Davido - With You (5ive)

Song Marketing Campaign

Afrobeats has gone worldwide, but holds a special place in the hearts of people from the African continent. How would we make a track like “With You” by superstar Davido popular with the African diaspora in North America?

Step 1: Picture This

We'll use couple content creators to position “With You” as a joyful yet deeply emotional love anthem for the African diaspora in North America. The campaign invites creators to visually express the line “I can’t picture this world without you in my life” through moments that celebrate both intimacy and joy: couples laughing, dancing, or embracing under sunlight, on rooftops, or near water.

Execution Strategy

We would select a large list of diasporic African creators, focusing on ones that primarily make couple content, but also lifestyle creators that have a significant other. All videos would use the sound clip from 0:38–1:04 of the song. Each one starts with the creator filmed alone looking reflective or upset, before transitioning at the lyric “I can’t picture this world without you in my life” to reveal them with their partner. Couple shots would ideally be filmed in sunny, tropical, or coastal settings (beaches, rooftops, vacations, etc), matching the song’s island-pop rhythm and upbeat instrumentation.

Alongside creator content, we launch an edit campaign featuring celebrity couples and clips from pop-culture love stories — especially reality TV couples from Love Island, a love focused show with an island aesthetic, perfectly matching the energy of the song and campaign.

Why it works?

The “Picture This” concept taps into the social media desire to perform love, nostalgia, and emotional storytelling through short-form video. Visually contrasting solitude and connection, it uses timing and emotional payoff to make the drop memorable. Highlighting key parts of a song in the audiences mind like this has become an essential part of music marketing in the era of short-form video. Given that 75% of Instagram users prefer reels 15-30 seconds long, this 26-second excerpt and easily reproduced video structure has all the ingredients necessary for potential virality.

Tropical, cinematic visuals align with the sonic cues of the track — reinforcing Davido’s Afro-island crossover while remaining universally accessible. Including edits from pop culture, such as the immensely popular Love Island, provides even more context for listeners.

Step 2: Flip the Frame

Once the trend has matured and saturated the “romantic” lane, we evolve it by inviting comedy and meme creators to parody the format. This extends the song’s shelf life and cultural footprint, ensuring “With You” transitions from a love song trend into a mainstream, humorous reference point that keeps the sound alive across audience segments.

Execution Strategy

We would collaborate with African comedy creators in North America, asking them to reinterpret the trend in funny or exaggerated ways. For example, a creator starts the same way, alone on screen, but when the lyric “I can’t picture this world without you in my life” hits, it cuts to them lovingly holding a plate of Jollof rice, or a student staring affectionately at ChatGPT on their laptop.

Why it works?

Social trends can easily burn out after the first wave of content, however they can be revived as well. By using the same sound clip and visual beat, the campaign maintains algorithmic continuity — users encountering the comedic versions still engage with the original sound, extending the song’s viral cycle organically. Additionally, by steering into parody, “With You” avoids stagnation and reintroduces itself through humor, which can be a powerful virality driver. The tonal pivot from sincerity to satire also mirrors a common online life cycle of trends: from genuine emotion → meme → nostalgia. Positioning the track at the center of this evolution helps it transcend from one-dimensional “couple trend” status to a social media moment.

This comedic second wave carries cultural nuance as well: food references, tech jokes, and college humor root the trend in everyday Afro-diasporic life, blending global meme logic with authentic African flavor.