05–06 Tools TCAT 07–08 Campaigns Shazam, , Childish Gambino, Shakira 09-13 Behind The Campaign

MAY 24 2017 sandboxMUSIC MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL ERA ISSUE 180

WHATSAPP, DOC? MARKETING WITH MESSAGING APPS WHATSAPP, DOC?

n just eight years, WhatsApp has become one of the most important I means of communication in the modern world – a platform with more than 1bn monthly active users and growing. Normally, this would mean a rush for the music industry to get involved and use the platform to promote its artists – as we have seen so many times before, with the likes of , and Snapchat. But with WhatsApp things have been different. It may be that WhatsApp is simply too fiddly to use on a large scale or that parent company Facebook has shown little interest in driving the music industry towards WhatsApp. Whatever the case, WhatsApp rarely shows up in music marketing plans, which seems strange for an app we almost all carry around marketing with messaging apps in our pockets. But is the music industry missing a trick? Or is WhatsApp more trouble WhatsApp has more than 1bn active users – many in the millennial bracket. Because this audience than it is worth? Inspired by Ninja Tunes is increasingly hard to reach through other channels, it remains bewildering why the music act Forest Swords’ recent WhatsApp promotion, sandbox decided to look at industry is not doing more marketing here. Sure, there are complications – such as a limit on the four examples of marketing on WhatsApp number of users in a group and no way of automating messages – but it remains a huge opportunity – three for music and one from the wider for those prepared to roll up their sleeves. We look at the labels, musicians and brands who have world – to see the impact they made and assess what music industry marketers can used WhatsApp best as a marketing channel to show where others can follow their lead. learn from them.

1 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 COVERFEATURE

it again, I would spend more time crafting teaser content as well as banking imagery and video from the band – specifically and exclusively for the purposes of the WhatsApp group,” he adds. “I don’t see it ever being a direct replacement to email as there is too much manual work involved, but I do see it as part of the CRM mix and a key relationship- building tool,” Warner concludes. “An unread WhatsApp message on your phone is much harder to ignore than an email from a band of Broadcast Lists – WhatsApp’s group sitting in the promotions tab of your Gmail messaging tools have a rather infuriating account. It’s a great means of identifying 256 users maximum – ending up with the core fans and seeding content to them first numbers of more than 600 fans. and then allowing them to disseminate “The response was immediate and your message for you amongst their own overwhelming but there was a lot of manual friendship groups.” work involved in grouping fans into these LOWER THAN ATLANTIS lists,” Warner explains. “For an artist with a FOREST SWORDS The story starts in 2016 when Red Essential larger social media following, it would have started work on the campaign for Safe In been totally unmanageable.” The decision of Ninja Tunes act Forest Swords Sound, the fifth studio album from British Over the six-month album campaign, Red to communicate with fans via WhatsApp was Lower Than Atlantis . sent eight messages to fans on WhatsApp, based on a fascination with different forms “As we were moving into our new album giving details of everything from tours to of communication and language structures campaign, we wanted to find a means the album release and radio debuts. Warner rather than marketing-based goals. And yet of communicating with the core fanbase says they wanted to keep the tone as doing so undoubtedly gave the artist a PR that reflected the ways in which they were conversational as possible and the messages boost, even if this wasn’t his intention. connecting with their peers,” explains Red infrequent enough to avoid being intrusive. On 28th March 2017, the producer posted Essential digital marketing manager, “Fans are incredibly in tune with a message on Twitter announcing, “Let’s Christian Warner . “The majority of the which messages are the band’s own try new channels: WhatsApp msg me on band’s fanbase fall into the 18-24 bracket words and which aren’t, so I had the +447731668201 until Thurs and I’ll send out and we know there’s a large userbase on cheap smartphone, set up a WhatsApp band script their own messages new tracks directly. 1 per person/your ears WhatsApp that age group, so it was a account on it and then set about at all times,” he adds. “We had only.” The unusual move led to news stories logical fit.” communicating with fans. The company thousands of messages and questions in several media outlets, including Fact, Clash One of marketers’ key gripes about created a simple graphic and posted it to coming through to the phone in response, and Resident Advisor – and around 700 WhatsApp is that it is famously difficult to Facebook and Twitter with a message that which I personally sifted through, passing people got in touch via WhatsApp over the use for bulk messaging and, while third- gave fans the new mobile number and on as many messages and questions to the next 24 hours. party platforms do exist, people are generally encouraged them to add it to their contacts band for a response as time would allow.” Those who contacted Forest Swords wary of using them. and send the band a message on WhatsApp. Warner says that the campaign was a were rewarded with a new track, sent via Red Essential’s approach to this was When the messages then came in, Red great success, despite the fiddly manual WhatsApp, as well as a message announcing charmingly lo-fi: the company bought a sorted the senders’ numbers into a series work involved. “If I had the opportunity to do that there would be more news imminently.

2 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 COVERFEATURE

If people ask questions then I’ll answer them, but I’d rather it feels like a dialogue rather than a new way to spam people. I hope artists don’t start using it like that.”

