05-06 Tools Audience Republic 07-08 Campaigns Emma McGann, Lauv, Lewis Capaldi/YouTube, Kesha 09-13 Behind The Campaign- Naezy

MARCH 18 2020 sandbox ISSUE 248 | Music marketing for the digital era

PERSONAL SERVICES Music marketing makes it all about you COVERFEATURE ith so many social media Marketing used to be based around demographic categories or social archetypes, but the more bubbles built on self- marketers and digital platforms know about you, the more personalised they can become in terms W obsession, it comes as little of both messaging and products. There are enormous opportunities here but also a growing need surprise that personalisation is one of the biggest buzzwords in marketing. According to tread carefully around just how deep and tailored marketing can go. From recommendations to recent research from Infosys, 74% of and mixtapes to merchandise and location, we look at how to do the personal properly. customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalised, while 59% of customers say that personalisation influences their shopping decisions. As consumers, our data has rarely been so easily given away and so widely reflected back on us. Music, meanwhile, has a long and varied history of personalisation. For a while, getting birthday emails (based on supplying your DOB when signing up to mailing lists) from acts was in vogue, while Spotify has long been big on personalisation with its Wrapped initiative and assorted recommendation playlists like Release Radar and Discovery Weekly. PERSONAL SERVICES Music marketing makes Alex Underwood, VP and head of it all about you global strategic partnerships & verticals at Spotify, even wrote an article called What can brand marketers learn from Spotify’s approach to personalisation? for Admap in November 2018, in which he explained, “Personalisation should be a trigger to inspire positive emotional resonance and reaction.” Fernando Delgado, marketing director

1 | sandbox ISSUE 248 18.03.2020 COVERFEATURE for PIAS Ibero América, says that personalised marketing helps consumers to feel that they are special and that they belong. “Nike started offering to design your sneakers and you could even put your kid’s name on them,” he says. “Perhaps it seems obvious, but in these social times we all aim to feel different even by taking part in a whole game. Marketing that tells you, ‘We director of Modern English , a Manchester Personally thought you might like this,’ makes the click creative agency that has been responsible speaking easier and quicker.” for a number of personalised campaigns Personalisation for the music industry, says that the sits particularly well with music for the One of the most intriguing examples of this Generation Me Me Me current generation is Generation Me (an very obvious reason that your favourite came in 2018 when Secretly Group created Clearly, technological advances have accelerated and hyper-connected version supermarket can’t hold a candle to your the AirKhruang website (in collaboration played a huge role in the growth of the 1970s that saw Tom Wolfe term it musical crush. A Harry Styles website with Spotify) around the release of of personalisation by enabling and the Me Decade). that sends visitors personalised messages Khruangbin’s second album, Con Todo El encouraging ever-more intimate online “People like to share things that show purporting to be from Harry himself when Mundo. It allowed users to “book a Spotify connections. Our data is the oxygen of digital them having some sort of affiliation they type in their name (part of a teaser playlist curated by Khruangbin for any platforms and – for all of the rising concerns or being a fan of the artist,” he adds. campaign preceding the release of Styles’ trip around the world” by entering details over privacy – we still tend to hand it over “Effectively that generates shares because second solo album, Fine Line) is likely to such as their destination and seating with minimal fuss. Complex algorithms, it is personalised content that they want have far greater impact than a personalised preferences. meanwhile, are able to process this data to share to all their other friends. And that Sainsbury’s campaign. “What was great about this feature in a way that is useful to both parties, content effectively drives other people With this advantage comes greater was that it very quickly explained who gleefully spitting out recommendations back to the app or the website where you responsibility. Personalised marketing and personalised advice. can sell the tracks and all the rest of it.” is already a risky business – insensitive or “In line with the power of the data we Mandar Thakur, COO of Times Music, aggressive personalisation can be hugely now have, I really feel that unique and believes that personalisation is about negative for brands – but this goes double personalised experiences are going to be relevance and personal expression. when the messaging purports to come directly essential to marketing in the 2020s,” Karen “Relevance comes with what’s relevant to from an artist. The Harry Styles website, Lieberman, VP of sales and digital at Disney your personality and desire at that point in for example, sent one freelance writer Music Group, told Music Ally in late 2019. time,” he explains. “Music [in today’s world] for Creative Bloq a message that read, “From streaming platforms to advertising is not always the soundtrack to people’s “You’re a bit needy, but it’s OK.” That could, to fan experiences, this will be key.” entire lives as it once was; it has become potentially, have done damage in the wrong The rise of social media, with its the soundtrack to their micro-moments. circumstances. emphasis on peacocking the personal, has That necessitates a changing preference to Much personalisation in the music also helped. Andrew Hirst, founder and how you consume music.” marketing world revolves around playlists.

