The electronic music producer and DJ “Marshmello” is one of the most unconventional and at the same time most successful artists of our time. As the name implies, Marshmello brands himself with his unique designed Marshmallow helmet. The hype about his person and music started in 2015 and Marshmello differs from the usual EDM, Electro or House artists- He also inspires a generation for his music, which doesn’t have much to do with his genre before his presence.
Especially his ability to adapt to the artists he is working with while creating a homogeneous construct distinguishes him. Because he has used cross-genre and worked with artists like Selena Gomez, Khalid, Migos or Roddy Ricch, he became known relatively quickly in the music industry. His manager Moe Shalizi explained in an interview how Marshmello’s sound developed in combination with this unique brand positioning. It all began with a $5,000 Coachella Billboard ad that inspired festival-goers to explore and find out about this unique fictional character. The annotation of the person behind the music gave fans unprecedented access to dance music. Marshmello gives fans the feeling of being part of the brand, so they can build their own helmets and be proud of wearing it wherever they go. There have been and still are many blogs and articles that puzzle about the identity of the fictional character. Marshmello revolutionized the sound of dance music in a melodic way with the help of Soundcloud at the beginning of his career which brought him the attention of stars within his genre like Skrillex or Diplo.
It feels like every step Marshmello takes works for him and his management around Moe Shalizi to increase the brand awareness of the artist. No matter if it’s own marshmallows in retail or sold out merch — the fans love Marshmello and his products. The partnership with the video game Fortnite created an incredible hype. In this game, Marshmello was integrated as a video game character, so that even 10-year-olds could get access to the brand and have fun interacting with it. Meanwhile, Marshmello is one of the biggest artists in the world and is booked by the biggest nightclubs and festivals — independent, without being bound to big labels.
