana, this trend plays well. Local consumers, especially students, are always hungry for new and exciting experiences. One marketing insider notes that Ghanaians “are always on the lookout for something fresh,” meaning first-movers in experiential campaigns “can munch on that first-to-market fruit” for a while. Pepsodent’s campus bash is a case in point: even a toothpaste brand became hip by offering a party atmosphere and photo-worthy “black and white timeline” installations alongside the music. Social media was populated with posts as youths tagged friends, posted concert clips, and made Pepsodent part of campus culture for the night.

But how did it all start? Let’s rewind a bit here…

Pepsodent Charcoal Black Universe

Pepsodent’s “Charcoal Black Universe” event was a centerpiece leading to the “Black & White Timeline” party. The idea was to transform the product launch into an immersive, celestial-themed experience. The event was designed as a journey through a “black universe,” with each “planet” representing a key ingredient or benefit of the toothpaste, like Planet Strength for fluoride, Planet Cleanness for charcoal, and Planet Freshness for lemon and zinc.

Public figures show their strength in the Planet Strength

Influencers, media personalities, and key opinion leaders were invited to physically experience the product’s benefits in creative, memorable ways, deepening their connection to the brand and encouraging authentic content creation

Music Is Very Spiritual, It Has The Power To Bring People Together.

Live performances make even ordinary brands news. At Pepsodent’s event, having big-name Ghanaian artists on stage gave credibility and excitement. Similarly, global brands have sponsored music festivals or enlisted pop stars to create theme songs, knowing that fans will share and discuss the content well beyond the event. Young people may not be the first group to think of when you think about toothpaste and teeth brushing. But the campaign used the cultural relevance of music and the powerful emotional pull that music has on the youth to connect with young consumers and reinforce brand messaging in a memorable, experiential way. Bringing celebrities, influencers, and popular artists like Black Sherif and creating a vibrant, immersive environment, Pepsodent effectively positioned itself at the intersection of youth culture and lifestyle aspirations.

Storytelling

By setting up interactive visuals like the “timeline” art installation around a concert, brands create immersive stories. Gov Ball and other festivals have done this too, launching drone shows or branded art installations to deepen the experience. In Accra, students were not just passive listeners but they became part of Pepsodent’s story by taking photos with the brand’s visuals while the music played. To add some educational value, as well as create fun conversations, Bangs and Rants from Kwadwo Sheldon Studio was there at the University of Ghana with a live session on some relevant topics like how to tell a partner who has bad breath.

Social Media Amplification

Today’s young consumers are quick to document events. Pepsodent’s campaign likely trended on TikTok and Instagram as fans tagged friends in funny photos and dance videos. This mirrors global activations: fans at Gov Ball posted about walking through the Coke archway or playing branded carnival games. In both cases, the live music element causes a ripple effect online. As one marketer put it, combining good stories with fun (like concerts) is how brands “expand their reach” in real time.

The launch event partnered with Influencer Africa, a leading influencer management agency, to maximize digital word-of-mouth. Influencers were not just attendees but active participants, sharing their journey through the event’s themed “planets” and highlighting the product’s unique selling points. Within 48 hours of the launch, posts tagged with #PepsodentCharcoal reached over 8.2 million accounts, generated more than 16 million impressions, and achieved over 51,000 engagements across platforms like X, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. This rapid, organic spread was a direct result of the influencer-centric strategy. This same strategy of keeping influencers involved was replicated for the Party and built a sense of natural interest in the product, and created smiles.

Local Flavor, Global Insights

What works abroad can be tailored locally. Ghana’s festival and concert culture (from Afrochella to local campus fests) shows the appetite for brand-sponsored music events. Pepsodent’s campaign proves that even FMCG brands can join the show. Internationally, this trend is well-known: Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and others regularly create music experiences. The lesson is that in the age of social media and smartphones, music transforms a brand message into a shared experience, often earning more organic buzz than traditional ads. In Ghana, as elsewhere, brands that “speak the language of youth” via concerts and beats can “reimagine what sponsorship marketing can look like”

Conclusion

The “Black & White Timeline” party was not just a concert but a strategic activation for Pepsodent’s ongoing marketing campaign. The campaign leverages music’s cultural influence and emotional pull to connect with young consumers and reinforce brand messaging in a memorable, experiential way. By featuring a popular artist like Black Sherif and creating a vibrant, immersive environment, Pepsodent effectively positioned itself at the intersection of youth culture and lifestyle aspirations