ANJUNABEATS

Dance label Anjunabeats’ experiment with using WhatsApp was focused around promotion of the label itself, rather than any specific artist. Marketing director Duncan Byrne explains News of his new album, Compassion, was that the idea came about in summer 2015, then announced generally on 30th May, when Drake had just released ‘Hotline Bling’. with many news stories around its release “I set up the Anjuna Hotline as an experiment mentioning the WhatsApp campaign. in direct-to-fan communication around the Forest Swords (aka Matthew Barnes) same time ‘Hotline Bling’ came out,” he says. explains his decision to use WhatsApp to “We found a spare iPhone 4, grabbed a SIM sandbox. from [mobile network] Giffgaff and asked fans to add us. We only promoted it via Like most musicians nowadays, I have Twitter, but we picked up around 400 fans “ to work within the parameters of which we had to split across to Broadcast social media and streaming algorithms. It’s an uphill battle getting your work It took off a lot more than I expected than they might have been if they were in front of anyone; and even though it to. I thought I’d get a few curious posting messages publicly on Twitter or social media companies can woo us into messages, but I got about 700 all in all. whatever. thinking we’re connecting with people It took a full day to reply to everyone. I I’ve kept all the messages and directly, there’s still a disconnect and a was sending out a bunch of unreleased occasionally people still drop me a line to distance there for me. They dictate what tracks and answering people’s questions say they’ve ordered the album or bought you can post and who sees it. or just saying, “Hi”. There was no way to tickets to the tour. I still try and reply to I was using WhatsApp and Skype automate it so I did it all myself, sending everyone. Although I have kept all the to communicate with my friends every back the audio tracks one by one. I messages, and therefore everyone’s single day and I thought, “Well, why not had to put a deadline of 48 hours on it, number, I’ not going to send out try and use these tools in slightly more otherwise it would have been impossible unsolicited texts out to people. I haven’t interesting ways, directly with strangers?” to keep up with. exported it into a database or anything, I researched it and nobody had done I got lots of messages from people which would feel like I’m cheating it before. “There are themes who already liked my work but also a people. I’d hate being on the receiving running through my new album lot from people who were curious about end of that – it feels a bit violating, of communication and the experiment and wanted to see what having promotional messages sent connection and it seemed it was about. It was interesting having directly to your phone – so I’m not going appropriate to try it out as an that direct channel to someone because to undermine the point of the exercise experiment to launch that. people were a lot more open with me by turning it into a promo mailing list.

3 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 COVERFEATURE

Lists. Every week we sent out a punchy, emoji-laden Friday wrap of our releases and shows with a tagged Linkfire.” AUTOMATING FOR The campaign was “very successful”, he claims. “We launched on Twitter using a gif THE PEOPLE? of our artist overlaid onto Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ dance, which was the meme du jour,” Wesley A’Harrah on WhatsApp’s Byrne says. “It was so successful that I never major marketing drawback... really shared on our biggest Facebook pages because my phone would have imploded.” And yet the difficulty of mass communication through WhatsApp left Byrne frustrated. “Adding fans to the lists was a massive pain and managing the contacts an even bigger pain,” he says. “Also, fans wanted to chat to us and we obviously The single greatest difficulty with didn’t have time to reply, which made the marketing through WhatsApp is the experience not as fun for them.” inability to automate. Bots service He adds, “Unfortunately the effort ; while SuperPhone wasn’t resulting in clicks that we’d and Twilio can be used for SMS campaigns. hope for, so I’ve binned the idea for now The idea of the campaign was to that taps into the millennial approach to No such platform lets you do this until there’s better tools available and showcase the boot’s impressive history. consumerism,” Stacy Debroff, founder/CEO with WhatsApp in the same way, though Broadcast List sizes are increased.” As part of this, Clarks created WhatsApp of Influence Central, Boston, told Retail Dive. WhatsApp doesn’t have the character When that might be is another accounts for three real-life characters from “We recently fielded a study on marketing to limits or per-message costs that impact question, with many people convinced the brand’s history – mod Steve Barrow, millennials, demonstrating that this cohort us while using SMS tools, or the rules on that Facebook doesn’t want WhatsApp photographer Bruno Barbey and reggae icon views products unlike any other generation, what can be a mass-broadcast message, to actually be used in this way. “I’d go Stitch – who fans could then chat to, hearing preferring to think of them as experiences, as enforced by the Messenger Platform. all in if there were better tools and a them tell their particular stories via words, giving each purchase a weight and a It comes down to finding that balance way for the broadcast messages to be videos and music. story. Using WhatsApp for this campaign between effectively conveying a responded to,” Byrne concludes. “It’s awesome how Clarks used fits into millennials’ natural penchant for message to fans, handling their personal “Bots aren’t the way. Fans don’t technology to showcase history,” crowdsourcing and peer-to-peer networks.” data in a responsible way – if to be used want to talk to a robot or a bot pretending Gergana Mileva , co-founder and CEO at Mileva tells sandbox that the music for remarketing, you need to tell them to be the label; they want to talk to content marketing specialist KGM writes industry could learn from Clarks’ campaign. up front – and using your artist/team’s each other. Human connection is what on Quora. “They basically created an “Clarks showed that history plays a huge role time well. we sell here.” interactive documentary.” in allowing the audience to understand If you don’t want to spend money “[Clarks’] campaign the brand better,” she says. “Music and have limitless time to work, CLARKS DESERT BOOT on WhatsApp for its marketers can use this approach by WhatsApp can be great. If you want Desert Boot offers creating stories about where the to automatically respond to basic fan Outside of music, the best-known marketing up a character- artist they represent came from. questions, gather insights from fans’ activity on WhatsApp is probably Clarks’ focused, multimedia Clarks also used each important messages and retargeting data on fans, 2015 Rats To Rudeboys campaign for its retrospective into character in their history to connect you’re going to have to shell out. Desert Boot. the boot’s history and engage with the audiences.” :)