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Khruangbin are, the music that influences a metronome, delivering a bespoke playlist them, the idea of global travel and the fact based on the tempo of their movement. that they do these DJ sets – but it is also just a great utility,” Robby Morris, creative Location, location, location director at Secretly Group, told Music Location is another key factor in Ally at the time. “You don’t have to know personalisation. One of the standout who Khruangbin are to engage with this early examples of this was Arcade Fire’s application. That is what made it extra interactive video for ‘The Suburbs’ in 2010, special to us. Now we are seeing people which used satellite images from Google who have found the site and are using it Maps to create personalised musical clips who aren’t super familiar with the band or with the user’s address as the centrepiece, who discovered the band because of this a hugely impressive initiative at the time utility.” thanks to the novelty of Google Street Playlist initiatives can drive serious results. View and the fact that the viewer was Modern English’s Foo Fighters Mixtape inserted into the video’s actual narrative. site, which builds personalised playlists Location marketing can also work based on the user’s “vibe”, was responsible well around events: in 2017 Universal for 4m streams in the first week of launch, 50th anniversary, Horizon T-shirts based Catalogue and Apple Corps celebrated while a personalised Christmas playlist allowing fans to on their listening #SgtPepperDay by creating the initiative that the same agency created for generate their own histories. #LetsPlayPepper map, which allowed fans Sony Music globally was part of a campaign Zeppelin logo. Outside of music, to plot their location when listening to The that generated 85m streams in its first two Sometimes Coca-Cola’s Share A Beatles’ iconic album and filter by track or weeks. these initiatives Coke campaign, which by country. “[The Foo Fighters Mixtape] was used don’t even originate put a range of popular In this way location marketing – to effectively launch the Concrete & Gold from the artist. first names onto Coke sometimes called geo-targeted marketing [album] campaign,” says Hirst. “It re- In 2016, media bottles and cans in the and which delivers messages to marketers engaged fans who hadn’t seen anything for production company and art collective The 2010s, was a huge success, responsible for based on their proximity to locations – can 15 months.” Modern English also created a Young Astronauts created a website that a 2% lift in the US that turned around years be considered a cousin to personalised “back door” through Spotify that allowed allowed users to insert images of a small, of declining sales. marketing. Landmrk has been one of the them to add instant grat tracks from sitting Drake figure into their own pictures The point here is that marketers can, leading lights on this in the music industry, Concrete & Gold to users’ personalised in homage to the artwork of the rapper’s and indeed should, look to personalise playlists, teasing out the new album. Views From The Six album cover. campaigns based on a variety of different There is more to personalisation than factors, with the user’s name (which seems just playlists, however. Personalised Putting the “me” in merchandise to have become something of a default) graphics that use bands’ iconic logos have Merchandise can also come personalised, just one possibility among many. also become popular. Metallica were a with the advent of print-on-demand In 2018, Modern English launched the pioneer of this with 2016’s Metallica technology allowing fans to add their #DuaMoods website to push Dua Lipa Font Generator, which allowed fans names to garments from the likes of that used facial recognition technology to write their names in the iconic Catfish & The Bottlemen, while a 2019 to create a personalised playlist based on Metallica font and share the results initiative from Sony UK’s 4th Floor a user’s photo, while the same company on social media. In 2018, Rhino created Creative division let fans use their Spotify created a campaign for Elle King that a microsite celebrating Led Zeppelin’s profiles to create unique Bring Me The allowed fans to use their mobile device as

