Music Campaign

     For our group, we chose to dive into the alternative/ rock genre.  The typical target audience of this genre is teenagers 14 and up, as well as adults.  Groups in this field rely heavily on the use of a website for displaying information, using it as the center resource for all other aspects of marketing.  They also are always active on a multitude of social media sites, since the population of users is ever growing and expanding to new demographics.  Social media is the perfect way to instantly reach and market to a large audience, with each platform having a different, unique appeal; artists know this, and therefore have a variety of socials.
     We chose to create a rock duo, rather than a band, as this is less common in the alt/rock genre, and would help us to stand out.  Duos have been largely successful across multiple genres of music, so we decided to bring a fresh one to the rock world.  Since we are an alternative/rock duo, we branded ourselves as grungy and punk, to stick to the roots of rock.  We named ourselves Scorpion Cyanide, giving us a hardcore and bad ass feel and also an easily marketable logo (a scorpion).  In addition, we carried out the colors pink and blue throughout our work, further branding us while also softening the hardcore tones.
     To market Scorpion Cyanide we first created a website (https://gracesullivan10.wixsite.com/scorpioncyanide).  We then made use of a lot of social media pages, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok.  Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are all highly established sites that reach teenage and adult age ranges, effectively reaching out audiences.  Instagram is useful for live streaming, Twitter for quickly releasing information, and Facebook for guaranteeing a connection with grown adults.  Snapchat is ideal for our younger audiences, with posts that feel more personal and relatable.  We included Tiktok since it is a trending app, and we think we could use it to blow up one of our singles.  TikTok is known for giving large popularity to previously unknown songs, so we would be attempting to gain fame for our song that way.  The main merchandise pieces we made were hoodies, t shirts, and beanies, as these are the most commonly bought merch items.  They all include the simple scorpion logo, and make use of our band colors to increase branding.
     We also partnered with two companies for marketing partnerships.  The first brand was Hot Topic, which is a grungy store that we would create clothes with.  Hot Topic customers are typically older teens that are into edgy and alternative music, which is perfect for Scorpion Cyanide marketing.  The other partnership is with It's Sugar, to sell scorpion lollipops. This is a more unconventional idea, but we thought the idea of marketing through candy would be unique and fun.  Since the candy features a scorpion, it is still on brand for us, while also reaching out beyond our comfort zone.
     Through creating a music video and marketing campaign, I learned that every small decision is important.  It's the little things that set aside your group from others, so every point matters. Doing research is also essential for effective marketing, to ensure that you are making appropriate choices that will give your band fame.  By making decisions based off of research, you give your group a greater chance of success and allow them to thrive in the music industry.  In the same realm as research, paying attention to trends is another important aspect to marketing and in production.  By incorporating trends into your group's activity, it ensures they will be relevant and gives them a greater chance of appearing in current media.