By Jason Spies, Director of Business Development/Strategic Marketing
Before coming to Night Agency I spent the majority of my career in the music industry. From helping market local concerts when I was 16 to starting one of the first new media departments at a record label, I witnessed the entire landscape change due to technology. And the old formula of generating awareness and revenue drastically flipped upside down; MTV stopped playing music videos, Napster seeded the idea that music could be free, and eventually iTunes and iPods made individual songs more important than albums. Gone are the days of hefty radio promotions and huge marketing budgets for new artists. Today, a new artist’s success is heavily dependent on social media and growing fans and followers often trumps touring. What this means is that an artist can easily have thousands upon thousands of fans before they even sign a record deal, and that’s an attractive, often very targeted audience for a like minded brand.
Marketers today are turning to a number of different new tools to grow and drive their brands forward, but smart marketers know how to reinvent old ideas. One such “old idea” is partnership marketing. Traditionally about sharing advertising, today partnership marketing means sharing your audience, and the changes within the music industry have created what could arguably be considered a new digital media channel: a bands fans and followers. There are of course still the mega deals to be made, but when a brand is trying to launch a new product, or generate awareness, creating a unique collaboration with a band or musician whose followers are like-minded can be instant marketing gold.
At Night Agency, we’ve been leveraging musicians to support campaigns for several years now including a program to see your favorite band for STA Travel and a music partnership with SXSW for Keds. Our latest, a Hanes Comfort Rewards promotion in partnership with OneRepublic. Check it out here.
