Burn the Witch

Marketing plays a pivotal role in the success of many music artists album launches. We have taken a look into some recent launches that have broken the mold through the use of mixed marketing campaigns to give you an insight into how they achieved their success. Bet you didn’t think you’d be learning marketing tips from Beyoncé now did you?

This month saw the release of Beyoncé’s new Album which has gained an unprecedented amount of attention. News outlets and social media went into melt down as the lyrics suggested adultery within Beyoncé’s relationship with Jay-Z and the world wanted to know more about this. Not only did it gain the spotlight for the suggested gossip but also the manner in which it is released.

…Before we go any further with this article I’d like to point out that the title ‘Burn the Witch’ is not related or aimed at Beyoncé in anyway, read on to find out why this is the title.

So as I was saying…

The manner in which it was released was praised by marketers around the world and looked at in awe by artists in the music industry, but why?

Beyoncé’s release was different and talked about as she used a mixed media campaign to tease music fans around the world.

She did this in a very simple but effective way that created hype and a sense of anticipation which then turned into fans desperate to purchase the album to see what the hype was about.

Her first trick was to announce a new single and world tour at the prestigious Super Bowl halftime show in February, bearing in mind she didn’t have an album out at the time to promote. This then presented a lot of speculation in the music world of what Beyoncé had up her sleeve.

This speculation lasted two months before an hour long trailer for the new Album was released on HBO television network in the United States. It was a week later when the Album became exclusively available to stream on her husband’s (Jay-Z) music streaming site. The anticipation and hype that had been built up then meant that this created an influx of people rushing to Tidal to stream the album. Well played Beyoncé, well payed! Now that they hype is over you can find the album in all music stores and online.

Another good example of this tease tactic recently was from British rock band Radiohead.

At the beginning of May Radiohead went into radio silence and removed all posts from their social media accounts and blanked out their website.

This alone caused a bit of a stir. What was going on with Radiohead? Had they split up?

It was then that they used direct mail to send out a postcard to everyone on their mailing list with the phrase ‘Burn the Witch’ on it. Another mysterious activity that caused a social media stir and gained attention.

Lo! and behold, 3 days later their new single ‘Burn the Witch’ was released and social media and website activities slowly returned.

We’re not suggesting that you send out a postcard to your clients with cryptic messages, the message we’re trying to get over to you is that in order to create hype around your product launch or service is break the mold from the marketing methods and strategies used by your competitors and don’t focus your attention on just one medium. Use a selection of different media that are relevant to gain your target market’s attention and gradually drip-feed them with info to keep them in suspense.

If you require help to produce an effective marketing strategy that is fit for the A lister Celebs, get in touch…