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tone or messaging can be, there is a risk of personalisation becoming, for want of a better word, creepy.” Of course, the paradox here is that the more widespread personalised marketing gets, the less personal it seems. “If everything is personalised, is there a chance that, by its very nature, it loses that personal, bespoke touch and just becomes the norm and impersonal?” Lutkin wonders. “Does it maybe lose its potency and particularity?” launching Landmrk For Music in late 2018 which is going to increase your streams utilising every piece of customer data Where is the value? that allowed music marketers to place digital and album sales.” available, brands should focus on showing Nevertheless, Hirst is convinced that content at real-world locations, which fans customers you can help them first, then personalisation is here to stay. “We can then locate using their smartphones. Personalisation has its limits layering in the right balance of data to are going to see a lot more of this,” he Landmrk’s recent Lauv campaign Karen Lieberman says to marketers: boost message relevance, without making says. “I can’t see it slowing down. What gives a good idea of how this works (see “Treat your audience with respect, offer things too personal.” we are doing at the moment is – with a Campaigns this issue). The premise is options for how personal you can get while Brands, obviously, must get permission huge act which will be out later on this that Lauv has hidden clips of his new maintaining their comfort level. Maintain from customers to use their data year – looking at effectively creating a album’s tracks around the world, pinning data integrity and privacy with the utmost (particularly in the light of GDPR) and they personalised journey through a band’s them to specific locations using Landmrk. care so consumers have confidence with should ensure their data lists are up to date history. Whilst you are going through Fans unlock new songs by logging in your relationship. The trust you build will in order that customers aren’t bombarded content, being able to, on the fly, add any of from their current location via Spotify, pay back in dividends as fans will become with inaccurate information. A degree of that content to a personalised thing. So you Apple Music or Facebook and are more loyal as a result of your efforts.” restraint is paramount, too: one birthday are effectively turning a website into an encouraged to share what they find using The list of what marketers shouldn’t do email a year is unlikely to offend; one email Amazon shopping basket experience, but the hashtag #howimfeeling, making this with personalisation is equally important. a week is likely to get on people’s nerves. using Spotify.” a neat combination of personalisation, Overreach and blatant creepiness – like The question of how much is too much is a Ultimately, Lutkin believes that localisation and data capture. the infamous example of a father who tricky equation to balance. personalisation, much like other forms of Modern English CTO Gary Goard says found out his daughter was pregnant when Max Lutkin, senior marketing manager marketing, needs to be relevant and add value. that personalised campaigns should always Target sent her some coupons in 2012 – at Atlantic Records UK, says that getting “If it doesn’t add value then maybe take “keep it simple”. are obviously out. too personal is a real risk “although it another route,” he argues. “There are “People don’t want this long, complex In a recent Gartner survey of 2,500 absolutely depends on what area of fantastic example of where it’s worked journey; they want to be surprised,” he customers, more than half reported that personalisation you’re focussing on”. and been successful, but equally there are explains. “Like the Dua Lipa site, simply they would unsubscribe from a company’s “Regarding data, there’s already such instances where personalisation doesn’t take a selfie and get a playlist – it’s a very communications and 38% would stop doing scepticism surrounding it, particularly create any additional substance. Just simple idea. They get something very quick business altogether with a company if they in a post-GDPR world, but as Spotify because the data exists, it doesn’t always and they are impressed by that.” found their personalisation efforts “creepy.” have proven, show users the benefits mean it should be utilised. It’s possibly Hirst adds, “Make sure it is sticky as “Brands need to be extremely or pros of using their data and they’ll be more relevant to other industries, but there well. If it is a personalised thing, make sure thoughtful in how they personalise their comfortable with it being used. You’re only is a danger of personalisation becoming that it is available to share. Because that content today,” said Martha Mathers, as good as the data you have,” he explains. insincere, intrusive and, in turn, you can end will drive other people back to the site, managing VP at Gartner. “Instead of “Additionally, in the same way that social up breaking the trust of your audience.” :)

4 | sandbox ISSUE 248 18.03.2020 TOOLS Audience Republic

Audience Republic was established in 2016, three years after founder and CEO Jared Kristensen had lost $20k at a low-selling event he had put on. After three more years of organising various events, he realised that he was missing an effective solution that would help sell rewards and send out purchase links to tickets. registrants via your email platform or SMS. Audience Republic claims that this viral The company now has offices in London, pre-sale tool can help in getting up to 450% Los Angeles and Sydney, having worked more registrations and that the collected with over 300 live events – primarily in insights can be used to increase ticket sales the music space, but also with the likes of and attract sponsorship money. e-sports companies. Similarly, artists can also set up At the core of the company’s offering competitions allowing fans to win prizes by are two beliefs that directly translate into When connecting via Spotify, Audience sharing and following. For artists or events the features available on its platform. Republic can capture a fan’s listening that have high-demand shows, ballot These beliefs are that: 1) word of mouth history over the past 90 days, which campaigns work in a similar way to how is the most powerful form of marketing; promoters can use to inform their future pre-sale campaigns do, with top scorers and that 2) owning your data helps drive line-ups while artists can get a better getting guaranteed access to tickets. For more ticket sales. When looking into the understanding of their audience. But the sold-out events, you can create a waiting platform’s backend, you will find two most powerful part in this campaign is that list campaign, with fans being able to work components that are designed to help you fans are incentivised to share the pre-sale their way up the line by earning points. leverage these two beliefs. link or invite their friends to register, which An added benefit is that this will also The campaign element offers four they can get points for. For each share help you in determining the interest in an different campaign types, allowing you on Twitter or Facebook, they will get +5 Republic noting that typically the top additional show based on the number of to reward your top supporters and to points and for each friend that registers score is around 200 points. This can registrations for the waiting list campaign. capture data on them. The four campaign using their link, fans will get +10 points. achieve a viral effect for your ticket pre- You can then bring the data you collect types are: Pre-sale; Ballot; Competition; On top of that, fans can get extra sale and you can, of course, further support from all of these campaigns plus data and Waiting List. points for liking, following or subscribing this by promoting the registration link from various platforms into the Audience When launching a pre-sale campaign across the following platforms: Facebook, across your usual promotional channels Manager, which is the software platform with Audience Republic, artists and Messenger, Instagram, YouTube, Spotify and with paid ads. component of Audience Republic. promoters are responsible for driving (playlists, artists and tracks) and Snapchat, Once the registration phase has Under the audience tab, you can find traffic to a landing page where fans can with +5 points for each action. ended, you can download a CSV file of all anyone who has engaged with one of your register for pre-sale access by connecting You can then reward your top registrations from the campaign. After campaigns, is subscribed to your email their Spotify account or providing their supporters with things like cheaper tickets, having ensured your ticketing is set up with database or has bought tickets. There’s a email address. free tickets or other prizes, with Audience your ticket provider, you can then allocate direct integration with Eventbrite and you’ll

