MERCHANDISE pinball wizard swimming shorts

There are some really strange merch ideas out there, not least from metal acts...

PROMO PACKAGE Slayer digipak, vinyl, figurine + promo videos

I mention beer as a great example of merch below - you can buy both Slayer and Iron Maiden beer in Luxembourg (Auchan), and Motorhead, plus some other branded wine/spirits if I recall correctly. That this is now a common strategy, especially in heavy metal, can be seen from a simple google ('heavy metal beer'). See this Pinterest for a gallery (pic, right comes from it):

A salutary lesson - I'd tapped out a lengthy post on a smartphone using the Android app ... only to see every word blink and disappear (possibly because the broadband connection flicked off). If using this very useful tool, its worth saving a few times to avoid the risk of this...

NB: As the article link contains a filter-unfriendly term, its below the read more line; the videos featured in the article contain uncensored strong language.  

Multi-editionalising has become the norm, certainly for rock/Indie acts

Here's a new example of a converged, web 2.0 promo package featuring a digipak, vinyl and download options, a range of videos/vodcasts, and even an expensive, limited edition figurine (which clearly anchors the core target audience as being male, and a significant chunk of this being older males, more likely to be able to afford such items!).

The Metal Eagle Edition of Repentless is also available. Made of aluminum alloy, measuring 15” X 17” X 3” and weighing in at a hefty 7.8 pounds, the Metal Eagle Edition will house a deluxe digipak of the new Repentless CD plus bonus material detailed below. The limited (only 3,000 copies worldwide) and numbered Metal Eagle Edition will be a direct-to-consumer item and available exclusively via the Nuclear Blast mailorder online stores.

You really should take note of this - regardless of how simple your brief might be, your ads should reflect not just a digipak but the wider range of options we expect to see today, and you could usefully (and very simply) spin off digipak designs into vinyl editions - after all, the digipak is in large part mimicking vinyl sleeves.

Thrash metal icons Slayer are signed to an Indie label, Nuclear Blast, who astutely exploit the potential of online tools to engage with the existing fanbase and target a new audience for their acts.

ALT VIDEOS Tendencies to tout tour tickets

I've blogged on alternative, secondary music video formats before: the one-take, single shot video; the lyric video; the album trailer; the special edition or merchandise unwrapping.

To this list, one worth pondering for an additional quickfire production that will help to drive website and social media content and engagement, add the tour date video (with website plugging included too).

The example is from 80s crossover (punk/thrash) legends Suicidal Tendencies. The video, spotted from a browse of the TeamRock site, a rich source for spotting evolving marketing strategies, includes several features:

• performance footage
• album art and website splash page, with plugs for both
• like the most basic lyric videos, the main content is a vertically scrolling list of tour dates, white font on a black background
• the audio consists of a snippet from a new album track, NOT the full track
• The unpolished look is further evidence of how artists have incorporated audience approaches (fan-made videos) into their own playbooks. Even the mighty Metallica have dropped an unwrapping video, a hugely popular format that may have had pop origins but is now seen from audiences and artists across the age and genre spectrum.

I'll add to this more insight gleaned from the TeamRock site (an e-zine side to a stable of print magazines such as Classic Rock); Iron Maiden providing another example of how acts monetise themselves in an era of low record sales:

Iron Maiden Fan Club members will be given access to an exclusive pre-sale, with information available via the official website.A Trooper VIP upgrade package will also be available, giving fans early access to the venue, exclusive goodies as well as food and Trooper beer. VIP tickets cost £140 and gig tickets will need to be bought separately. [LouderSound]

Artists variously charge for photos with fans, sometimes as part of a VIP backstage package, have licensed drinks, offer exclusives to fan club or registered website members (often charging a subscription fee).

...Maiden are a great example of a long-running act who skilfully use traditional and social media, and diverse merchandising, to successfully monetise their art and brand. Here's another example from them...the thankyou to fans, a natural example of direct address made possible by online media.

...

[recent update:]

I mention beer as a great example of merch - you can buy both Slayer and Iron Maiden beer in Luxembourg (Auchan), and Motorhead, plus some other branded wine/spirits if I recall correctly. That this is now a common strategy, especially in heavy metal, can be seen from a simple google ('heavy metal beer'). See this Pinterest for a gallery (pic, right comes from it):

MERCHANDISING Whiskey in the jar - branded booze

(yes, a wee Thin Lizzy intertextual ref there...)


