Music Marketing Project

Everyday, we listen to our favorite music without any second thought of the extensive promotional work behind its success. This all changed for me once I was tasked with the same feat.

The official logo of Echo Park.

Overture

The assignment at hand was to first come up with a fake band or artist and design their brand and identity they stand by. We were then required to create a detailed marketing campaign for their “new” single, as well as a music video to go along with it. The objective was to provide a descriptive and realistic business model for our artist’s success, with the hopes of being able to have them break out into the music industry (fictionally). 

With those instructions given, there were only two other pieces of information at our disposal: a song title and its genre. My group was given a choice between four different tracks, but decided to go with the alternative song “15 Step”, as it was thematically and sonically the most dense and abstract when compared to the other generic options. Our reasoning behind the pick was that through the quirky elements, we could build a brand that matches the idiosyncratic bands and personas found across the internet. With the song selected, our long journey into the world of music marketing began.

Research and Building a Brand

The first step was research. Our data was collected from two well-established alternative bands known as Foster the People and Vampire Weekend, who are both signed under Coloumbia Records. Marketing trends prevalent between the bands were as follows:

• Demographic of 19 to 21 year-olds.
• Heavy use of the internet through implementation of social media and a website.
• Websites provide direct access to merchandising and ticket sales.
• Social media especially is a huge, relevant platform used to market and communicate with an audience.
• The more an audience is engaged with a band, the more they will consume their music.
• Marketing incorporates interactive and unorthodox promotional tactics such as mysterious teaser images and fan competitions.
• Continuity among all marketing materials and imagery.
• Distribution methods follow the current market of the digital age (streaming services), but as well cater to the aesthetic of vintage physical products (cassette tapes and vinyl records).

Vampire Weekend.

Foster the People

This information became the foundation of our marketing campaign and the beginning in creating a proper brand. The image we decided to make as a result of the compiled research was one of boldness. Our band was a somewhat obscure group of musicians with an absurd online presence and a voice of
the troubled millennial youth looking to escape from mundane life. The face of the band was a graphic design of a bright red sun behind the peak of a grey mountain rising into the sky. From this identity and the research behind it, we were able to start the execution of a proper marketing campaign. From that moment forward, the world (or at least the classroom) would know us as “Echo Park”.

The Marketing Campaign

Our marketing campaign had various parts, essentially being branches off of the tree that was our brand. 

Social media played multiple roles within our marketing campaign. Echo Park’s personality is on full display on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, showing goofy yet odd images and videos of the band. For their audience, these posts give light insight to the madness that is their music. This provides the same level of audience interaction and direct communication found through the social media accounts of the bands we researched. The two main marketing stunts for Echo Park are found on social media as well. The first technique are cryptic security camera videos of the band playing an instrument with the release date of 15 Step in the corner. As a result of these posts, suspense is built and the audience is teased, building up hype. The second technique is a social media challenge to take a picture of any security camera and use the caption “SMILE, YOU’RE ON CAMERA #15step” in order to hear a 30 second snippet of the song. This plays along with the band’s themes of anti-establishment and creates continuity among other marketing materials such as the technique above and the music video (check the music video section in order to hear a full explanation about the security camera). Through this technique, the audience is involved through this simple challenge that anyone can participate in, which makes it spread rapidly.

Here are samples of the two marketing techniques we used on social media platforms:

Marketing technique #1: Cryptic security camera footage.

Marketing technique #2: the 15 Step Challenge.

From the moment it loads, the Echo Park website immediately provides access to the single and its music video, along with upcoming performances (local to small venues in Miami since they just started performing), merchandising, and a blog. The merchandise applies the same imagery of the sun behind the mountain and includes shirts, posters, and vinyl records. As previously mentioned, alternative listeners enjoy authentic and older methods of consumption, therefore it made sense to include a record for Echo Park’s upcoming debut album on our website. The blog allows for further audience engagement, with the fans themselves being able to easily contact the band through a quick email form.

Here are samples of both the website and a vinyl record distributed by the band: 

Echo Park's website, which immediately promotes the band's new single and music video.

A vinyl record copy of Echo Park's upcoming debut album.

Producing a Music Video and What I Learned From It

Producing a music video is not as easy as it seems. One must consider all aspects of the song, the creative expression behind it, how the music video can promote and connect to the song, and how to appeal to the audience and demographic you are catering towards. For 15 Step, we knew that the symbolic themes behind the song and Echo Park’s brand meant that we had to produce an artistic experience that matches with both.

15 Step as a song indulges itself in the idea of being stuck in the same place while in the pursuit of something greater, which became the driving force behind the video’s concept. The plot is dystopian and somewhat abstract, as it follows a worker attempting to break free from his dull job and escape into the outside world. The worker’s freedom is soon enough cut off when his boss, which can be interpreted as “the powers that be”, suppresses him down. The overarching message behind the music video is that in a society like the one we live in today that is run by capitalism and the top 1%, we will never truly be free. These anti-establishment themes are the reason why the stylistic element of security cameras are found throughout the video and the marketing of the track. This declaration aligns itself with the core themes of the music, the brand of the band, and what struggling, angsty millennials could relate to. To establish this theme, we put in various film techniques we had learned during the course into our production. For example, we used mise-en-scène elements, such as a green exit sign and a big red button, color symbolism (with green representing freedom and nature while red represented confinement and danger), and rapid pace editing in order to invoke a sense of urgency.

Constructing the idea and its planning took a major amount of time, but it was essential to get right. From this experience, it taught me that if you are creating any type of video, pre-production is key. Proper scheduling and making good use of your time is another thing I learned during this production, as you do not want to be cramming things to the last minute (a long, rough night editing was enough to drill that into my mind).

Outro

It takes a lot of work to execute a proper marketing campaign. Research is crucial in order to determine what has worked for other trending artists or bands and what might work for yours. Taking a conventional and realistic approach to your campaign will make it successful, even if it means your band might not play at Madison Square Garden from the get-go. Following current movements in your marketing space, whether it might be implementing hefty social media usage or distributing music on various streaming services, is what will make your product relevant. Every characteristic of the band and their marketing should be a reason why someone would want to become a fan, especially when it comes to hitting your target audience. By applying all of these rules and creating a brand that has continuity in all aspects of its promotional content, only then is an effective marketing campaign accomplished.