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four events. The customer profiles will also make your advertising more efficient. give you insights into what kinds of tickets Audience Republic offers three a fan buys and what the most popular different plans, with the option of bolting times are for people to buy tickets, which on further features: the Basic plan starts you can then integrate into your social and at $588 a year for up to 10k contacts and advertising strategy. limited capabilities; the Pro plan starts at Audience Republic also has an $1,188 for up to 10k contacts; and the Plus integration with Facebook Custom tier starts at $1,958 for up to 10k contacts Audiences, meaning that you will be able to and the most advanced features. retarget those people who have previously You can choose to add-on options bought tickets or engaged with any of your such as the Campaign feature, starting campaigns via Facebook’s Ad Platform. You from $1,000 (price on application), Email can also exclude people who have already Marketing for $770 a year for up to 10k purchased a ticket. contacts and directly messaging your This is something that Music Ally sees audience through Facebook Messenger for as one of the most powerful features $999 a year per Facebook page. here. If your ticket provider doesn’t allow When comparing Audience Republic you to install third-party cookies, like to other solutions in the market, ToneDen the Facebook pixel, on your ticketing comes to mind as a parallel service in site, Audience Republic allows you to terms of the viral contest features and its understand who has bought tickets to Facebook Messenger and email messaging also be able to upload data from any other the artist’s show in the last two years. With features. However, it has to be noted that ticketing provider. Audience Republic Audience Republic’s messaging integration, ToneDen is much less focused on ticketing then gives you multiple ways to slice and you will be able to directly message this fan and much more focused on automated dice this data to understand demographic with the opt-in being collected though the marketing services. information or find your highest-value various campaigns on the platform. Veeps is another company that shares customers. When drafting emails, Audience some features with Audience Republic, By looking into which fans attended Republic offers an email drag and drop such as being able to super-segment the most events, you will find your most builder which the company states is customers and directly message them – but loyal customers. Jackie Rebrovic, Director comparable to Mailchimp. Kristensen says, without the various campaign options that of Demand Generation at Audience “One of our newest features is our email Audience Republic offers. Republic, notes, “This is a really powerful marketing and messaging platform. It’s All in all, for those who have a strong live thing – to recognise these most loyal designed specifically for event promoters presence, Audience Republic feels like a very customers and be able to continually and allows you to send messages across powerful tool to sell tickets and ensure that reward them by giving early access or free email, SMS and Facebook Messenger – all you’re building an audience on the back of tickets to shows and have that ongoing from a single platform. We’ve got some that with crucial insights into said audience. relationship with them.” super-powerful targeting capabilities.” The company started off in Australia You will also be able to identify your top Examples include: ticket buyers who and New Zealand (working with many ambassadors and influencers who are able purchased last year, but not this year; festivals and promoters there). In terms of to sell tickets for you. By applying filters people who registered for pre-sale access expansion, Kristensen says, “Our focus is to in a smart way, you can also look into who but who didn’t purchase tickets; and your do the same across North America, the UK has spent, for example, $500 on tickets for most loyal fans who have attended at least and Europe this year.” :)

6 | sandbox ISSUE 248 18.03.2020 The latest projects from the digital marketing arena CAMPAIGNS IF ANYONE CAN, MCGANN CAN: SINGER CREATES VIRTUAL TOUR PASS LAUV ‘MRK: SINGER CREATES SONG SEARCH ON LANDMRK