4 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 TOOLS TCAT

In the old days of physical distribution, everything ran on a cocktail of hope and trust. Labels would hope and trust their distributors around the world would get their records into the shops in time.

They could, of course, do payment and stock audits after release, but checking every store got what they were supposed to get and on time was a truly Sisyphean task. With the move into digital, it would appear that everything is beautifully automated and transparent. But at to put that content up there.” times it is far from the case, with Yet that is not always the case. The problems arising due to mislabelling, most high-profile recent example of that duplications, international licensing happening was in January 2013 when restrictions and more. To check, for “We developed TCAT out of a need for releases, it can alert the rightsholder who parts of the KLF’s catalogue (a catalogue example, if your music was live on the our business,” explains Alice Dyson-Jones, can then issue a takedown – or it can issue they had deleted when they split in 1992) 100+ local iterations of iTunes/Apple the company’s commercial director. “We a takedown on their behalf. suddenly appeared on Amazon MP3, Music, you would have to have someone in are a big rights owners and we developed You can search an act, release or track iTunes and Spotify. It turned out to be a each market manually check that music is this particular as we wanted to and then collate the live data on that series of bootlegs that had managed to in place and priced accordingly. protect our own rights.” across digital stores (seeing the full store sneak through aggregators and get onto UK company One Media iP – who, in To quote from the video demo of the page as it exists at that precise moment). the services. All tracks were removed their own words, “specialise in acquiring service, “TCAT will police and monitor the It shows pricing points, chart information within a few days. This was perhaps – in and repackaging nostalgic music and stores to protect ownership and revenues and territorial availability among other the spirit of the KLF – an art prank, but TV programmes from recordings made for rights owners such as music labels, data points. also one that exposed flaws in catalogue over the last 90 years” – found that what publishers and artists […] Critically, TCAT TCAT currently works with Apple Music/ management when services are dealing was supposed to be streamlined and finds instances of unauthorised and iTunes and Spotify, but there are plans to with 40m+ tracks. guaranteed was often not the reality. infringing music, duplicated releases and connect to all the other major digital music “What we are looking to do So they built TCAT (Technical Copyright unlawful exploitation in the public domain platforms via their APIs. as a service is to help people to Analysis Tool) for internal auditing across differing territories. Some releases Phillip Miles, technical director at One manage the content that they purposes, but soon realised this is an fall by the wayside during the delivery Media iP, says, “When you are dealing with have licensed to people,” says Miles. industry-wide conundrum. They are process – not reaching the intended store a legitimate and legal download store, “That licence may have expired; they may now taking it to labels and industry – or are lost in partial album re-releasing the assumption is being made that the have borrowed content and bothered to bodies as a workable solution to on the journey from LP to streaming.” content being delivered to that service is get a licence for it; or there are instances distribution headaches. When identifying unauthorised delivered by somebody who has the rights where there is content that has maybe

5 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 TOOLS TCAT been delivered under public domain rules “When you do a distributor change, [but you need] to check the rules that you have to check all of your content has apply to that public domain track.” gone down and that all of your content More pressingly for labels working has gone up with the new distributor,” on global releases and global marketing says Dyson-Jones. “If you are a massive strategies that have to happen on precise label, how do you approach that task? It’s dates, there might be a delay between impossible to do.” services ingesting content and that For now, TCAT only works with content actually being live on local stores/ sound recordings, but there are platforms. On top of this, one corrupt piece plans to give it a much wider of metadata could mean that a release functionality for publishers. falls through the cracks and is not actually There are clear benefits for marketing put live. departments here (not just licensing “TCAT is checking to see if it didn’t make departments) as the software allows it or checking to see if it’s made it on time,” access to real-time localised activities. says Miles. “If someone is trying to get out “If you are a label and looking at where their music they have been working on for you should be focusing your attention, the past six months, have done all their this gives you a really good snapshot as marketing in the past 12 weeks and it’s to what is happening in each territory,” shipping that day but has not made it, they suggests Dyson-Jones. “If you are missing are going to be pretty annoyed as all of something or suddenly there is a spike in that build up has now been wasted as the release. You want all that effort focused on If labels also change distributor for a territory, but you don’t know why, you music is not there.” one release – you don’t want two of whatever reason, TCAT allows them to check will know about it and can go and Manually checking every local store, them there as that chart information the content management has transitioned investigate further.” especially for labels putting out large gets disrupted.” properly from one distributor to another. Miles is unconcerned that API changes numbers of tracks every week, can prove could sink TCAT as it helps the services as insurmountable. The promise TCAT is much as it helps the labels and (eventually) making is that it will massively reduce the publishers. “The service we are offering is time it takes to check everything is as it in everybody’s interest,” he says. “It’s in should be on stores around the world – the interest of the stores and it’s in the and all from one dashboard. There is also interests of the rights owners.” the problem of duplication of releases, The company is currently talking to especially if labels are using a variety of labels and industry organisations to license distribution companies around the world. it and start using it as a means of reaching “You might have a patchwork of scale – but they cannot confirm who they distributors covering a handful of are speaking to for now. territories and some labels doing “Up until now, they didn’t know there territories direct or the artist doing was a solution to the problems they were territories direct – so you get situations facing,” says Dyson-Jones. where Distributor A has put a release into “It is a service that is only going to get Distributor B’s territories,” says Miles. better as we build,” adds Miles. “The scope “That is an issue if you have a high-profile of it will get better.” :)

