Recently in class, we had to do a project where we had to create a marketing plan for a song and a new artist. Our genre was pop. The pop genre is usually includes a target audience of females 13 to 26 in the middle class with part-time jobs or are full-time students. They tend to be fashionable and follow trends closely. They also tend to spend a lot of time on social media. The songs in the pop genre tend to be about love and relationships; the music videos tend to utilize storytelling.
Current marketing trends in the pop genre include heavy advertisement for the release of an album or single through the use of popular social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, since they are used often by the target audience. Bruce Springsteen is a good example of this. He uses Twitter to relay news and information about his music to his fans and Instagram to post about his performances, promote merchandise, and offer ways to find his music. He also uses YouTube to post music videos, interviews, albums audios, and live performances.
While most artists follow this trend, well established artists like Beyoncé prefer to use a different technique. Beyoncé markets her music very little. She relies on word of mouth to generate awareness when she releases something new and allows others to do the advertising for her. For example, when she was collaborating with Disney on the live action film The Lion King, she allowed them to do almost all of the marketing. Or, she'll allow her fans to spread the word after she's released something. However, even though Beyoncé isn't the one who is doing the actual marketing, it is all still done mostly through social media.
We made careful decisions to develop the brand of our artist. We chose to have a solo male artist because it would appeal to our female audience and most pop artists are solo. We named our artist Wayne Parks. We only gave him a first and last name and not a special stage name because most of the solo artists in the pop genre use their real names (i.e. Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars). Although, some solo artists use stage names (Lady Gaga, The Weekend) or just their first name (Rihanna, Drake). Also, people tend to respond better to white sounding names rather than more ethnic sounding names.
We chose to develop the brand our artist through social media. Since social media is popular among our target audience, and many artists in our genre utilize it as their main way of marketing, we decided that this would be the most effective way to promote our new artist. We specifically chose to use Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube since these platforms are the most popular among our target audience. We would use Instagram to release information about events and clips/teasers of performances, music videos, and behind the scenes footage. Plus, it serves as a way for the artist to connect with his fans through comments and hashtags. We would use Twitter to release information about upcoming events or releases. It also serves as a way for our artist to share some of his more personal/random thoughts and connect with his audience. We would use YouTube to release music videos, full videos of live performances, behind the scenes footage, potential vlogs/updates/live streams, and possible interviews that may arise in the future. Using these platforms would help our artist to expand and connect with his audience.
We also decided on a set color scheme: purple and yellow. Purple is associated with mystery and yellow is associated with happiness. We chose these colors specifically because we wanted our artist to have a light, positive air about him yet also read as mysterious. Adding a sense of mystery would help to generate some interest in him and his music.
We used the music video as a tool to develop the brand of our artist. We used the strategy of storytelling and created the video around a couple, as is the trend in the pop genre. The overall video has quite a happy/light feel to it which reinforces the positive vibes (yellow) of our artist. However, we included a twist that accommodates the mystery (purple) aspect of his brand.
The marketing products that we created for our campaign include shirts, a hoodie, and stickers. They can all be purchased through the website that we set up. The website serves a general hub where fans can find whatever they need: links to download music, merchandise, news, and general information about the artist.
The t-shirts are offered in multiple sizes, colors (including his signature colors), and designs. Each design includes the logo on the front and the logo and full name on the back. This way people who aren't fans can easily see who the artist is. They help to create a sense of unity and belonging among fans; they feel like they're a part of the community. It is also a way to advertise the artist via the fans and another stream of revenue.
The hoodie is offered in multiple sizes and colors (including his signature colors). It's a popular item among those in our target audience. The front has the logo of the artist and the back has his full name and the name of his latest single. Like the shirts, it helps to create a sense of unity among our audience, a way of advertising the artist and his music, and an extra stream of revenue.
Stickers are another way that our artist can connect with the audience. They're also just a cute/fun little item that fans can purchase to support the artist. The fans can put them wherever they'd like, which conveniently can offer another method of advertising. They are offered in the artist's signature colors, which helps to reaffirm his brand.
Through the process of creating the music video and development of a marketing campaign, we learned that every decision is important and has a reason to support it. Nothing is random or done just for the sake of it. Everything requires thought and research to ensure that it's the best possible decision and will generate the most success. Even the decisions for the music video require careful consideration in order to develop and showcase the artist's brand further. Planning is also important during this process. If not planned properly, it can become overwhelming and compromises would have to be made in order to finish everything. This would lead to a product that isn't as great/successful as it could be.
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