Singer-songwriter the top, 500 will they launched the whereislauv. Emma McGann is get you a weekend com site which, when viewed planning a 20-date US in the studio as on a mobile browser, re-directs tour and is offering she records an to a map based on your location fans the chance to original song for showing nearby hotspots where follow it even if they you. content can be unlocked. physically can’t be You can Users can log in via Spotify, there. also buy a pass Apple Music or Facebook (although as a gift to a there is a ‘skip’ option) and then It costs £20 and member of the zoom in on their location (if they is valid for three fan Community have location settings turned on, months – and you Pot that will of course). The exclusive content get a lot for that. On be awarded at can be audio, video or an image top of being able random. This is depending on the location. to live stream her a nice touch to The closest spot to where shows, you get your make fans feel Music Ally was when testing it name added to her part of a genuine delivered a six-second clip of guitar case, a tree community by We last covered Lauv with the song ‘Canada’ (the full album planted (to offset letting others who the release of the web game after release was available in an carbon emissions), a might be strapped Billy Meets World (similar embedded Spotify player), a three- handwritten postcard for cash join in. to the infuriatingly difficult minute clip of spoof documentary from the tour, access At the time Flappy Bird game) that was The One Man Boyband and a lovely to a collaborative road trip playlist, wallpaper of writing, it is unclear if the tour will still go based around the visuals photo of Lauv sitting at a tiny table artwork from every city on the tour ahead due to coronavirus. We can only hope from his ‘Drugs & The with a rainbow-coloured teddy bear. merchandise discounts and a “roadie” role (i.e. it does (or is only postponed slightly) as this is Internet’ video. The build up There was also the option to take access to chat from the tour). one of the most interesting things we have ever to his AWAL-released ~how a selfie that was pushed through a Where it gets really interesting is in the seen an artist do around live music. Given she i’m feeling~ album looks Lauv filter that put our face in a nice gifting of passes, with increasing rewards already built her following on live-streaming instead to location-based rainbow frame with a picture of Lauv (beyond the standard pass perks) the more app YouNow and was early in developing a ‘skill’ hunts rather than to short- in the corner waving. passes you gift friends. For example, buying for Alexa, she has an incredible understanding lived memes. Fans could then share what five passes will get you a tour pass lanyard, of both digital opportunities and community. they found using #howimfeeling.” 25 will get you a video call from the tour, for Something like this, which brings everything Lauv and AWAL are following in the digital It’s a neat activation that helped build 100 you can get Emma to make a recording of together in a really creative way, is setting footsteps of acts like Ariana Grande, Louis anticipation among fans just as the album a cover version of your choosing, 250 will see a new benchmark for how acts think about Tomlinson and CNCO by working with was about to come out – plus it worked her write an original song for you and, right at touring and online marketing. location-based marketing service Landmrk. well in terms of data capture for direct Ahead of the album’s release on 6th March, marketing as the album campaign rolls out.

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The latest projects from the digital marketing arena CAMPAIGNS SMASHA: WRECK A ROOM (VIRTUALLY) WITH KESHA HAPPY BIRTHDAY TUBEYOU: VIDEO PLATFORM’S BIRTHDAY COVER CHALLENGE

