Task 2 Evaluation
- 1. Coco Twins
- 2. CD DIGIPAK
- 4. WEBSITE
- 5. IMPORTANCE OF IMAGE • Promotion of music is rarely all about the music. The image of the artist tends to be the main selling point. It is represented through a series of media products like the digipak and music video. • The audience needs a visual image to go with the sound, and that’s where the three main aspects we produced got combined. • Each artist, particularly in the pop genre, produces a campaign alongside the new album/single release, in order for the audience to consume its products in every way.
- 6. LONG TAIL THEORY • Long Tail theory has been introduced by Chris Anderson, the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. • He argues that our culture is shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of ‘hits’ toward a huge number of niches in the tail. This happens due to availability of technology in the online age, making it possible for amateurs to produce high quality products. • Now that the niches are available, people’s needs are satisfied more by certain genres, so consumers lean towards those media products, undermining the significance of hits.
- 7. IMPORTANCE OF GENRE People associate the star image with certain genres. For example, rnb is mostly represented by sexuality of females, heavy metal with long hair and live gigs, and rap with urban style and lyrics about hard life or, on the other hand, luxury lifestyle.
- 8. IMPORTANCE OF GENRE • With our artist we went for a pop genre, which is traditionally represented by suggestive clothes/lyrics, which sexually represent the artist. • This was supported by the music video we’ve done, as a part of campaign. It was conventional in terms of the genre and established a star image of Coco Twins.
- 9. IMPORTANCE OF GENRE • In order to promote the artist successfully, the campaign has to be not only conventional for the genre, but also original, in order to differentiate from competitors. • Therefore, I’ve done an attractive digipak, which arouses interest in consumers and makes them want to buy the CD.
- 10. IMPORTANCE OF A WEBSITE • Websites publicise and promote artists by providing useful information, like biography and tour dates to the fans. • In the online age website is a platform to find links to official accounts of artists in the social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. • Boyd argues that website allow cooption between the fans, which also enables promoting the artist without extra costs.
- 11. WEBSITE PURPOSE Merchandising - posters of an artists or band, sales of T-shirts etc. We chose to put iPhone cases after market research into target audience. We also went for T-Shirts due to fashion tastes of our consumers. Keyring or a mug could also be a good present for a fan. We explored merchandise of Lady Gaga, as she is quite similar to Coco Twins in terms of controversy. She has a number of fashion items, just like we do.
- 12. WEBSITE PURPOSE Biography of the artist provides official information essential for the star image. It also gives new fans an insight into the artist’s life. Richard Dyer’s paradox of star image is supporting the purpose of biography, as it makes the artist ‘ordinary’, according to the story, while still keeps the star extraordinary. The second paradox also works, as the artist appears to be present, as there is information about their life, but still remains absent, as it’s not enough and never will be.
- 13. WEBSITE PURPOSE Gallery provides exclusive photos of the artist, unavailable anywhere else before being posted on the website. We put exclusive photos from the music video shoot.
- 14. ICONIC IMAGES Iconic images have helped artists to retain their popularity and become legendary in some cases. The back of our CD could be considered iconic for the artist due to composition of tracklist (eight shape) and the Yin & Yang idea of the photograph. It is very eye-catching, particularly with a minimalistic front CD cover.
- 15. PRICE To decide upon pricing I researched into similar artists and found out that most of CDs are around £6 (like Lana Del Rey), while older and less popular ones could be £4.99, just like 2007 Pierces album. Therefore, for a new album of a new artist I decided to sell it for £4.99 on Amazon and directly on the website. It is affordable for the primary target audience, yet attractive for secondary target audience.
- 16. PRODUCT In this case the product is the star image created through a number of media products. We communicated a sexual yet mature star image, which was successful, according to the audience feedback we received from the focus group. Besides, the fact that our music video was blocked on YouTube due to its controversy, the star image is reinforced by that, as there has been a lot of talks about the ‘blocked’ music video. Therefore, it’s a form of bad publicity, which is actually successful.
- 17. PROMOTION • • • Promotion for a new artist is a way of getting people to know the new act and purchase it, despite it being new and unknown. Therefore, as a promotion tool we used a music video, which helped establish the brand, in other words a star image. It created controversy due to its suggestive images, which are acceptable, although on the boarder of being too much. This has always attracted people. As an example, we took Miley Cyrus’s Wrecking Ball music video with nudity and suggestive shots. Website also became part of promotion with merchandise available. Social networks did, too. Registering The Coco Twins on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram has been crucial for promotion.
- 18. PLACE The way the product is distributed has been affected by the online age, since a big part of sales are made online. Therefore, the album will be available on iTunes, Amazon, as well as shops like HMV. The music video will be available on YouTube.
- 19. VALS OF TARGET AUDIENCE trendies - crave attention and admiration of their peers groupies - who just want to be accepted cynics - who have to have something to complain about cowboys - who want easy money On the right there’s a number of brands the main target audience would be consumers of. Link to the blog post on target audience
- 20. ASSOCIATION WITH STAR IMAGE Overall, I think that our campaign has been a success and the target audience is likely to associate The Coco Twins with the star image we tried to deliver.