What's the best marketing tricks you've seen?

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2001 8:04 am

Some of the best I've seen have included a cross country tour promoted entirely using community access cable and selling autographed singles in advance of selling CDs to the same people. I also know a band who have repeatedly gotten national coverage out of having somebody intentionally file a complaint about an upcoming gig with different local city governments.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 5:28 am

I think the Sex Pistols wrote the book on marketing. I'm not sure if anybody would bat an eyelid at their antics these days though.

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2001 9:00 pm

Can you give some examples?

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 6:36 am

Sid & Johnny's 7 steps to marketing heaven:1) Call an interviewer a 'fucking rotter' on live prime time TV2) develop a healthy smack habit3) smash up hotel rooms and other band members4) mercilessly pick on the bass player and make him leave so you can get your no-talent mate into the band5) Get so wasted that you may or may not have murdered your girlfriend, you just can't remember. 6) Be so obnoxious that one label drops you like a hot potato and another signs you for the publicity.7) Abandon your important, U.S. breaking tour.Somehow I know Fletcher would dig all the above Wink

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2001 8:40 am

I've known folks who have done at least one of EACH of those things but in every case it sunk a promising career rather than launching it.The Sex Pistols were already famous at that point too while I'm really talking about how people BECOME famous in the first place. In every case I've seen, it was something THEY did as opposed to anything a label did or that was bestowed on them by somebody else.

Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2001 9:45 am

2 marketing tips from negativland:1. Issue press release stating that some teenager has just killed his parents with an axe after listening to one of your songs. Then sell a full length LP devoted to the media controversy. (Helter Stupid)2. Sample and lampoon the biggest band in the world that month and instigate the biggest copyright shit fight the world's ever seen. (U2)Note that if you're not careful, #2 can put you out of business faster than Sid.

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 12:37 pm

I just saw a book mentioned that should be VERY interesting.'The PR Strikes Back' by Keith Altham
[ISBN: 1 85782 496 2].NOBODY in the press is going to tell anybody about this one!

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 5:33 pm

A local Austin band was giving an extra cd with every sale of their first batch of their album, so it would be given to a friend who might become a fan. Interesting ploy, sounded like an interesting band but I never heard them and can't recall the name. I'd think this might need tricking out to guarante profitability. EP companion disc, maybe? The EP would have to be the come on to encourage the full sale, and you'd hope the EP's keep spreading to new audience. Another idea I'd file under "needs further study".Bear

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 5:56 pm

Another trick is offering a show pass to people who return a registration card in the CD package. I've heard of people using carefully targeted mailings to make once a week gigs look like four times a year gigs to many of their fans. The challange is making each gig as unique as possible to each fan. The second fans feel like they can skip a gig without missing anything, they'll frequently find a reason to skip most of them. It's called "overexposure" and it's the most common mistake I've seen people make.

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

I'm not sure of this one, maybe one of the members can verify it lol!Years ago I heard (before anyone knew who they were), that KISS advertised in community papers reading "KISS is coming!" No one knew them but they created curiousity by doing this. When they set up the PA it was surrounded with empty cabinets lol! stacked sky high to impress the hell out of everyone. The whole thing was hype and image. Look at them now! They did what it took to get noticed and their talent took them the rest of the way.10 % talent and the rest is hard work. Is this close?

Posted: Thu Oct 18, 2001 10:13 pm

I think the job is always the same. Talent makes it a bit easier for some folks but it also allows some to coast and fail because they never HAD to do the work just to survive.

RO Admin Joined: Mar 20, 2000 Posts: 4262 Location: Canada

I once had the opportunity to give Katie Lang a ride home from a club. I had an old (mint) 61 Chrysler Imperial and she liked it. In our most interesting conversations she told me she loved looking up at the sky to attract a crowd.A few years later I played a few rooms she did. She started doing the reincarnation thing and it definitely worked.She is soooooo awesome but, it's all about creating a buzz.

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