‘Setting Sun’ by Chemical Brothers featuring We have heard of account, a message Noel Gallagher was top of the charts when he “follow to unlock” from Sony Music entered the world. campaigns many Entertainment says A full-on and clattering rave rewrite times, but never that by agreeing of ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ (with Noel “smash to unlock”. to the terms, it Gallagher declaring, “You’re the devil in me I No doubt inspired will be able to do brought in from the cold…”) is not what one by tales of rock band lots of things with might expect from Lewis Capaldi – and that is excess in the 1970s your details. These the appeal. where hotel suites were detonated and include viewing your Spotify account Pop stars doing “Lewis discovers the song he was born to defenestrated, Kesha is encouraging fans data (including email address, your public “unexpected” sing,” says the text below the teaser video on to wreck her room. playlists, what you have recently played, covers is a tried YouTube. “Follow him through the process what music is saved in your Library and and tested of fashioning his own unique version of his It is, of course, not a real room (that your top artists). It will also be able to formula. It has birthday song and learn about how he became would be hugely impractical and highly control Spotify on your devices, change been a fixture on Radio 1’s Live Lounge in the person he is today: a lyricist, a singer, expensive). For the Blessed Mess game the picture on your profile, add or remove the UK for many years while Triple J’s Like A a performer, a jokester and natural-born (tag line: “You can’t get to heaven without items from your Library, manage who Version in Australia dates back to the early attention seeker – a story told by the people raising a little hell darlin’”), fans connect to you follow on Spotify and create/edit/ 2000s. Since the rise of YouTube, these clips closest to him.” their Spotify account, smash things up (by follow public and private playlists. (It can, have been able to spread globally and take on Luke Hyams, YouTube’s head of originals in using their mouse to point at things in the of course, be removed by going into your a life of their own. Europe told Deadline there was an “incredible room, throw objects at them and then get account settings.) appetite” for Capaldi on the video platform rewarded with exclusive content as the After we played the game, we found that It was only a matter of time before YouTube and says it is a testing of the water. If it is a song ‘Tonight’ plays in the background). we had her Blessed Mess and Best of Kesha itself got in on the action for YouTube success, others will be commissioned. The content includes images as well as playlists automatically added to our library Originals; but arriving late to the party means There is added poignancy here as short videos from Kesha. When Music Ally and we were also following her official it has to add a whole new twist. The twist in Gallagher has been highly critical of Capaldi, played, we managed to smash up 40% of account. We understand the importance question is that it is asking pop stars to cover calling him both an “idiot” and “Chewbacca”. things, so we got some videos including one of data capture and building follower the song that was number 1 in the We are very much on board for of Kesha telling us, “Bitch, you are blessed,” numbers, but the T&Cs above seem UK charts in the week they were pop stars throwing shade at the and another somewhat heavy born. eternally misanthropic Gallagher featuring seven handed. We are left The first participant on through the medium of his own seconds of the title wondering if listeners Birthday Song (yes, they songs. Let’s hope that’s the track of her High regard getting access have gone with a highly self- theme for a spin-off series as Road album. to the game as worth explanatory title) is Lewis there are a LOT of pop stars Before you fully handing over so much Capaldi who was born on 7th Gallagher has blasted over the connect the website of their account to an October 1996. That means years. Not least his own brother. to your Spotify act and their label.

8 | sandbox ISSUE 248 18.03.2020 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN NAEZY BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNNAEZY

Naezy is a star in India and one of the leading lights of the Indian hip-hop scene. He first came to prominence in 2014 with ‘Aafat!’ (and its video that was made on an iPad) and spearheaded the nascent gully rap scene. He was such a star that a documentary was made about him (2014’s Bombay 70) and this was followed in 2019 with the Gully Boy biopic. GAURAV WADHWA (co- founder and CEO of BGBNG) and RAGHAV MEATTLE (marketing & partnerships at BGBNG) talk about Naezy’s return to making music, how they fit around the behemoth that is Bollywood and how to use cricket and soap operas to infiltrate the Indian mainstream.

Marketing the artist, actors in the video, so not the song people don’t even know GW: When I started [who the singer is]. It BGBNG about a year ago could be 100m-viewed after my stint at Pepsi song or doing 100m [working on marketing on streaming, but it’s for the soft drink brand all attributed to the in India], I realised that actor who’s fronting the music videos on digital video. platforms – and largely It’s bizarre because led by YouTube – is the this entire industry largest category of pop. is essentially built on It’s upwards of 130bn producers, singers and views a year for music lyricists, but they’re not videos. That actually makes it the biggest really getting the value for it – or even the category in terms of digital content credit for it – at that level. consumption, far ahead of number two, We said that while there will be a which is entertainment. The gap is about certain part of our business that operates 28 to 30bn views. a bit like a music label, we saw a larger When we looked at this number, opportunity in creating superstars in music we realised that, while there’s large and doing the 360 around that. That’s the consumption of music mainly led by music basis of what we do. Because we are 360 videos, there are two things missing. and our focus is on building the artists out, One: the narrative of some of these we’re not really marketing the song; we’re videos is pretty regressive. It’s very broad marketing the artists. The song and video themes. We feel a lot more can be done in just become a medium to do that. terms of storytelling through this medium. Two: India does not have a single Filling the gaps Bollywood isn’t superstar in music. We don’t have a GW: Our end goal is for Naezy to own pop Beyoncé or the likes of her in India. culture beyond his song and video – so Most of the singers are singing playback he becomes the equivalent of a Jay-Z or a songs, which means that they’re singing Kanye West, where, if the brand around [in movies] but the songs are fronted by Naezy is big enough, you can expand that