6 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 CAMPAIGNS The latest projects from the digital marketing arena SHAZAM FORGETS TO REMEMBER FOR ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH FOO FIGHTERS MIX IT UP

memories”, alongside the option to make a donation to the charity. A common misconception is that Alzheimer’s only affects older people and the charity wanted to highlight that catalogue and history. But it’s a far more people under 40 can be affected by it – interesting twist on the “Throwback To and this campaign running throughout [Name Of Band Here]” or “Introduction To Most of the April was there to raise awareness [Name Of Band here]” that flood Spotify time, we cover among a younger audience. According In the previous sandbox, we covered the and other streaming services when the act campaigns designed to sell records, drive to AdWeek, it drove 2,018,206 impressions Spotify/Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 is building up to promote a new album. streams or promote a brand. But the recent and over 5,000 people clicked through to the partnership that let you pick a playlist and In this instance, the mixtapes are partnership between Shazam and charity Alzheimer’s Research UK donation page. turn it retro by swapping each song with ones personalised and the fans are given an organisation Alzheimer’s Research UK is Innocean Worldwide UK was the agency from the 1970s that shared similar musical editing role if they want so that it’s not just something we wanted to cover as it’s both behind the creative, but there was some attributes. based on what an algorithm suggest. That clever and enormously worthwhile. criticism of the campaign for conflating the means it’s about a merging of machine condition with forgetfulness – which is only They are clearly in vogue as Foo Fighters are and human at the end of the playlist Billed as The Day That Shazam Forgot, the one aspect of the disease – and possibly offering their own twist on mixtapes and process rather than the start. Plus, it campaign was designed to raise awareness simplifying something that research their back catalogue. Going from a dedicated allows the band to surface those tracks at for dementia by taking something that scientists are still working on to properly URL (mixtape.foofighters.com), users are the end of their own personal digital long people use on a regular basis due to its understand. prompted to sign into their Spotify account tail – such as B-sides, live tracks or album lightning speed recognition powers and then An Alzheimer’s Research UK and then asked to go through several stages tracks where the cobwebs can be finally have it struggle temporarily to spot the song spokesperson told The Verge, “We hoped we to refine their mixtape. blown off. the user was trying to tag. could provoke some thought from Shazam First, they are asked to pick a vibe Users’ accounts are linked to something When someone opened the app and users and drive people to the charity to (Commute, On A Run, Lazy, Cruising, called “Sony Mixtape”, suggesting the started to use it, they got the usual Shazam support us, or to find out in much greater Romance, Sporting) and then an era from major has plans to roll this out to other logo pulsing as it announced it was listening detail about all the symptoms. While what the band’s history as visualised by tour acts. Back in September 2015, Foo Fighters to the music. Rather than deliver the results we did on Shazam was only a snapshot of posers from 1995, 2005/2006 and 2015. were the first act to be able to message in a few seconds, new messages appeared the condition, we felt more good would still Finally, you are given the running order of their biggest fans on Spotify directly – saying “Still listening…”, “Is it umm…”, come from engaging people in this way, as the suggested songs, but can move them something others now do as part of a “This one rings a bell…” and “It’s… It’s…” – opposed to doing nothing.” around or delete as you see fit before fan incentive push. It would appear then eventually tagging the song in question, but The fact this happened at all should be naming it (with the inevitable option to that they are deemed by Sony to be one adding a banner on the bottom of the screen worthy of praise, raising awareness for a share it on your social channels). of the best acts to test out new Spotify- with the Alzheimer’s Research UK logo and condition that many only become aware of Obviously this is about super-serving centric marketing initiatives with as they the message “Alzheimer’s destroys precious when it directly affects family or friends. existing Foo Fighters fans as it requires have a large enough and engaged enough a level of esoteric knowledge about their audience to see it working at scale.

