Brand drops and creative collaborations were big stories this week. As marketers, we know the best way to reach millennials is primarily via Twitter and Instagram, so the latest trend of unexpected, buzz-worthy collaborations, which The Future Party has dubbed “Productization,” seems like a logical new tactic.Releasing creative, out-of-the-box products to superfans has become the most reliable way for popular brands to generate headlines and, in some cases, substantial revenue. Forget millions of dollars in Super Bowl, NBA All-Star, or Grammy ads. You can release a novelty product and let the earned media hits flow in.Just over the last few days we have seen:
McDonald’s launch a merch store that reportedly sold out of every product it offered, including scented candles and a Quarter Pounder love locket
An engagement ring made out of Crystal Pepsi
A Supreme X Oreo’s cookie collab that's now reselling for 15K
KFC's unlikely partnership with Crocs
The NBA & hip-hop taking their love to the next level
All of this goes to show the continued importance of brand identity and super-serving your most loyal consumers (and helps explain the demise of Brandless, which closed its doors this month).One thing that jumps out is the opportunity for artist partnerships to amplify these types of initiatives. Unexpected pairings with some of the premiere curators of culture will absolutely raise the profile and credibility for brands, further amplifying these socially sticky campaigns.Just a little... $15,000 food for thought.
BEATS
Buffalo Wild Wings Rebrands Bone Thugs-N-Harmony as Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony Hip-hop group Bone Thugs-N-Harmony has changed its name to Boneless Thugs-N-Harmony, a reference to Buffalo Wild Wings' boneless chicken wings, according to details shared with Marketing Dive. (Marketing Dive)
Genius Content Heads To TV For The First Time With Fuse Media PartnershipIn the premiere episode of Genius x Fuse airing March 18, Alicia Keys breaks down the meaning of her latest hit, Underdog, on Verified; 2 Chainz discusses his new label T.R.U. with Rob Markman on For The Record; and producer Hit-Boy dissects how Kendrick Lamar’s Backseat Freestyle was made on Deconstructed. (Music Business Worldwide)
Artificial Intelligence Made A Song In The Style Of Travis ScottApparently, Space150 started out feeding real-life Travis Scott lyrics into a ‘text generator model’ for two weeks until it began creating its own rhymes. (These rhymes were initially food-obsessed, but got smarter as time went on.) Then, according to AdWeek, the agency “used additional neural network programs to create melodies and percussion arrangements to accompany them.” (Music Business Worldwide)
TikTok Nabs Exclusive BTS Premiere For The K-pop Stars’ New Single ‘On’It’s no secret by now that TikTok – which was the world’s second-most downloaded app in 2019, and generates $40 million per month – is making huge waves in the music business. Last year, the company bolstered its leadership team with London-based Global Head of Music Ole Obermann and Los Angeles-based Head of Label Licensing, Tracy Gardner. (Music Business Worldwide)
Flighthouse and Republic Records Partner on New TikTok Series 'Certified Superfan' Boasting more than 22 million followers, Flighthouse (which was acquired by Create Music Group in 2017) has become a TikTok powerhouse. Under the direction of 21-year-old CEO Jacob Pace, the brand is now a valuable promotional tool for emerging artists who hope to become the next Lil Nas X ("Old Town Road") or Ava Max ("Sweet but Psycho") -- both of whom now have thriving mainstream careers after enjoying viral hits on the wildly-popular app. (Billboard)
Music’s Influence On Politics In 2020Our view at the Nue Agency is that a playlist is part of a larger music strategy, a marketing asset that all candidates now need to authentically tap into voters. Music is the great cultural connector and should (…wait for it) play an instrumental part in outreach. (Hypebot)
Virgin Fest Announces Lizzo and ASAP Rocky as Headliners for LA Bash: 'All Are Welcome Here'Virgin Fest, the two-day celebration of people and planet from veteran festival producer Jason Felts and the Virgin Group’s Sir Richard Branson, announced the lineup today for the June 6-7 multistage festival at Banc of California Stadium + Exposition Park in Los Angeles. (Billboard)
