I have chosen The Saturdays ,Katherine Jenkins and Rihanna. These artists all target different audiences with their appearances and marketing strategies for their music. The saturdays are an all girl pop group, Katherine Jenkins is a female opera singer and Rihanna is an edgy R'N'B singer.
THE SATURDAYS
The Saturdays album cover is colourful and attractive which shows that their target audience is those of the age group between 11-19 who like pop music, as the colours would attract a younger age bracket. With the title being 'Headlines', they are referring to the media and the press, in which have made them well known with the readers of Heat magazine or The Sun newspaper- who are now most likely aware of the band through their media coverage, and that is how they recieve their fans.
Also they all appear very clean and fashionable looking in which they will reach out to both female and male fans. As females will want to look like them, and men will just want to look at them. With all band members being distinctively different in height, shape, hair colour and race, they have the potential to appeal to all varieties of people.
An interesting marketing strategy that The Saturdays have done in prior to their new album release is they have signed a deal with ITV for a reality TV show called The Saturdays 24/7, in which we get to see how ''down-to-earth'' these girls are to show their loyal fans how nice they are- like they could potentially be simular to your best friend or even yourself. They also include previews of their songs from their new album, to interest audiences that may not be a fan yet.
Their website has The Saturdays logo the same font and style as the album cover, this is an obvious link for the fans to identify with the band and their new album the have to offer. An identical picture is shown to the album cover also, with the band members imprinted infront of them- this is a marketing strategy so that fans can identify with one member and see them as individuals rather than a 5-piece all the time.
They as a group are also covering all possible networks, with Facebook and Twitter being the latest social networking phenomenon they have offered links from their website to these pages. Also there is a chance to sign-up to their fan club to recieve newsletters and news about the band, which creates a further link between the fans and the band.
All these strategies are what The Saturdays use to promote their album. With visits to radio stations in which they use the airwaves to get their information to their fans, they will usually visit radio stations that are listened to by a general audience such as Radio 1 or local radio station Heart fm, as they have the ability to reach out to adults aswell as young teenagers and through the radio is where their ''down-to earth'' personalities come out.
With their album 'Headlines' reaching number 5 on the album chart, and their single 'Missing you' charting at number 3, it seems their marketing schemes were not effective enough for them to gain number 1 for both new single and album.
I feel that the TV show is a great idea for promotion as audiences whether fans of the band or not, will watch these 5 girls and see how incredibly 'nice and likeable' they are...or so they hope.
To be taken seriously as music artists and not branded, 'just another girl band' they need to seperate themselves from the teen pop exterior they give out. Being seen in magazines as pretty girls that wear pretty dresses and giggle, no-one apart from their 10 year old fans are going to buy their products.
KATHERINE JENKINS
Katherine Jenkins is a female opera singer from Neath in Wales. Being an opera singer her target audience will be an entirely genre appreciating group of people.
Her album cover for believe is in Black and White, which reflects the fact Katherine takes her career and her music seriously and wants her music to be recieved by her fans seriously. With the artist being an attractive woman they have shown her face in a seductive pose with her eyes looking directly into anyone that crosses her path. She can just see her head on the cover, and its also suggests she isnt wearing any clothing- this could symbolize that the areas she addresses within her songs are personal and like she is 'laid-bare'.
She has a soft and sensuous feel to her music, and being within the opera genre her audience will be of a slightly older generation between 30-50, and also being such a traditional type of music her fans will be more sophisticated and of a higher social status than a fan of a rap artist.
A perfect marketing opportunity for a new album, would be to make yourself look like a wonderful human being and perform to our troops in afghanistan which is what Katherine did. This will make even people who are not fans of her music think she is a pretty,nice young lady.
Being a likeable looking woman, she can also use this to her advantage by getting her image seen wherever she can. Media coverage is the most important strategy to promote a new album- as if people don't know about it, they won't buy it.
When photographers catch Katherine when she is not serenading the troops or making serious music, you would wonder if she would be caught falling out of clubs drunk or acting a hooligan. Well, she doesnt.