7 | sandbox | ISSUE 167 | 02.11.16 CAMPAIGNS The latest projects from the digital marketing arena SHAKIRA GIVES THEM EL (DORADO) VR = VINYL REALITY

On a dedicated site (ShakiraElDorado. com) – and with instructions in both English and Spanish – fans are encouraged to search for “hidden treasures” around the Vinyl (once a symbol of the past) is still refusing world. There is a desktop version where you to die and VR (currently a symbol of the future) scroll around the world to spot locations and a is still struggling to make the leap into the mobile version that shows hotspots near you. proper mainstream. So maybe – just maybe – if (When sandbox did it, the nearest location they joined forces, they could create a fissure in was St Paul’s, but that was at least an hour the time-space continuum and let us enjoy the away on the 76 bus.) past, present and future all at once. There is a little link in the top right corner of the web page to pre-order the album on Apple We are not 100% sure this was the reasoning Music and Amazon as well as to pre-save it behind Childish Gambino latest marketing Shakira has made the transition to digital on Spotify. There are also links to share the effort, but maybe he can reverse engineer it as Pharos app on their iOS or Android device. They with ease. Even though she has not put out page to Facebook, Twitter and . such. Anyway, he has created a limited-edition have to then input the unique code on the LP an album since 2014, she is the 33rd biggest It’s still unravelling as sandbox was going version of his new album, Awaken, My Love!, so they can start watching a live performance artist on Spotify (21m monthly listeners) to press and would continue until the album where the LP comes with a VR headset – and it of the album’s opening track, ‘Me and Your and she has two videos in the top 35 most- release on 26th May. Tom Neil, co-founder of will cost you $59.99 from his website. Mama’, which is “created in collaboration viewed videos to date on YouTube. Landmrk, told us, “We will be dropping some That might seem a bargain. An LP (with a with Microsoft”. The suggestion here is that extra features onto the platform – mobile and glow-in-the-dark sleeve!) and a VR headset more VR content will be made available as the Ahead of the release of El Dorado – her 11th desktop – along the way.” for under $60? Where do we sign up? Except a campaign builds. studio album – at the end of the month, the On top of this, Apple is throwing its bit of digging around and looking at the pack It is probably harsh to judge it on one piece singer has partnered with Landmrk to create weight behind her album campaign. The shot of the bundle suggests it’s a slightly of VR content as we will have to wait and see a treasure hunt. singer is hosting a three-part series called pimped headset as opposed what he has up his (virtual) sleeve for the rest We sense some rolling of the eyes at the Shakira Presents: El Dorado that started to an Rift one. Oh, well. of the year. That said, there is still the nagging mention of “treasure hunt” as they were on 20th May. The first episode (entirely But – we hear you ask – where does the concern that this is about hitching his wagon all the rage about six years ago, but there is in Spanish) had her and the collaborators VR bit come in? On the pre-order page, it to two hyped formats (the never-say-die a direct link here to the album title and the talk about making the album, the second says, “Instructions to access exclusive virtual survival of vinyl and the here-comes-the- Colombian legend that evolved over the years episode is similar but will be in English, reality live performances from the PHAROS future-best-buckle-in roar of VR) in the hope to refer initially to a golden man and, finally, a and the final one will be an interview with Experience.” So users will have to install the that this creates a marketing nuclear reaction. golden empire. Beats 1’s Ebro Darden.

8 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN BON IVER

Photo: Ben Knight BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNBON IVER

An artist working at their own pace they were talking about wanting to There is no creative A&R with Justin when perform the new record at the festival. it comes to music; he makes the We didn’t know then if we music that he makes. He didn’t tell were going to put the record us that he was going to be making out immediately after that a completely different record [in or how it would take shape. terms of the style]. We knew that he We knew that playing the album in was working on music – but there its entirety at the festival was his was a big gap between Bon Iver grand plan. [his second album, released in June The previous year had done 2011] and this album. a couple of songs from it so the This was the first album of public knew [there was new music]. his that had done We decided that in early June worldwide. He had said publicly – that we were going to sow a and a lot of people misconstrued seed and he was going to say it – that he was never sure when that he was going to be playing there would be another Bon Iver record a set of new music at Eau Claire. That after the last one. He was saying he just was all he said and it was enough to get didn’t know what form the next album people excited. They knew something was would take. coming, but we didn’t really give anything He has his own studio in Eau Claire in more than that away. Wisconsin. He was working on music there He announced that through his social and there were various musicians involved. channels. Twitter is his main one; he is All we knew was that, at some point, there on the others, but Twitter is the most might be a new Bon Iver record. At the start significant and where he really engages. He of 2016, we were getting wind that it was runs two Twitter accounts – the Bon Iver getting closer to being done and that we one for band stuff and the other for personal should start thinking about putting out a stuff and general engagement. record that year. An album campaign where the artist is The pieces start to fall into place insistent that they are not the focus 22, A Million is the third album by Bon Iver (aka ) and marked a By May 2016, it was at the point where Justin had some precise guidelines dramatic change in sound from the folk that made his name by drawing heavily on we knew it was 90% happening. It that he wanted us to follow from wasn’t quite finished, but we knew the beginning and ways in which he electronica, hip-hop and soul. TOM DAVIES, European marketing director at Secretly we should start plotting. wanted to approach the campaign. Group, explains how a statement campaign was created – but where no exclusives At that point, the things we knew Firstly, he was not interested were given and during which the artist consciously did not want to be front and that were happening were his in being a celebrity around this centre. The symbolism and numerology of the album artwork directly informed Music & Arts Festival record. He didn’t want his face to be the dates on which tracks were put out ahead of the album as well as when on 12th and 13th August. It is his the focus. He knew he had to do murals appeared in major cities and then took on new life during different phases. festival that he curates with Aaron photos, but his face was going to Select live performances and lyrics videos also helped build the anticipation, with Dessner of The National. We knew we be obscured in all of them. His face everything driving the whole campaign to feel like a major event. had that moment and at that point isn’t on the sleeve, for example.

