Music Marketing Project

For the past few weeks, two friends and I have been working on a lengthy music marketing campaign project, in which we had to create a new band, knowing only the song and genre of their initial release, and create a marketing campaign for the band

First, we focused on the genre. Our genre was Alternative Rock, to the likes of the Killers, Cage the Elephant, and others. We researched two main case studies - The 1975, and The Killers - to learn more about the genre's target audience, typical marketing techniques, and distribution.

Album Cover Art for The 1975

By studying them, we noticed common themes of a simple color palette, societal rebellion, and the marketing technique of "going dark" before the release of a single, EP, or album. Despite the young target audience, distribution methods within this genre were not limited to famous streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music; the genre with the most record vinyls sold is the alternative rock genre, following the fad of using "vintage" ways to listen to music.

Cover Art for The Man by BLKHONEYMOON

After our initial research, we began to develop our band: BLKHONEYMOON. Similar to The 1975, we kept with a color palette of black and neon pink, incorporating those colors into our logo, merchandise, and marketing products. As with the colors, another consistent decision we decided to make was to follow a theme of eyes being covered with the iconic pink paint splatter, hoping that it would become iconography for the band with marketing. The "icon" of the band would also appear through posts on the band's social media - specifically Twitter and Instagram - and website.

We decided to use the website as a hub that links to all other marketing techniques, taking advantage of technological convergence of all services being accessible through smart devices and laptops. The website links to each social media page, as well as displays an email for audience interaction - a feature that many bands of this genre utilize to engage fans and maintain a loyal fanbase. The website also includes a page that acts as a merchandise shop:

Merchandise includes stickers, vinyl records, pins, shirts, shoe collaborations, and more. 

On the homepage, we decided to start off with promotional pictures of the band members, which were shot in the same style as the music video to maintain continuity and brand.  Then, we decided to make the website have a simple layout, with easy accessibility to all other distribution and marketing tools; for example, as the audience scrolls through the homepage, sections are previewing upcoming show dates, merchandise, and ended with a contact form.

With the genre, we found that constant communication between artists and the audience was important to growing a fanbase. Our forms of audience interaction mainly revolved around posting teasers on social media, specifically utilizing Instagram's story feature, as well as giving fans frequent opportunities to communicate one-on-one with band members. Shows in local areas contribute to creating and then maintaining a loyal fan base, as frequent shows in iconic local venues establish a band presence.

When it came to the music video specifically, we decided to stick with a common alternative theme of teenage rebellion, also appealing to our target audience of teenagers and younger Millenials. The storylike video relied on a variety of shots and editing that matched the fast-pace of the song to engage audiences and secure their interest. The main obstacle my group faced while shooting the video was working around our schedules, and the schedules of the people who volunteered to act. However, we were able to overcome the obstacle, giving all of us valuable skills in group communication, accommodation, and compromise.

Stills from the Music Video