Here is a photo of Katherine feeding penquins in a pretty dress, her marketing strategy is simply to be seen as a normal woman who has an incredible talent.
Her music company will want people to see Katherine Jenkins as a different calibre of woman to the young celebrities of today. She is a respectable woman which a credited career, and in comparison to Britney Spears, a fellow recording artist, Katherine is the polar opposite and that is how her record label will want her to be.
Ms. Jenkins' website is designed like a front room with a classic wallpaper design. This could be interpreted as Katherine wanting her fans to think this is what her living room looks like, which furthers the personal connection she has with her fans- that she would let them into her front room. Also with her music being seen as relaxing, it seems like Sunday morning music that you could listen to with the Sunday paper, so it seems she wants her audience to get the intentions of her music correct.
Like alot of artists aswell Katherine has a fan club within her website, in which its called the Diamond Club which gives an exclusive and elegant feel that reflects the iconography of Katherine herself.
Katherine Jenkins album positioned at number one. I feel she succeeded as she does everything for the niche audience that she has, that appreciate and listen to classical music.
Her strongest promotion ideas are her acts of 'good-will' by being seen as a kind lovely woman she will automatically recieve positive feedback, so by singing to the troops she is singing all the way to the bank.
She has the potential to diversify her sound by perhaps duetting with other types of artists, she has a look that is very commercial and would be appreciated by alot of people. She could spread her celebrity status by being seen more doing 'normal things' such as having a laugh with friends, going shopping with her boyfriend- as she has the potential to relate to all woman everywhere. Not just those that like Classical music.
RIHANNA
Rihanna's album cover clearly shows that she is representing herself as a strong woman. With the dark cover and her serious expression it is clear to an observer that Rihanna is a strong independent woman. She has an edgy haircut which has developed with her new sounding music, which creates iconography and an area for the fans to relate the hair cut with the artist.
A message is being given to the fans through the album cover, as Rihanna is covering her face which could be a symbol that she is exposing herself but she is still feeling insecure and shy about being so open. Being such a strong album cover, it is a highly effective image.
Rihanna's music is reflected highly in her music videos, she has a harder image which gives off a strong as steel exterior. The video for 'Hard' for example is an army based video, with Rihanna as the head sergeant directing boy soilders around an army field. This gives the element of power and is playing against the conventions of a real army base. Rihanna is truly showing her fans who is boss.
This new image has come shortly after the huge news story of Rihanna and her boyfriend fellow hip hop artist Chris Brown had a large domestic fight, which resulted in Rihanna being physically hurt.
Being such a highly publicised couple has meant that the media coverage this story recieved was phenomenal, and Rihanna took this terrible situation to reform herself as a strong woman who doesnt take any nonsense, and this has worked wonders for her career. She is now a highly respected artist, as transformed herself from young pop princess into mature edgy hip hop superstar.
Her covers from first single
to her latest material
Her title font of her name has changed, she is simply now R. With the font having a scraped feel, it shows a rebellious side and that she has developed from her yello floaty font image, to a hardcore serious artist.
For extra security in her image, and tactfully released before her hit album Rihanna posted pictures of popular networking site Twitter,she posted pictures of her various tattoos immediatedly after they were inked on her body.
This brings a personal element as she is wanting to share these personal moments with her fans, meaning that when they see these designs they saw it first. The tattoos are a symbol of her new image as the ink comes with a reputation for being painful, and this shows that she has dealt with the pain- which is reflected in her music and her highly publicised domestic occurance with Chris Brown.
Another clever promotional step came from Rihanna, developing with her new edgy style she is also becoming a high fashion couture fashionista. She did a campaign for fashion house Gucci. This enabled her to be seen as a serious icon within the fashion industry alongside the music industry- with publicity in both, people regardless of being fans of hers or not, will now recognise Rihanna regardless.
With the campaign being part of the tattoo heart, she is still staying true to her tattoo image that she is portraying.
However, she could seem more relatable to her fans so they feel a closer connection to Rihanna the person, rather than Rihanna the artist. She could be in magazines talking about what she does at home, or when she is not working- therefore people will be able to relate to her personality cementing a stronger fan base and recieving some more media coverage.
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