10 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNBON IVER

He also did not want to do loads The symbolism and numerology of the of press. His reason for that was very artwork shaped the teaser campaign specific. It wasn’t that he hates doing In the album artwork, there is a lot of press; it was because he felt like he had numerology involved. There are a lot of been interviewed multiple times on the symbols and every song title has a number. previous records and it got to the point We wanted to play around with that and the where he felt that he wasn’t delivering numbers were very specific as they related good interviews. He felt he couldn’t find to himself and the way he sees things. new ways of saying exactly the same We knew the title of the album was 22, thing over and over again. A Million, we knew that one of first tracks He suggested we pick off a couple of to be made publicly available was ‘22 (Over interviews and make them really worthwhile Soon)’. There was great serendipity when and then those would be the places we we realised that 22nd July fell exactly 22 pointed people to. days before the festival happened. It felt We also had a really in-depth biography so perfect. What we decided to do was on made for the record. His friend wrote the bio 22nd July, we’d put up a 22-second snippet and it had loads of detail about everything of the song ‘22 (Over Soon)’. A lot of people that had built up to it, exactly what the wouldn’t have known how specific we got record was about and so on. That was as we had it go up at 10.22pm [22.22] Eau enough to guide the press as to what the Claire time as we knew the other track going story of the record was. up that day was the track ‘10 (Death Breast)’. There were two big pieces and they ran Whether people would find it out or not, I on the same day [in The New York Times and wanted to leave breadcrumb trails for them. imagery as the YouTube video that we put Murals (phase 1) The Guardian]. He was going to do these two Also when people look back, they can find up for ‘#22days’ had a lot of the symbols. The next thing we were going to do was big interviews and also a press conference this stuff out. If you were really clued in, you could see a that 10 days before the festival and the first in Eau Claire where he would field questions The song snippet was called ‘#22days’. connection. When you clicked on the symbol, performance of the new album, we’d have from a selection of journalists and talk about People knew that something was happening you were taken through to a Google Image murals going up around the world . We the record for 90 minutes. in 22 days’ time, but not what. We hadn’t search for the number related to that symbol. had one mural per track in 10 cities and then told people the track was called ‘22 (Over A lot of it for me was about sowing the an eleventh mural in Eau Claire which was of An across-the-board policy of no exclusives Soon)’ – they’d find out later – and we just symbol imagery into the minds of people we the album artwork. The other big thing we had was no put it out on socials. We tipped some sites knew were actively interested in Bon Iver. There were two stages to the murals. exclusives. There were no premieres with off, but when Justin puts anything on the We were using Google retargeting for people They started appears 10 days before the any sites and no special editions. Everyone socials there is a frenzy. who had engaged with the Bon Iver site, festival – with just the symbols related to was going to get everything at the same What we did next was – and someone showing them these symbols which were each specific tracks. time. That was a decision we made with described it as “some Derren Brown shit” – to randomly popping up on sites that they were They cities were ones where we knew management. This campaign needed create Google Image ads that contained each looking at. there were big Bon Iver fanbases. It was to feel like it was something for of the symbols from tracks on the record. There were no words or information, but capitals, mostly – , , Berlin, everybody – and that it was a fan- They would randomly appear. We were if you clicked on them they took you to a Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Mexico City, LA, focused campaign. As there weren’t targeting Bon Iver fans [with pixels], but all Google Image search. Many people would New York, Melbourne, Minneapolis, which going to be loads of interviews to read, we people would get shown was a symbol. have had no idea what it was, but it would is the nearest big city to Eau Claire, and wanted everyone feeling they were picking They wouldn’t know what the symbol have been putting that symbol imagery in Eau Claire itself. up the music at the same time. was, but they may have spotted some of the their minds. All the artwork was done by Eric Timothy

