Retailer brands take CTRL of music
By Hugh Jordan. Top note. High-street retailers are cutting a groove with music – and playing matchmaker between artists and audiences at the same time.
UK-based Topman recently launched CTRL, a campaign that lets bands on the brink of success ‘take control’ of Topman for a month, and that means everything from taking over the retailer’s social-media presence, through to programming their festival stages.
“Topman had a history of working with music in more of a sponsorship capacity,” says Jack Horner, founder of Frukt, the music-marketing agency behind CTRL. “We created with them the concept of a property which could be more unique to their brand, which they could invest in and develop over time.”
Every band that participates in CTRL keeps Topman’s dedicated MySpace page updated, posting blogs, music recommendations and interacting with fans.
Data from the agency’s research team, Frukt Music Intelligence, identified the key musical concerns of Topman’s targeted 16-to-24 age group as wanting to get closer to bands, wanting more frequent interaction with those bands, and wanting to receive recommendations rather than a music overload.
But Horner believes that if a campaign such as CTRL is to be successful for the brand, it has to have longevity. And, certainly, one-off gigs achieve nothing.
“An event might have been life-changing for the 200 people who were there,” he says, “but what about the 2 million that weren’t. Were they jealous that they didn’t get to go? Were they talking about it after? Was there any follow-up for those that did go?”
For CTRL, this means ensuring footage and reaction from the Topman gigs is posted onto the MySpace page to keep the buzz alive, as well as asking for feedback from users on the site.
Once bands have had their month in CTRL, others takeover, ensuring the campaign stays fresh.
Jason Griffiths, marketing director at Topman, sees CTRL as a continuation of his company’s support of young talent, both in fashion and music.
“After years of successful music sponsorships, we felt the time was right to launch our own platform,” says Griffiths. “We’ll be handing over the reins each month to an upcoming artist to bring our audiences closer to their favourite new bands. We’re really excited to provide a window to their creative world and to watch how the platform evolves with each controller.”
And it seems to be working. Over 17,000 unique users logged onto the CTRL page in its first month, and that metric keeps looking better.
Topman isn’t the only brand going down the music route, though it is the fashion industry that’s setting the trend. Diesel has been running an international competition for unsigned bands since 2001, and the winners this year will go on an all-expenses-paid World Tour, visiting London, New Work, Miami and Tokyo. Not bad, if you’re still rehearsing in your father’s garage.
The retailer also has a dedicated website where up-and-coming artists can share music, promote gigs and interact with fans. And over a million visitors a month, from across Europe, log on to Diesel Music.
Horner isn’t surprised brands are looking to capitalise on the potential offered by commoditising music. “Fans are passionate about music and passionate about new bands,” he says. “It is down to the brand to play provider. If a brand plays its part right then it will reap the rewards from that association”.
