Transformational Marketing · No Labels Necessary

Transformational Marketing

Transformational Marketing For Music Artists is marketing that is impactful and resonates beyond just the music and has the ability to influence and change behavior amongst a fanbase. I have seen this many times though I'm not quite sure if it was labelled or recognised as transformational, (to transform something is to bring about change). It is built on 2 pillars which are core values and principles. I believe those are the pillars to build a strong marketing base or foundation for any artist. A great example in recent times was Rocafella Records led by Dame Dash, Jay Z and Kareem Biggs Burke. Their marketing was transformational as far as how they influenced the culture and young hiphop heads who now wanted to be entrepreneurs. When they came out they made it so cool to be in business with your friends and to be an owner of your own label as an artist, then a trend started where everybody was trying to start a label or management company and the requirements were it had to be 3 people, there had to be the artist( the Jay Z), the business man and spokes person (the Dame Dash) the silent partner (the Kareem Burke). It was fascinating to see how these guys influenced a culture of young music entrepreneurs, many did not even know anything about the music business but it was just cool and would be something they were ready to learn. Rocafella marketed unity, friendship. loyalty, entreprenuership, family having fun, they even influenced everybody to want buy bottles of Crystal and upgrade our tastes to luxury Champagne. (That pull is what eventually will get Jay Z to get into the champagne business). Consequently they became more than a label and more of a movement which was great for Jay Z the artist. They made it look fun to be in business and making money with people you call friends. it was all in the music too in the song "I'm Feeling It" he raps "If every ninja in your clique is rich, your clique is rugged/

Nobody will fall 'cause everyone will be each others crutches"

Promoting support and solidarity amongst your friends. The point is they created something that connected with everyone who could relate to their story of building a business from grounds up. They new they were a business and they promoted that, being bosses who could make decisions and go against the status quo, so transformational marketing impacts your audience and there are other examples of this. So as an artist you have to think differently from others that's the first step, how to think outside of the box, Jay Z said in his song What More Can I Say- "CEO mind the marketing plan was me" which to me sums up what every independent artist should model themselves as. Embrace the fact that you are more than an artist, you are a business, a brand, your are a marketer and of course you are an artist.

Please contribute to the conversation. What idoes transformational marketing mean to you?

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