The Whitney Houston Creepy Hologram Tour Officially Sets SailOfficially dubbed “An Evening with Whitney Houston: The Whitney Houston Hologram Tour,” the concert series was given the green light by Pat Houston, Whitney’s sister-in-law and the executor of her estate. BASE Hologram created Houston’s likeness with the assistance of both old footage and a body double, though a process that CEO Marty Tudor called “tedious.” (Digital Music News)
Inside Spotify's New Music Friday Playlist RedesignSpotify has overhauled its New Music Friday playlist, bringing a fresh design to a playlist that features more than 3.5 million followers in the U.S. and 8 million followers globally, the streaming service tells Billboard. The updated playlist will feature a new logo and color scheme, and artists featured on the playlist will be displayed in Times Square in New York City, Downtown Los Angeles, and Yonge & Dundas Square in Toronto as part of a new marketing campaign around New Music Friday. (Billboard)
Marcy Venture Partners, Co-Founded by Jay-Z, Raises $85M FundMarcy Venture Partners, which was founded last year and is based in San Francisco, focuses on consumer brands. Its name is a nod to Brooklyn’s Marcy Houses where Jay-Z grew up. The firm has already made a number of deals. It’s invested in six companies so far, leading the rounds for three, according to Crunchbase. Its most recent investment was in electric mobility startup Wheels in October 2019, and the largest round it’s led so far was a $70 million round for singer Rihanna’s lingerie line Savage X Fenty. (Crunchbase)
Kevin Lyman Joins Talinda Bennington To Produce 320 Conversations On Mental HealthTalinda Bennington, widow of the late Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington and Vans Warped Tour founder Kevin Lyman are teaming up to produce 320 Conversations, a forum on mental health. Set for March 9 at USC’s Bovard Auditorium, 320 Conversations aims de-stigmatize mental illness by bringing together experts and thought-leaders for a wide-ranging discussion on mental health awareness for the music community. (Celebrity Access)
It's Happened: The Major Labels Are Now Generating Over $1M Every Hour From StreamingWe all have bad days. Bad hair days, bad work days, bad weather days. Bad days.This truism does not appear to apply, however, to the modern major record company.According to new MBW analysis of official fiscal numbers, the recorded music divisions of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Group and Warner Music Group jointly generated $22.9m, on average, every 24 hours in 2019. (Music Business Worldwide)
Metrics That MatterStreaming and social platforms allow us to see the real time impact of marketing efforts via a wall of metrics that when pieced together tell a story. However, few artists know which metrics are the right metrics. Some are more accurate at predicting an artist’s success than others, and therefore should be more important to music marketers. (Amber Horsburgh)
BYTES
Eventbrite is an awesome alternative to Ticketmaster and powered so many great events. We have been long time fans and supporters of the brand. It's interesting to hear their founders story on NPR's How I Build This. Julia and Kevin give entreprenueral couples a great name.
Sean (Diddy) Combs is a hero of mine. You probably don’t know why and would learn a lot by listening to our discussion that explains why. Can’t imagine Diddy being a hero of yours? Tell me what you think after you hear this.
Dom Hofmann, the co-creator of Vine who has been quietly working on a successor to the short-form video platform, says the new app, called Byte, is available now on iOS and Android. The app has been available in beta form for quite some time, but its launch last month came as a complete surprise.
TikTok is proof that it only takes 15 seconds for a song to get stuck in your head, and now that the app has gone from a Gen-Z secret to something pretty much everyone scrolls before bed, our brains are like a cursed jukebox. Not only do the songs provide a soundtrack, but often the lyrical backdrop for a joke or trend that ultimately sweeps the app, and therefor there's no place more powerful for music in 2020.
This week's newsletter was carefully curated by the Nue Agency staff and our editor Rachel Meisner If you think we missed something this week or have any suggestions/comments for next week's newsletter, let us know!