Marketing directly to the fans

Saw this and thought it'd be interesting to share with the folks here:
http://www.metafilter.com/77652/The-Coraline-Boxes

The makers of the soon to be released movie Coraline put together 50 unique boxes that were mailed to 50 different bloggers. Each box contained items that were used in the making of the movie along with letters and photographs. So far, 22 of those bloggers have posted about the contents of the box they received.

Is that targeted promotion or what? Excellent way to generate interest in the movie, I think.

It is pretty clever.

When WBNO was released (actually, it was prior to the release) Surfdog and BSO did something similar with the whole WBNO My Space team competitions. There were some pretty good prizes as incentive to "win" the competitions, and it was fun to be a part of it. Looking back on it though, we were definitely all "used" to get the word out.

I wonder if anything like this will be done in the future for other BSO releases?

Take care,
Hrg

edited to add: I did not mind being "used" to spread the word about the album, not one bit. It was a great time to be a fan, to be a part of the community. I loved feeling special and being able to hear WBNO before it was even released. I loved being able to write a winning review, and I definitely loved my special packages that arrived from Surfdog.

So please don't take my short post above as a complaint, it's not, by any means or stretch of the imagination.

(I think the flu medicine is kicking in...time to get off the computer before I say something I'll regret in the morning)

It's an interesting marketing strategy. I was pretty impressed with the grass-roots MySpace efforts surrounding the promotion of WBNO. I love finding out about and being able to listen to tracks from Brian's upcoming releases in advance. But I suppose it's a double-edged sword in this online, bulletin board, "everyone's entitled to my opinion" world.

In the case of Ignition, Brian allowing the November 2000 shows at the Belly Up and Coach House to be recorded and circulated by fans was a brilliant and unintentionally shrewd marketing move. It helped build the excitement for the June 2001 release of Brian's first non-BSO recording since 1993. The music was incredible, and it was easy to get excited about the release. The high-caliber musicianship of Bernie and Mark Dubya Winchester, along with Brian's added skill since the Stray Cats days made Ignition a strong release - maybe the best of his career.

I don't have any idea what the sales figures were for Ignition, so I don't know if this sort of "Target Marketing" was merely preaching to the choir, or if it helped bring new fans to Brian Setzer's music. It definitely deserved to enjoy the success of The Dirty Boogie, but it was not to be.

Even though we didn't get to hear advance tracks from Rockabilly Riot, the official site whetted the appetite of the fans by providing photos, recording details, and track listings during the making of the album. Setzer fans were certainly thrilled at the idea of a straight-ahead rockabilly album packed with 23 rockin' tracks. But again, it seems the hype was aimed at people who were already going to buy the album. I don't have exact sales figures, but it seems us fans merely talked the album up amongst ourselves and did very little to hype the album to others who have never visited BrianSetzer.com.

So the MySpace marketing approach with Wolfgang's Big Night Out was an innovative way to get the word out beyond the die-hards. Sure, the fans were excited about being able to be a "street team" of sorts for Brian. And the contests and prizes were a very nice thank you for those who were participating in the campaign. Definitely an example where the fans were treated well. They may have been "used" to an extent, but I think everyone who participated had a good time.

I do think an album like Wolfgang, which took a risk by going more "old school" on the Big Band tracks, also took a chance by previewing the album, and opened itself up to a lot of criticism from the "really rockabillies" and those who were hoping for a more rockin' album a la Guitar Slinger. For some of us, hearing the tracks in advance only increased our enthusiasm for the album. Others, who only gave it a passing listen, or decided to trash it before buying it and giving it a few listens, may have hurt sales. Shoot, some of the negative people were trashing it without hearing a note, merely scoffing at the concept of classical works redone in a big band format.

Having said that, I think the MySpace marketing efforts still were a tremendous help in an ever-changing, increasingly fickle marketplace where music consumers have so many choices, and such easy access to those choices, that they develop an incredibly short attention span. I'd hate to think where the album sales would have been without it. Remember, the TV writers were on strike, so the late-night talk shows were airing re-runs, which was devastating to the exposure of this album. Brian usually has 4-5 TV appearances around the holidays, and there was only one last year for Wolfie.

I can't imagine how difficult it must be to market a musician that isn't the latest Taylor Swift wannabe or Coldplay clone. I only hope that if the opportunity presents itself to be involved with promoting an artist whose music moves you, that you do what you can to go beyond "preaching to the converted" in getting the word out.

Can you tell it's a slow day at work?

Slackerbilly

I really loved that whole era in Setzerdom - I just had to order a new copy of Ignition, as a matter of fact! I think it is one of my favorites. It's fun and just totally rocks throughout. And "Dreamsville...." oh, the doo-wop!

It's a "dude" thing, you just wouldn't understand!