11 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNBON IVER

Soon)’ and ‘10 (Death Breast)’ that they got playlisted anyway on various stations. We had a launch for ‘33 “God”’ 33 days out from the album release – on 29th August, although that was a bank holiday in the UK. ‘33 “God”’ went out with a lyric video and live on all the streaming services as well as an instant grat for anyone pre-ordering the album. There was no premiere of it; no radio station got first play and no site for the first hit on it. It got turned live so, if you wanted it, you could come and get it. for it to appear at the right time. You either cross your fingers that it doesn’t go early or The pre-album press conference you cross your fingers that it appears fast That weekend was when he did his press enough after it launches. So inevitably, a conference in Eau Claire at a hotel he helped Carlson. He did every single piece of art for stage. When he started playing, we turned few stores went live later that other to build there. We invited 40 journalists the record. Justin and he had talked in lots two tracks live on streaming services – ‘22 stores as I could not risk supplying from around the world and we also made of detail about the aesthetics and why the (Over Soon)’ and ‘10 (Death Breast)’. Pre- them with the information sure there were lots of local journalists and symbolism and numerology were in there. orders for the album went live absolutely early and it going live before the teenage journalists there. It had to feel like Eric was a fundamental part of the project everywhere. The 12-inch of those two announcement – so I had to wait an event. outside of the actual music. They had known tracks was made available at the festival for the album to be launched before A video was recorded of the press each other a long time, but this was the first for anyone there to buy. People were also I could tell them to turn it live. conference that we released afterwards. project they had worked on together. Eric able to buy them when they bought the The tracks were played on radio all It was a one-camera shot – entirely from also created all the lyric videos for us. album six weeks later. The two tracks that weekend and they were immediately added behind Justin so you could not see his face The murals started appearing, but there streamed and that were on the 12-inch were to the 6 Music playlist. It started picking up at any point in the conference. were no words or text associated with them extended versions of the album tracks; they Radio 1 plays the next week. He has always He is a very open person and he just – no reference at all to what it was. People were not the album versions. had singles playlisted on Radio 1. wanted his interviews to be good – which is started to pick up on them and a few days I was up all night, turning stuff live and We were pushing the pre-orders and why we limited them. before the festival happened news sites making sure things were working properly. music sites everywhere were posting On 14th September, he did a Jimmy started picking up on them, explaining these It went 95% without a hitch. One store had the tracks. We also started to do some Fallon performance of the fourth track, ‘8 murals had appeared and were related to accidentally put their pre-order live four Facebook and Google retargeting. We (Circle)’, to come from the album. That was Bon Iver. People were starting to suspect hours early and someone on Twitter picked had a series of ads running from then on the only track we didn’t put on streaming something big was happening that Friday. up on it. We got it shut down quickly and it through the campaign. services. It just lived as a Jimmy Fallon live didn’t spread too far. We didn’t really go all in at radio with performance. You could watch it anywhere, The live performance as the Our radio plays were lined up for 6 Music those tracks. They were really just our but because it was live audio – and not the trigger for the release of the first in the UK and stations all around the world launch tracks. The big radio push was going album audio – we felt comfortable with it two tracks and the album pre-order for the next morning. to come two weeks later with the song ‘33 just existing as a live TV performance. On the Friday of the festival, the plan was – It baffles me that some online retailers “God”’. We knew that was the thing we were Basically every two weeks, we had a and it went pretty much to plan – that the do not have a manual system to be able really going to hammer at radio. moment. Circumstances dictated that there album title was announced and he went on to turn stuff live and you just have to wait Radio was so desperate to play ‘22 (Over was a limited number of assets we could

