Branding As an Image and a Potential Market For Bands
So, what does branding have to do with your success as a band? I think the answer is everything. Branding can be looked at from two different perspectives. First, branding is a way to build a fan base. In this regard, branding is about you, the artist. Branding is representative of your image and marketability. Who are you and what do you have that people want?
Second, branding is a market. That is, smaller companies are now looking for ways to promote themselves with new technology that was previously unavailable. This is good news for the independent artists who have the advantage of making decisions for themselves. Independent artists can quickly work with a company to help develop a brand that has the potential to benefit both the artist and the company.
Let’s start with you. Most people understand the value of branding. We learn this very early in life if you think about it. That is, most everyone experiences a certain level of satisfaction from their uniqueness. We like to be known for our particular traits and sometimes our eccentricities. I recall how much fun it was to laugh at my friends and to laugh with my friends regarding our individual characteristics. Of course, I was frequently at the brunt of the jokes as I had more than my share of unusual habits and characteristics, but this is not about me.
For a band, brand can be the sound of the singers voice or the abilities of certain musicians. It is also a logo or an attitude or a cause or a look. We understand these things implicitly. The Beatles understood this very well with their unusual haircuts, Nairu jackets, Beatle boots and humor. Success is not guaranteed, however. Success only comes when these branding elements resonate with a large number of people. We also understand popularity on a small scale. That is, we know what works within small groups of people with whom we come into contact. What most of us do not understand is popularity on a large scale. That is, how do we get a lot of people to notice our wonderful gifts? Fortunately, if you are reading this, you live in a new era in which reaching large numbers of people is possible. Unfortunately, every other band (and millions of aspiring kids as well as adults with newly found hobbies) around the world also realize this potential, so we are back to square one, in many ways. That is, how do we get through to our potential fans through so much competition and noise?
Marketing professionals have studied this for many years. Your connection with your market is called reach and your success due to exposure is analogous to market penetration for a product.
Ok, let’s switch gears for a moment and talk about branding as a market for you as a band. Yes, I believe there is a potential market for your music associated with branding for small companies. Corporate branding was once available only to those who could afford it. It is a lot of work and it does require a great deal of knowledge and skill. There is also a potential down side when branding does not go well for the artist or the company. This is where knowledge and skill can help to find a good match between a particular artist and company. There is also a multivariable system that can sometimes be unforgiving, unresponsive, indifferent and sometimes hostile. This system is the market that we are hoping to attract. It can be disturbing when a lot of money and time are devoted and the result is the sound of crickets or even worse, the sound of an angry mob outside your door. This is why it is a good idea to develop a strategy and understand the markets that you are trying to penetrate.
Understanding markets can be very difficult. Markets are dynamic, like living organisms. They feed on something for a while and then they move and feed on something else. Chasing today’s trends can sometimes succeed, but it is always better to know where the market is heading. That way, you can make the best use of all your resources, including time and money, placing yourself in the path of a trend. Ideally, this gives you the most bang for your buck, as you have the opportunity to benefit long term from your skillful strategy which, hopefully, gives you time to map out your next move. Of course, chasing a trend can be ok if the trend is long or perhaps the beginning of a new culture.
This is why marketing people spend so much time studying and measuring trends. It is their job to understand where markets are going and it is their job to develop creative ways to intercept a trend. Advertising is not always effective because it is not always well placed or timely. I guess it is good and bad that marketing professionals are misunderstood. Perhaps it is good if they are perceived to have a magic wand they can wave and provide results. It is also bad because people do not always understand how marketing can help them succeed. That is, people sometimes attempt to throw money at advertising and hope to see results. Advertising without data is analogous to playing pin the tail on the donkey. Sometimes you hit your target, but most of the time you miss. Marketing and advertising are not the same. Marketing would be analogous to someone playing pin the tail on the donkey, but with the added advantage of someone telling them where to pin the tail (or for the less scrupulous, a small hole in a blindfold).
Small companies are finding micromarkets for their products and services. This part is already true, due in part to the accessibility of relevant data and reach through the internet. However, I believe that branding for small companies will soon go well beyond a nice logo and marketing literature or collateral. I believe that smaller companies have the means to develop much more sophisticated marketing campaigns that will enable them to brand themselves using a variety of media sources that were once unavailable to them.
The ability to create ads with audio and video is now more available than ever before. Bands are among the first to discover this trend, as you can find a lot of really good content online. Unfortunately, not everyone is hitting their targets, but it is definitely improving over time as bands are finding out who they are, what people want from them, and then perhaps finding ways to effectively place their content. However, we are all limited in resources so we all need some help sometimes (though some folks will never admit to it). This is the trend that I believe will help bands and companies find each other. That is, smaller companies will soon discover ways to reach their specific markets with multimedia.
Independent artists can factor in with original content that is more affordable than the big guys. In fact, there is a myriad of possibilities for meeting the needs of the company and the band (or the independent film maker).
It is very important to project an image that will lead to long term success for the band and for the small company. This seems like common sense, but there are too many examples of poorly conceived images. I like the example of the Matador. For the younger folks, the Matador was a car that was only in production for a few years. It seems that nobody bothered to check, but matador can be translated to mean horrendous or killer in Spanish. I would not buy a car whose model name means horrendous killer. Of course, it was also perhaps one of the ugliest cars ever produced, which did not help. Anyway, it is mutually beneficial to a band and a small company to have a very good fit. That is, the image of a band or a song should promote the image of the small company. Similarly, the image of the small company must also be good for the band. You may not want your music associated with products or services that offend you or your fan base, for example. Also, if we manage only to find a small company and agree on terms, then we are back to pin the tail on the donkey. That is, we have no idea of the results. With a good strategy, it is possible to improve our odds of gaining from exposure.
Finally, as most of us know, exposure has value, but exposure doesn’t pay the bills unless it is good exposure. This is a part of the puzzle that must be understood. That is, how do we get good exposure and how do we determine fair compensation without knowing the value of the exposure? Small companies do not always have a lot of money to pay for content. Sometimes it becomes necessary to find creative ways to work together. The smaller the company, the more likely this becomes. The large consumer companies such as Pepsi have the means to pay for Britney Spears or Mike Myers or Michael Jackson. I know that I would consider setting my hair on fire if I could land a deal with Pepsi. But, it is not going to happen because I am not on equal footing with regard to notoriety and marketability. This should be an easy concept, but we need to be realistic about what we bring to the table and what we may gain from a partnership.