Music Industry Swipe File: September 2018
Social Media Ads by Bruno Mars, Carrie Underwood, and The Night Game
What is this?
What if you could see what the top (or most exciting) artists are doing to promote their albums and tours? Well, thanks to social media and the safeguards against “fake news” on Facebook, we can.
In a response to hundreds (thousands?) of questionable pages promoting articles intended to misinform American voters ahead of the 2016 presidential election, Facebook has made it so that anyone can go to a brand’s Facebook page and see what ads they are running on Facebook and Instagram, and what countries these ads are being displayed in. This applies to any company or brand that has a Facebook business page — including artists and labels.
Previously, we could only view ads that targeted us. Now, we can see everything. So, I’ve committed to screenshotting and recording three campaigns from notable artists and/or labels each month to see what they're doing and break down some of their tactics so that we can all learn from the people that can (supposedly) pay for the best music marketing that money can buy.
This essentially creates a music industry “swipe file” or a collection of advertising examples to be used for reference.
For this first month, we take a look at social media ads for a Bruno Mars single, a 2019 Carrie Underwood tour, and, my favorite, a German micro-site for The Night Game that features some unexpected descriptions.
Bruno Mars, Gucci Mane, & Kodak Black — “Wake Up In The Sky” Single Release
On September 14, 2018, Bruno Mars, Gucci Mane, and Kodak Black released the single “Wake Up In The Sky”. The song reached #30 on the Billboard 100 — a feat assisted by the ads listed below.
Why is this ad interesting? Truthfully, it’s not that unique, but it does reveal what happens when three artists and multiple support parties work together on a release. Particularly when it comes to who is collecting data (hint: it’s everyone).
Creative: The video here is a very understated animation. You can’t tell from this screen capture, but the song was playing behind it. Nothing that you can’t hire someone from Fiverr or Upwork to create for you.
The “Learn More” call to action button directs traffic to a Linkfire pivot page. Here’s Gucci Mane’s version: https://guccimane.lnk.to/WakeUpInTheSkyTA
This is pretty standard. However, what is interesting is how many different parties are collecting data on who goes to this page. Below is a screenshot of some of the different Facebook pixel accounts that are tracking the page:
There are 13 Facebook pixels on this one pivot page. A Facebook pixel is code that monitors who is going to a certain page, what actions they take, and what their Facebook ID is so that they can be tagged and segmented based on their actions.
This page lists several different events — a way to label different actions that people take and create audiences based on visitors triggering these events. Some of these are standard events (“PageView”). “LF” appears to be a custom event to track people that go to a Linkfire pivot page. There are also references to Adobe Audience Manager and Blue Kai; both of which are tools for analyzing data and creating marketing campaigns.
We could also assume that multiple parties are involved in collecting data — each artist, the label, marketing agencies…
When you land on the page (and especially if you click through to any of the links), you will be added to an audience segment that those parties can use to re-target you for future releases, tours, releases, and anything else they can think to promote.
To learn more about how to do this, check out my article: Musicians, here’s how to use your data
And, because this marketing team is very thorough and wants to keep track of you on Google/Youtube, there are also several parties tracking the page with Google Ads and Google Analytics.
The important thing here is that they are not doing anything that any savvy independent artist or label couldn’t do. Every tool and tactic being used here is free or has a inexpensive/accessible alternative.
Carrie Underwood — Pretty Tour
Country superstar Carrie Underwood is getting a major headstart on promotion for her May 2019 tour.
Why is this ad interesting? This ad is a great example of what to do when you’re promoting a tour. Multiple pieces of eye catching creative, geo-targeting, and concise copy.
Creative: Facebook doesn’t allow us to see targeting aside from country, but we can assume these ads are targeting Underwood fans near Fresno, CA. Carrie’s team is running two pieces of creative with the same copy.
The “Buy Tickets” link goes straight to Ticketmaster. Screenshot below.
Unlike the Bruno Mars single, there is only one Facebook pixel tracking traffic on this page. It is likely owned by Ticketmaster. They may make an exception for superstars, but they’re not known for sharing their marketing data. If you make it to this page and don’t buy a ticket, you can nearly definitely expect to be added to a retargeting audience.
The Night Game — Germany Tour
This one is — by far — my favorite ad of the month. The Night Game is Martin Johnson’s new pop project, and well worth checking out. In September, they released their self-titled debut album and went on a European tour.
Why is this ad interesting? Two reasons:
1) Using a microsite for an international audience is a great way to tailor creative and content in a way that will specifically resonate with that audience.
2) The terms used to describe The Night Game’s music to the German crowd would absolutely not fly with their US demographic. I recognize that maybe something gets lost in Google translate, but it is fascinating to see how terms that would be compelling to 15–30 year olds in Germany are the exact terms that would turn off their US counterparts.
Creative: The main ad is a 15 second vertical video featuring clips from different The Night Game videos with German text overlaid.
The copy translates to ‘You dance to 80s sounds and love classic rock!? The Eponymous album “The Night Game” — OUT NOW!’
Maybe referencing 80s music is in right now. But I have never heard someone use “classic rock” to promote a pop album in the US. Regardless of the accuracy of that statement, it’s simply not a phrase that would get the US audience excited about The Night Game.
The Night Game double down on the “classic rock” reference in their German micro-site: https://www.thenightgame.de
Translated from the German microsite:
His beats are funky, his melodies sparkle and the stories come straight from the Strip, Baby: “ The Night Game “ — bourgeois Martin Johnson — reinvents the Classic Rock ! His mix of new wave , rock and modern pop shines in the spirit of legends like Sting and Micheal Jackson , but also Bruno Mars .
This mixture brings “The Night Game “ to the point with the new single “ Bad Girls Do not Cry “. The fast-paced disco beats and cool guitar licks from “Bad Girls Do not Cry” get stuck in the ear canal. Above all, you want one thing: dancing!
“Disco beats” is another phrase I would not expect to hear if this were US-based marketing. I, for one, have learned something new about European marketing today.
That’s it for September! The big takeaway here is that none of these artists are doing anything that an up-and-coming artist or indie label could not do themselves. You can set up a business manager account in Facebook for free and set up pixels and ad campaigns. Facebook also has powerful analytics tools — again, for free.
You can create trackable links using SmartURL, Bitly, Rocketlink, or just send people to your own website where you can install tracking pixels.
The creative style in these ads can be recreated with an iPhone and a photo or video editing app, or you could hire someone on Upwork to make one for $25. A microsite can be set up using Squarespace (~$12 per month).
Thank you for reading! Comment below with your reactions or feedback. I’ll be publishing these once a month. If you catch any interesting music marketing out there, give me a heads up at @DRServantes on Twitter.
Dan Servantes is a marketing consultant at GHStrategic. You can reach him on Twitter (@DRServantes) and via this form.