12 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNBON IVER use as we didn’t have the artist actively day we launched that track. Then for the doing lots of press and radio sessions. We week of release, we put one lyric video out a made sure stuff was spaced out – and then day for the rest of the tracks on the album. in that final week it was bang, bang, bang So by the end of the week, all the tracks had every day. lyric videos on YouTube . It felt exciting as every day through Murals (phase 2) plus key release week there was something new. underplays in Europe and the US All eyes were on him all week and we were The weekend the album was launched, getting a lot of pick up for all the assets. the murals got updated with the album All our digital ads for the campaign were information. It was a two-stage mural in all about the imagery. We switched the each city. imagery up a bit, but we very rarely changed In the week leading into the album, the text. The text was never hype-y; it was they were in Europe all that week as they nervous about people showing up, but every always just the raw information – his name, were playing at a festival in Berlin at the single one was packed. the album title and the release date. We Funkhaus. The record came out on the Friday. Small never wanted it to feel like we were trying He played a show in Paris on the Sunday bits and pieces were going all day around it. to sell the record. We wanted it to feel like night where he played a couple of songs in a Then it was shows in America for the we were just letting people know the record stripped-down form. rest of the year. He did a 10-night residency was coming – and that felt like a statement That Wednesday, two days before the in New York at various venues of differing in itself. release, we then did an intimate and invite- sizes and differing feels – and it changed the Our policy of making everything available only performance at the Michelberger Hotel shape of the show for each one. at the same time only encouraged word of in Berlin. Media as well as digital services We had announced European tour dates physical is still very strong for Bon Iver. mouth. People felt like they were getting from all over Europe were there. It was for February which was going to be our next We got a lot coverage on Apple everything at the same time. If people feel 300-capacity venue and was the smallest big phase, but sadly he had to cancel the Music and Spotify – including homepage ownership of something, they are more show he did in a long time. tour. Right now we are in a state of flux on takeovers. They were very supportive and likely to jump up and down about it at a fan We wanted to make sure this the campaign. we created a lot of assets for them. Bon level. If fans feel like they are getting stuff was a statement campaign. A Bon Iver is a key artist for those sites. It’s later or second hand from people [they are Iver record does not come around Release week, lyric videos, chart not like we had to force their hands; less enthused]. every year. We wanted it to feel like impact and the role of streaming fortunately, we have a very popular artists It was so exciting. It was a big, global a special event. For us, it was about a big build up to the and they’d be mad not to be supportive. It campaign. :) The evening on the Berlin show, on the album release. It charted at #2 in the UK, was a mutual thing. Bon Iver socials it told everybody to go to which was the highest position he’s ever We wanted to make the most out of their each of the mural sites at a specific time had there. He was against Craig David that services and they wanted to make the most WANT TO FEATURE IN on the following day. So on the Thursday week. There were a lot of other records out out of our artist. They didn’t have any artist BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN? evening, the day prior to the album coming that week, but that was the one that kept us access, but we had a lot of visual assets for Marketing people: do you have a campaign you are working out, we had events at each of the mural off #1. this campaign – like the album cover with all on that you would like to see featured in Behind The Campaign sites. There was a boombox with the album We had a few #1s around the world and the different symbols and we made a lyric in a future edition of sandbox? If so, send a brief synopsis of playing and a limited-edition newspaper of pretty much top 10 everywhere – and top 5 video for every single track. it to Eamonn Forde for consideration and your work (and your all the artwork and symbols connected to in many of them. It was a really successful We put out lyric videos for ‘22 (Over words) could appear here. the record. global campaign. Soon)’ and ‘10 (Death Breast)’ on the day we Email: [email protected] All the events were mobbed. I was a little The streaming numbers were strong, but launched the record and for ‘33 “God”’ on the

13 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017 ABOUTSANDBOX

05–06 Tools TCAT Clients include: Digital marketing services 07–08 Campaigns Shazam, Foo Fighters, Childish Gambino, Shakira 09-13 Behind The Campaign Bon Iver

MAY 24 2017 sandboxMUSIC MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL ERA ISSUE 180 Copyright and Royalties Made Easy BoldSponsored Vision. Brilliant Execution. by Universal Music, Warner Music, Campaign support services: CONTACT Copyright and Royalties Made Easy Copyright and Royalties Copyright and Royalties Made Easy Made Easy , Spotify, Deezer, • Strategy Ignition, Beggars, Modest, Red Bull, • CRM and Email tools Studio 11, Holborn Studios 49-50 Eagle Wharf Rd WHATSAPP, Shazam, Domino and more • Digital housekeeping DOC? • Social networking updates London N1 7ED MARKETING WITH • Search and online advertising MESSAGING APPS If you have a digital campaign +44 (0)20 7250 3637 • Mobile applications ☎ related story for sandbox, • Blogs and online PR outreach www.MusicAlly.com please contact Eamonn Forde on Published by music:)ally. • Measuring campaign [email protected] [email protected] effectiveness music:)ally is a music business If you’d like to talk to us about our Registered company number: information and strategy company. Contact Wesley T. A’Harrah on 04525243 digital marketing/mentoring [email protected] or We focus on the change taking training services, consultancy or +44 (0)20 7250 3637 to discuss VAT number: 858212321 place in the industry and provide specific research services, please your digital marketing needs. © Music Ally Ltd. For the purposes of information and insight into every contact Wesley T. A’Harrah on [email protected] personal, private use the subscriber may aspect of the business: consumer Training services: print this publication or move it to a research analysing the changing • In house company mentoring storage medium; however, this publication behaviour and trends in the If you’d like to subscribe, add • Workshops is intended for subscribers only and as new subscribers, or talk about • Digital briefings such may not be redistributed without industry, consultancy services to permission. companies ranging from blue chip a corporate deal please contact • Digital MOT sessions retailers and telecoms companies Anthony Churchman on Subscribers agree to terms and conditions music ally to start-ups; and training around [email protected] music:)ally has delivered digital set up on the :) website, marketing training sessions for except where a separate contract takes methods to digitally market precedence. music:)ally has taken all your artists and maximise the a wide range of clients including reasonable endeavours to ensure the effectiveness of digital campaigns Universal Music, EMI, AIM/London validity of all items reported within this document. as well as events. Connected and many individuals We do not assume, and hereby disclaim, We are now also offering digital Check out music:)ally’s training any liability for loss or damage caused marketing services to labels, artist opportunities here by errors or omissions. In particular the content is not intended to be relied upon managers, artists and other music in making (or refraining from making) related companies from campaign Contact Anthony Churchman on investments or other decisions. We cannot advice and strategy through to [email protected] or be held responsible for the contents of any implementation and execution. +44 (0)20 7250 3637 to discuss linked sites. your training needs

14 | sandbox | ISSUE 180 | 24.05.2017