Here's yet more, including Indie rockers Shed 7: 
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/iron-maiden-queen-madness-make-13639252.amp#referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From%20%251%24s

 frequently raise the point that digitization has meant that artists and record labels alike have sought to monetize other areas, and booze is a prime example of how wide this move into branded merchandising is. Take the example of Iron Maiden - they don't just sell one branded beer ... they have a whole website dedicated to their beer line! Smart branding.

See IronMaidenbeer.com.

There is an age check:


See TeamRock article for lots of other examples (and a nice Megadeth intertextual ref).

(and here's a further update:)

I mention beer as a great example of merch - you can buy both Slayer and Iron Maiden beer in Luxembourg (Auchan), and Motorhead, plus some other branded wine/spirits if I recall correctly. That this is now a common strategy, especially in heavy metal, can be seen from a simple google ('heavy metal beer'). See this Pinterest for a gallery (pic, right comes from it):

PopUp site: Alice takes Whitehouse pill

The site IronMaidenbeer.com shows one side of the diversifying approach of artists in the digital era - here's another, the mock election campaign of Alice Cooper (Wiki):

Visit site.

Such satire works as smart branding and PR for an artist that released his first album back in 1969 - fans will be familiar with his song Elected, but there is enough here to encourage wide (viral) spreading of the link or just the main poster with the manifesto - including a younger demographic than his primary fanbase.

See LoudWire.

(and here's a new note on the merch issue:)

I mention beer as a great example of merch below - you can buy both Slayer and Iron Maiden beer in Luxembourg (Auchan), and Motorhead, plus some other branded wine/spirits if I recall correctly. That this is now a common strategy, especially in heavy metal, can be seen from a simple google ('heavy metal beer').See this Pinterest for a gallery (pic, right comes from it):

Kronenberg lager rapped for viral promo

This is as useful for the exam topic of Media Regulation - you could be reading up about the ongoing, intensifying scandal over phone hacking right now! - as Music Vids...

NB: The article cites a notorious song title that contains a swear word. (That very notoriety is part of the appeal to a drinks brand that appeared to be trying to circumvent legal restrictions on marketing alcohol to young people with this campaign)

Had any of you come across this marketing campaign - or perhaps the music without realising it was a subtle ad campaign?
Article link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/05/heineken-campaign-banned-binge-drinking

Dead Kennedys cover pulled from lager campaign over binge-drinking fears

Campaign on Spotify for Kronenbourg 1664 banned by alcohol industry watchdog

• Mark Sweney
• guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 5 July 2011 07.21 BST


Dead Kennedys: promoting 'irresponsible drinking'? Photograph: Peter Noble/Redferns
Heineken has been forced to drop a cover of the US punk band Dead Kennedys' song Too Drunk to Fuck that featured in a Kronenbourg 1664 online promotion, after a complaint to the alcohol industry marketing watchdog that it encouraged binge drinking. Heineken's Kronenbourg 1664 campaign featured banner advertisements on popular music site Spotify. The ads directed music lovers to a special Kronenbourg "slowed down" playlist as part of a campaign by the beer brand called "Slow the Pace". Heineken's aim was to link the idea of "relaxed consumption" of beer with music that had been "uncharacteristically slowed down" from the original track. One of the tracks on the playlist was the Dead Kennedys' Too Drunk to Fuck, originally a thrashy ode to a misspent evening, as covered by the band Nouvelle Vague in an ironic easy-listening style. Drinks industry marketing watchdog the Portman Group, which operates a self-regulatory code of practice, received a complaint about the promotion and the use of the track. The Portman Group's independent complaints panel said that while Kronenbourg had not "set out to promote irresponsible drinking", nevertheless the "track name and lyrics referenced drinking to excess, thereby associating the brand with immoderate consumption". It added that this represented a breach of its industry code, which bans alcohol promotions from "encouraging irresponsible or immoderate drinking". "This demonstrates just how careful companies have to be when marketing alcohol," said David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group. "We were pleased that the company took immediate action to remove the track from the playlist. As soon as the complaint was brought to its attention Heineken has also introduced more rigorous approval procedures as a result."