The Fame House Marketing Stack
This article is one of a few I contributed to Fame House’s latest white paper: The Fame House Stack. You can download the full white paper for free here.
One of the most crucial elements of our success is our ability to adapt quickly. Whether we’re responding to changing trends in the market or adjusting to shifting client timelines, our ability to change course mid-stream is arguably among our strongest assets.
The reality is that plans are almost never executed as they were originally envisioned — especially in the digital world. The technology-fueled advent of real-time culture means marketers need to always be ready to pivot their strategy on a dime, to act on new trends as they emerge, and to make quick decisions about where we invest resources.
To navigate these dynamics successfully, our team has built up a massive and ever-changing arsenal of tools — our marketing stack — which we leverage to help our clients successfully bring their visions to life. When we need to make a quick call on how to effectively achieve that end, or how best to shift course when the performance isn’t meeting our goals, our marketing stack is our secret weapon.
Time and again, we’ve seen the impact that picking the right tools can have on an artist’s or a project’s success. As our CEO, Mike Fiebach, put it, the medium itself is a part of the story, helping to shape its meaning for fans and the broader media. But what works for one artist today may not work for another — or even the same artist — tomorrow, and it’s our job to help them figure out what will.
We make it our business to stay on top of new and emerging platforms, and we constantly experiment with them. From Snapchat to Huzza (now Kickstarter Live), our clients have always been among the first to use emerging tools to effectively connect with their audiences.
After six years, our team has collectively tested hundreds of tools. See a sampling of our current marketing stack on page 6 of our full white paper here, or in our Product Hunt collection.
When evaluating whether a new tool is worth testing internally or pitching to a client, we look at a few important criteria:
- Does the experience add value for fans? Are we asking them to do something consistent with their existing behavior, or to change it? If the latter, what makes it worth it to them to do so?
- Will it help us reach new fans, or is this a place where the artist’s existing audience is already active? How will it help us strengthen the bond between artist and fan?
- Will fans care, or is this something only other marketers will find interesting?
- Is there a first-mover advantage for our client? Are they able to use it in an innovative way? Will it garner media coverage to help generate awareness for their larger campaign?
- Will this tool help the artist tell their story? Does it add to it, or distract from it? Are we able to tailor the experience and design to our client’s brand?
- What is the specific value for our client? Does it have the potential to actually drive revenue? Will we be able to show our client a clear ROI — whether in actual revenue or valuable assets, like fan data — after the campaign is over?
- Will this tool help our team be more effective, whether by saving them time or giving them access to new insights or capabilities?
The more of the above questions our team can compellingly answer about a new tool, the more likely we are to give it a shot. Not every experiment is successful, but those that are get added to our stack, becoming solutions we’ll go back to time and again for future projects.
As trends have come and gone over the years, we’ve tested and worked with countless others, from Topspin to Google Wildfire to Radian6 to Woobox. No matter which tools we use, we always seek to create amazing experiences for fans that strengthen their connection to the music and artist, and to help our clients reach their business goals.
Our clients who are most successful in digital have two things in common: (1) they are open to trying new things, and (2) they have a clear vision for their brand and what they want to achieve. This combination gives us the freedom to experiment without diluting their brand, as well as a north star to navigate by when making quick decisions about where to invest resources.
Everything comes back to the strength of an artist’s brand — their story — and the emotional connection fans feel to music and the artist. That bond fuels the Artist Cycle, keeping fans engaged year-round to sustain a healthy evergreen business. The right mix of tools is essential to initiate and cultivate that bond.
