If I had to write a two-word marketing mantra for the digital age, it would be this:Be everywhere.Meeting your customers “where they are” is nothing new, but social media has taken it to new heights. If you aren’t everywhere, you aren’t anyone. And brand extensions are increasingly the leading way to accomplish this. We no longer promote a brand, we embed it.The most anticipated TV event of 2019 is, without a doubt, the final season of Game of Thrones. That’s because HBO is putting on a masterclass in modern market penetration. The GoT brand is inescapable.HBO’s brand partnerships and listening team are working overtime to ensure everybody knows...the finale is coming. Here’s a taste of the diversified array of products they’ve connected with:The alcoholic beverage mogul, Diageo, has launched two lines of GoT inspired products...Diageo Releases Winter Walker 'Game Of Thrones' Whisky A Collection of 'Game of Thrones' Single Malts Is Coming...and GoT has a longtime partnership with beer brewer, Ommegang.Royal Reserve Collection: King In The North(oh, and Bud Light)Brands Teamed Up for Joint Super Bowl SpotsEven Oreo Cookie is getting in on the action.Oreo to unveil Game of Thrones ‘loyalty pledge’ in its biggest collaboration of 2019How ‘bout a little cross-promotion with Red Cross at SXSW?GoT's Partnership with Red Cross promotes blood donationA new makeup collection with Urban Decay?Urban Decay Is Launching a GoT Makeup Collection in Honor of the Final SeasonOr an existing partnership with jewelry maker, Pyrrha?Pyrrha X GoTLet’s not forget the fashion circle...Adidas Running Announces GoT CollaborationGoT x John Varvatos Collection Drops Just in Time for Final Season Premiere ...and, of course, the entire social media landscape:How 20 Brands Are Celebrating Game of Thrones on Social Media HBO sends fans on a global scavenger hunt for 6 Iron Thrones The Best Game Of Thrones WebsitesI cover this strategy more in my upcoming book, Beats, Bytes & Brands. But the bottom line is, GoT’s planning and hype generation, achieved through savvy, unusual collaborations, has helped the show reach me even though I’ve (gasp!) never seen an episode. I finally feel like I missed the boat.Is there a lesson here for blockbuster album releases? Maybe the surprise drop isn’t the way, despite some recent success. Instead, building anticipation through the hard work of brand collaboration could be key to winning the next battle for attention.It sure is for Game of Thrones. They’ve achieved ubiquity and created peer pressure on a scale we’ve not seen before. I know I, for one, am gonna party like Sansa come April 14th.
BEATS
L.A.’s New Rap Stars Are Targets of the Justice System; They’re Also Stylistic Innovators Drakeo calls his work “nervous music,” and it sounds like it was forged out of mud and dread. He grew up deep in the Hundreds and used to rob houses. His videos are full of guns and nobody looks comfortable. (Fader)
12 Ways to Fix Sexism in the Music IndustryIn the male-dominated music industry, women have been getting the short straw in the draw for decades. Even in 2019, the numbers show women artists aren’t getting their due. (Hypebeast)
Masterminding Marshmello: ‘How Do We Turn This Into The Next Disney?’ MBW’s World’s Greatest Managers series profiles the best artist managers in the global business. This time, we speak to Moe Shalizi, manager of hugely successful DJ, Marshmello, and founder of The Shalizi Group. The World’s Greatest Managers is supported by Centtrip Music, the FX and banking solutions provider – which helps artists, managers and music businesses obtain an optimum currency exchange deal. (Music Business Worldwide)
Why Facebook Can Be the Future of Social Music, But Isn’t YetFacebook recently secured licensing deals with music rightsholders in India, an important step in what has thus far been an underwhelming social music strategy since first inking rights deals in June 2018. Facebook has the potential to be a giant in social music, in no small part because most streaming music apps do such a poor job of social functionality themselves. (Music Industry Blog)
Apple: Billie Eilish’s Record-Breaking Album Shows Why ‘Pre-Adds’ Are Now The New ‘Pre-Orders’ Apple Music has long been a big supporter of Billie Eilish. Now, it thinks the 17-year-old’s debut LP may prove to be a milestone in the evolution of the album’s relationship with streaming services. (Music Business Worldwide)
Where is K-pop going in 2019? After years of slow advancement in coastal capitals like Los Angeles and New York, the sleek yet busy sound from South Korea finally reached a mainstream American audience last year thanks to BTS, the seven-member boy band that became the first K-pop group to land an album at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — then did it again with another record just a few months later. (LA Times)
Mel D. Cole Presents GREAT: Photographs of Hip Hop 2002-2019 Starting in 2002 as just a fan with a disposable camera taking pictures of the artists that inspired him, Mel D. Cole has evolved into one of the most accomplished and celebrated music photographers around while documenting a critical moment in music when Hip Hop took over the world. (Kickstarter)
Best of SXSW: The 10 Most Iconic SXSW 2019 Experiences Austin, Texas is known for a lot of things (think: BBQ and Tex-Mex), but for two weeks out of every year, four letters remain top-of-mind: SXSW. Every March, brands (not to mention more than 300,000 people) invade the city for some of the most talked-about experiences of the year — and this year, they didn’t disappoint. (Splash That)
New Trend in Concert Halls: Original Music by Movie Composers — No Film Required Movie and TV composers are in greater demand than ever for, surprisingly, new music for the concert hall.For decades, concert commissions for film composers were few and far between. The increasing popularity of John Williams’ film music, and his visibility as conductor of the Boston Pops in the 1980s and ’90s, led to his writing a number of concert works, but Williams was, for the most part, the exception to the rule. (Variety)
Bandsintown Acquires Hypebot & Music Think Tank Bandsintown, the most trusted source for concert discovery, today announced the acquisition of Hypebot.com and MusicThinkTank.com, leading artists centric and technology news outlets founded in 2004 by music industry veteran Bruce Houghton. The acquisition expands upon Bandsintown’s mission to help musicians grow their careers by offering free tools to over 500,000 registered artists while simultaneously providing a platform for fans and artists to connect. (Bandsintown)
BYTES
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