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to things beyond a song in a video. You can views and streaming numbers and are do merchandise, you can do whatever you Gully Boy not really focused on building the artist’s want. brand. What we also started doing when we What we try and do is create disruption were picking our artist roster was that even in the way we market. So for us, it’s we went in with a very strong consumer more exciting to premiere the song at an marketing focus and approach. Hip-hop is IPL stadium [Indian Premier League, the a subculture that is becoming mainstream country’s cricket league] versus premiering [in India] and there’s obviously an it purely on a YouTube channel. Because opportunity for us there. everyone else is doing that, how do you We are looking at gaps in the industry take out the clutter? that Bollywood isn’t fulfilling right now. That is what we did last year when Another gap was that female expression Naezy was coming back. He has had his is underrepresented in Bollywood songs. own narrative where he went away from If you look at the top 10 hits in any month the scene for about a year. He moved away in India, eight are Bollywood songs – and from Mumbai. He went MIA and nobody out of those eight, 90% of the songs are knew where he was. He wanted everything male-focused themes. Even if there is a [in his life] back in a more balanced way. female singer on that song, she’s singing He wanted to be away from the scene. maybe one-fifth or one-sixth of the entire Then he wrote the song [‘Aafat Waapas’], song. We also want to focus on female he came back and we signed him up. The expression. into Tier 2 cities and into rural areas In our ethos, we are not Bollywood. song literally talks about that. It’s like a Our approach isn’t really building a because that’s how the digital distribution Creatively we try and create a sound that’s comeback song, almost. catalogue, but is instead about building of content is in India today. non-Bollywood. Visually, we try and do pillars within the music space that cater Because their distribution is so deep, videos which are non-Bollywood. Our RM: ‘Aafat Waapas’ basically means “I’m to different audiences so that, collectively, the quality of their content – or rather the narratives are more driven by the personal back” or “The force is back”. The reason we’re present in pretty much every part of narrative of their content – is something expression of the artists versus what why we named it this is because in January the business. Because our approach to the that will appeal to both urban and rural happens in a Bollywood music video where 2014, Naezy was one of the first people artist business and the music business is [audiences]. It’s very wide in its affinity mix. the story narrative is driven by 360, we end up doing a lot more with the What tends to happen with the theme of the film, which is same artists across live, across brands, independent music is that it’s catering to not very universal and is limited across music collaborations. a very niche audience in comparison to to the duration of the film. You That is the genesis of our business Bollywood. Sometimes it’s very regional; don’t really go back to that song and what we want to do. That context is sometimes it’s very genre-specific. Take beyond that [film]. important to how we market. hip-hop as an example; it is a subculture We relaunched Naezy back in that is about to become mainstream. Naezy March last year. For us, it was Swimming against the tide became even more relevant last year when our GW: What’s also happened is that over a Bollywood film was made about his life. first implementation of this 360 the years with new digital distribution, For the independent to become more marketing approach, which many Bollywood has gone even deeper into mainstream, it almost needs to use music labels in India don’t end India. Earlier, it was more an urban and Bollywood as a crutch in order to give that up doing. That is because they Tier phenomenon. Now it’s gone deeper niche some relevance. are very much driving YouTube

11 | sandbox ISSUE 248 18.03.2020 BEHIND THE CAMPAIGNNAEZY to release a song on an iPad [‘Aafat!’]. He recorded the song and video on an iPad. At that time, there was no concept of Hindi rap, but it is now becoming a revolution in the country. But back in 2014, there was no such scene. That blew up he went viral with it. That’s how his career began through YouTube. When he was coming back after this year-long hiatus, it made sense to name the track ‘Aafat Waapas’ or “The force is back”. That was the idea behind it, but the name of the track was also thought literally eight times the opportunity on through because of the first song that audiences. he ever did [‘Aafat!’], which started a They also have a very large OTT revolution in the hip-hop community. platform similar to Netflix, but catering female audiences and household more to rural and Indian content. We tied Harnessing the power of sport audiences in rural India as well as up with them and we got them to start GW: In line with it being his return to the urban India. promoting the song as well as Naezy across scene, we wanted to put him on a stage Collectively these channels their shows. That was both in terms of the that was big enough. It just so happened have about 60-70m households song playing in some of the episodes as that the IPL, which is like India’s Super that they reach daily through these well as Naezy actually dropping into some Bowl, was around the corner. shows. This is actually still bigger of these episodes as a special guest to drive He also is a very big fan of cricket. In than most digital platforms if you that relevance. fact, he used to play cricket at the state think about it from the monthly That got us access to this entire social level so he has that direct association with active user perspective. media community, which includes actors the sport. We wanted to go beyond digital; from the TV industry. Balaji is also a big We felt this was a great opportunity RM: We also integrated him in a cricket we wanted to take hip-hop beyond the hip- film producer, so they also work with some for us to premiere the song in front of his show called Box Cricket League . hop platforms, the hip-hop media, the hip- of the largest film actors. Collectively, we core audience who hadn’t even seen him in hop journalists, the hip-hop communities. were sitting on a userbase of about 110m more than a year in person. Soaps as the route into the We wanted to make it more about India. users on Instagram and Twitter who were It was a big surprise drop where, on the mainstream About 30 days after Gully Boy was not mainstream hip-hop influencers, who opening match of the Wankhede Stadium GW: In parallel, we wanted to expand the released, we felt it was the right timing were not TikTokers, who were not the in Mumbai, we went live with the song reach of hip-hop, which was very niche. because people were more accepting of conventional digital influencers; but they amongst 10-12,000 fans screaming his We tied up with some very smart media hip-hop as a genre and they were more were traditional TV superstars and film name. partners who were beyond hip-hop. They open to it. We tied up with this bigger superstars sitting on digital platforms We then did a big PR splash saying were more mainstream and were deeper media company called Balaji [Telefilms], who could then push out the song on the that Naezy is back and that he’s dropped in the Indian market. The GEC [General which owns multiple production houses launch day. this badass song. That really drove a lot Entertainment Channels] are basically that make daily soaps across different TV Right after the match was over, for of fanfare and a lot of consumption for the largest-reach mediums on TV. They channels. They actually own eight of the the next 24 hours there was a slew of the song. screen the daily soaps that cater to top 10 daily soaps in the country. So that’s over 1,000 swipe-up stories, tweets and

