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6 Steps to Branding for EDM Artists

A giant mouse head fist pumped behind the biggest rubix cube ever and the crowd went wild.
When @Deadmau5 became the house DJ at the 2010 VMAs, electronic music gained mainstream recognition. Today, everyone has a pair of fluffies. And why not? EDM’s recognition in the music industry is long overdue.

So, what’s the difference between @Deadmau5 and every DJ that hasn’t had the opportunity to play the VMAs? Some produce using the same equipment and have loads of musical talent. Why is he successful when so many other talented DJs still go unrecognized? Well, for one, DM5 is a freaking musical genius and for two, he has those ears that light up.

But there’s more to it than a sweet pair of ears and a ginormous rubix cube. Deadmau5 has a distinguishable brand and continues to build support by marketing himself successfully. He’s everywhere and doing everything to connect with his followers and establishing his brand. From Facebook to Minecraft to Instagram and gaming – the Deadmau5 brand is in constant interaction with his audience. And, his brand is him. That simple.
From a marketers perspective, here are 6 things every aspiring DJ can do to keep the dream alive.
1. Be Professional.
In every interaction, be respectful, committed and reliable. It’s the foundation for every career. Music is no different. Bring your “A-Game” 110% of the time. If you have an audience of 2 or 2,000, play like you’re playing for your MOM, or someone else of equal awesomeness. You never know who is watching and what doors can open or close based on how you perform.

2. Build a following.
Anyway, if you’re professional, that’s half the battle. If your personable, that’s the other half. There’s something mysterious about musicians that makes people wonder about what makes […]

Sustainable Marketing in 3 Steps

I may have mentioned a time or two, I pretty much love Earth…leaves, butterflies, oxygen…love…all of it. So, yes, I’m pretty passionate when it comes to sustainable marketing practices.
Before I became the CEO for @redbridge, I was a marketer of energy-efficiency programs. I called what I did, saving the world one kwh at a time. Anyway, when you promote energy-efficient products and choices you need to lead by example or people get skeptical. Nobody wants that.
My 10+ years of sustainable marketing practices can be boiled down into 3 simple steps. Here they are:

1. Think “green” brainstormy thoughts!
2. Design to make green “the new black”.
3. Buy green. It’s just nice. :)

Have I wowed you with my brilliance yet? Well…I hope NOT because I can talk about this ALL DAY! So, here I go, the 3 secrets revealed in 5…4…3…2…1…:
1. Think “green” brainstormy thoughts!
In my perfect world, a marketing plan serves as a road map for upcoming marketing activities. You’ve planned out as far as a year in advance. Relaxed brainstorm sessions happen in the quarter prior to the deliverable’s deadline allowing you to glance out further in the timeline to see if there are other materials forecasted that can be combined. I also have a pet unicorn in that world.

In my real world experience, you plan out as far ahead as possible and stay flexible. So the more you can think green thoughts on the fly, the better Earth is going to get. Whether your next item is well-planned, or a marketing emergency, consider what you’re trying to accomplish and how the end result can be created, greenly. For instance:

Email vs. Direct Mail: Get email addresses for your target audiences and send email campaigns versus direct mail. […]

Using the 5th “P” to Put a Ding in the Universe.

Put a Ding in the Universe. Use the 5th P’s.
On Wednesday I received a random text from a 17 year old that inspired this post.

17 year old text – “What are the 4 P’s?”
My text reply – “Easy…Price. Product. Placement. People.”

Yup, got it wrong. The 4th P is actually promotion. And I DO marketing for a living!! So, crash course in the 4 P’s it is. Here we go. There are four critical elements needed to market products and services. They’re called the 4 P’s.

1. Product – Do you have a product that is wanted or needed by an audience?

2. Price – Is your product priced at an amount that your audience will consider affordable and worth their money?

3. Place – Is your product available at a place where it can be purchased by your audience?

4. Promotion – What are you doing to let your audience know that your product is available for them?

I’m keeping the 5th P. It’s pretty genius. I mean, without people, the other 4 p’s can’t exist.

5. People – Sellers of the product. Buyers of the product. Marketers of the message. Audience of the message.

No matter which of the 4 P’s are being focused on, it’s people who make products successful. Know your audience. Who buys your product and why do they buy it? Is it something they need or does it satisfy a want? How badly do they need or want it? What is it about using your product or service that satisfies that need? Interacting with your audience provides valuable insights. Form a relationship with them so they’re comfortable giving you feedback. Listen to their suggestions. Thank them. Act on their requests. They’ll love you and your product a […]

Product Review: Postcard on the Run App (genius!)

The absolute greatest thing EVER happened! My, now fiance, Eric asked me to marry him…on the red bridge*…and I was wearing a SpiritHood…and there were sea lions down below the bridge…swimming. And we have pictures of THAT moment!

Attention Selena Gomez, you just invested in the best company EVER!

So…after the magic moment, naturally I posted and shared with all of my social media accounts. Hmmm, I’ll be honest, in my excitement I didn’t immediately call my family and they were less than pleased. But…crisis averted, calls made, people forgiven. Except, my grandma. She’s 86 and hasn’t realized the magic of #Apple and the world wide web just yet. She prefers mail to calling.

So when I heard about the FREE Postcard on the Run app on Twitter I downloaded right after I sent a “woohoo” text to @POSTCARDing expressing my gratitude (to which they promptly responded with a thank you). It might’ve taken two minutes before I was opening the app and gearing up to send my grandma the best postcard of my LIFE. Oh…for $0.99. Postcard on the Run is the perfect solution to the busy techy with moments to share and not enough time in the day.
(Download now at http://postcardonthego.com/)

Unfortunately, I wish that I could have a LOT of moments for life (shout out to @NICKIMINAJ1Luv). My phone was packed with 10,000 pictures. Everything from Norbert, the Gnome on his epic vacations to the view from the 86th floor on the Empire State Building gets shared with random @Foursquare, @Instagram and tweeting people. When I touched the “Use Existing Photo” button the app froze. I sent a reply back to @POSTCARDing about what had appened and they responded right away reassuring me that they […]

Epic QR Code-yness in 4 Quick Tips

Yoda likes QR codes too.
Ok, you got me! I LOVE the scan-able little black and white squares that bridge print with technology. How did marketing ever exist without them?! How long will they be around? And how do they work?

I’ll admit (sshhh…) I’ve had some QR code fails and spent more than a few hours getting Google to cough up everything it knows about creating, tracking and best practices for these mysterious and wonderful squares. And great news – I’ve condensed all the research, failure and smashing success into 4 Quick Tips.

4 Quick Tips

1. Know your audience. QR Codes aren’t for everyone. If you’re audience doesn’t have a smart phone, then they will never know the pure genius you’ve included for them by way of QR codes in your marketing materials. So, know who you’re talking to in order to ensure success. It’s also helpful to include instructions in your materials to help your users know what to do. This can be as simple as two words, “Scan me.”

2. Create the code. People are doing amazing things with QR codes, and others are simply using the black and white squares as is. Goo.gl has an excellent feature for shortening links and generating QR codes. Even the most colorful QR code centerpiece ad begins as the black and white code you can generate in using Goo.gl. tool. A word of advice: If you’re changing any elements of the qr code, be sure to test as you go to make sure it continues to scan successfully. Nothing’s worse than spending hours rounding corners, colorizing and dragging points to find that your masterpiece doesn’t work in the real world.

3. Reward the user. They’ve taken the time […]

By |September 20th, 2011|Goo.gl, QR Codes|0 Comments