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Instagram posts, all pushing out our 12,000 people a few days after the IPL ‘Aafat Waapas’, we kept dropping a song promotional material and tagging Naezy match. He played in six or seven music every 45 days until 8th January this year, and the song to create this mega digital festivals and that’s where he started which is when we launched his debut splurge around the song. dropping the track for people to sample it. album [Maghreb] . The approach was digital marketing, We brought in some interesting brands What we’re seeing now as a content but the audience that we were going after who wanted to start working with him. So business is that each of these [DSP] was beyond the niche hip-hop space. while we were creating some content for platforms has its own sweet spot of what That’s how you make it more mainstream the brands in the same period, the brands content works better. and that’s how you get a blockbuster with were also pushing out ‘Aafat Waapas’ on Broadly speaking, Gaana as an app something which is considered very niche. their social media handles – brands like tends to be big on Bollywood and dance, Pepsi, Axe and some of these huge brands it’s building up a lot of regional pop music Radio, DSPs, live and brands who came on board. which is catering more to deeper Tier 2 and GW: We also decided that we would, from We took him to colleges to not just play Tier 3 cities. a distribution standpoint because hip-hop the song but also to talk about his journey JioSaavn tends to operate in a is seen as very niche, push hard on some of and to inspire young people. space where hip-hop is its fastest- the media platforms to get us distribution It’s about connecting with the artist and growing genre. It does big numbers on and sampling. So we were playing on then connecting with the song versus just international music where 20% of its six or seven radio stations which were listening to the song and not really caring streams come from international music. collectively giving us a reach of about 40 to about who the artist is. While it is big on Bollywood, the balance 60 cities beyond the urban metros. We were doing a lot around that between Bollywood and independent is We had the song playing on all narrative. We were building PR articles far more balanced than on some of the streaming platforms. They brought in their around his journey, his comeback, his other apps. own marketing because they were very struggles, his hustle, what the song means Spotify obviously does really well on hip- excited about Naezy’s comeback and the to him and where the hip-hop scene is hop. When we dropped Naezy’s new album, whole segue from Gully Boy. today. while JioSaavn was four times the size, We built a live tour where we started It’s also about growing the category Spotify’s streaming for Naezy’s album was taking him to key consumer events. We versus just growing the artists – because more than on JioSaavn. That tells you that, began with a surprise performance at the it will eventually benefit the artists. It was while JioSaavn is growing on hip-hop, Spotify YouTube FanFest, which itself had about very smart PR, which is a mix of traditional has a more ardent hip-hop base among its users. That is because I think Spotify still has a more premium audience. :) Five learnings • Outside of the enormous centre of gravity that Bollywood has created, marketing the WANT TO FEATURE IN artist rather than marketing the song is key in India. BEHIND THE CAMPAIGN? • Digital is opening up audiences far beyond Tier 1 and Tier 2 cities. Marketing people: do you have a campaign you are working and digital. We got a lot of interest from on that you would like to see featured in Behind The Campaign • Sport (especially cricket) is a massive platform for music. the traditional print media outlets because in a future edition of sandbox? If so, send a brief synopsis of it • Soaps are a hotline to the very heart of the mainstream in India – more so than we were smart in our timing of the release to Eamonn Forde for consideration and your work (and your YouTube. post-Gully Boy. words) could appear here. • The DSPs in India can be best understood in terms of serving specific music genres. We’ve taken that approach for every Email: [email protected] song that we’ve done with him. So after

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