Hello again! Friday's rolled around, and here we are.

We're thrilled to present another behind-the-scenes glimpse at a standout campaign.

After a decade-long hiatus, The Hives made a triumphant return this year. We caught up with Matthew Greer from ATC Management to discuss the global strategy that's propelled the band to even greater heights.

Buckle up, this is a good one!

Also, this week:

• Mixing Board for Fans.

• McCrispy: LAROI's Tasty Collab.

• Ad-Free TikTok: Worth It?

• Top Social Apps of 2023.

FEATURE

Marketing The Hives’ First Album in 11 Years: Part 1

Swedish rockers The Hives delighted fans early this year with the announcement that the “The Death of Randy Fitzimmons” album was to be released in August.

The record arrives as The Hives’ first album in over a decade, following the 2012 release “Le Hives”.

In the months following the announcement, The Hives, alongside ATC Management, FUGA and DreamTeam rolled out an impressive campaign that effectively bridged a decade-long gap between releases.

We caught up with The Hives’ manager Matthew Greer from ATC Management to discuss the band’s return, and the strategy that helped catapult it.

Don’t Call it a Comeback

Preparing to release a new album after a decade is no simple task – particularly after such a tumultuous period, one that has seen the music industry undergo many critical changes. Greer explained how The Hives’ team prepared to market their comeback release.

“We spent a long time analysing the band’s digital footprint and catalogue activity and realised that there needed to be a fairly in-depth health check across the board,” Greer said. “The main considerations were first off, how to bring a 2000s band back into this current digital landscape and keep it authentic, and secondly how to make the ‘comeback’ feel exciting, current and geared towards making new fans as well as reviving the lapsed fanbase.”

“It was also critical to make the launch feel global rather than Europe-centric – which is why we planned the US promo trip in May around which the band played some incredible underplay shows including one at No Vacancy nightclub in Hollywood which will be remembered as an iconic moment by all who were there. This made the US market pay attention and the resulting press support following that has helped propel the album’s story much further in the American market than it would have otherwise.”

“The second big moment for us was the Arctic Monkeys stadium tour where the band played to over 600,000 people – mostly under 25s – which has massively shifted their fanbase in the UK. They are selling more tickets in the UK now than they ever have in their career.”

Announcing the New Album

To kick off the album pre-release campaign, The Hives took to Instagram to share a number of ‘protest’ posts calling for a new release from the band, and a new merch drop. The teaser posts drew plenty of attention from fans who were eager to see the band’s release hiatus end.

“The teaser campaign really just set the scene but in terms of top-line stats, the post we put out with Pelle holding the sign was, at the time, the most liked and engaged with post the band had ever released on social media. We have since eclipsed that but it was a sign of what was to come – and showed us that by leaning into Pelle and the band’s quirky sense of humour, the fans would respond,” Greer said.

Encouraging Pre-Orders

To incentivise album pre-orders, The Hives offered fans early access to tour tickets, plus a chance to win a signed Gretsch guitar, and limited merch offers. Each of these offerings acted as effective sales drivers in the lead up to the album release.

“We drove a lot of pre-orders internationally with signed and limited edition product. The guitar giveaway performed very well and sold the band over 1000 albums in the UK but it was only one part of a multi-faceted pre-order strategy that also involved merchandise and in-store gigs. The biggest drivers of sales were getting fans to pre-order to get access to the main UK tour pre-sale and also the in-store gigs we did in London.” Greer said.

“At Banquet Records, in one day, we were able to sell 2,400 albums by doing two gigs in one day. That alone basically guarantees you a UK Top 20 these days,” Greer explained.

Social Media Growth

During the rollout, the band achieved significant growth on Instagram and TikTok. In six months, The Hives established a TikTok presence for the first time ever, and earned their first 50,000 followers on the platform. Additionally, their Instagram following grew by 150% during that same period.

“We have been working with Something Something social which has been a great experience,” Greer said. “The main aim is to incorporate the band’s humorous tone of voice with iconic visual assets to keep the socials feeling fresh but also hit the sales markers we need to.”

@the.hives

🗿#thehives #songofthesummer #rock #livemusic #thedeathofrandyfitzsimmons #festival

“With a lot of touring, album and merchandise messaging it is important to keep the pages not feeling too salesy so we have been able to use some meme-type content as well as other trends to ride those waves while also keeping the pages engaging.”

“The TikTok growth has been great to see and was driven in the first instance by the Arctic Monkeys tour as their fanbase grew enormously on TikTok during the pandemic. We were able to capitalise on some viral moments including when Pelle cut his face open with his mic in Manchester and generally embrace the trending topics on TikTok and move quickly with relevant content to get the band in the conversation. The Hives are almost at 60k followers on TikTok which is more than pretty much all the band’s from their era/genre.”

The excitement hasn’t stopped with The Hive’s impressive social media growth.

As the campaign for “The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons” progressed, the band released a bonus live album as a digital pressing and hosted themed meet ‘n’ greets in the UK. We’ll be diving into those activities and more next Friday.

^{Written by Olivia Gliku}

NEWS

The Headlines

Mixing Board for Fans

The Grateful Dead are commemorating the 50th anniversary of "Wake Of The Flood" through a distinctive reissue campaign.

Fans are given access to the "Playing In The Band" online mixing board, enabling them to tailor their own album mixes.

To participate, fans need to register with an email.

As per the band's Instagram post, once signed up, fans have the opportunity to "solo and combine the album’s original multitrack recordings" and even "take on the role of any band member using their preferred instrument".

💡Insight - The Grateful Dead were trailblazers in fan engagement. They even urged fans to bootleg their gigs. With mail-order tickets, newsletters, and the iconic Deadhead fan club, they set the bar for many artists that followed. It's great to see them still finding fresh ways to connect with fans. - NL

McCrispy: LAROI's Tasty Collab

The Kid LAROI has teamed up with McDonald's to introduce a new burger to the fast-food giant's Australian menu.

Named the McCrispy, this chicken burger is set to tantalise taste buds with its RSPCA-approved crispy chicken breast and a range of fresh ingredients.

This isn't the first time LAROI has collaborated with the brand; he previously took part in McDonald's local "Famous Order" campaign, joining the likes of Travis Scott and BTS.

💡Insight - The Kid LAROI, already a global sensation and ranked #133 among Spotify's most-streamed artists, is set to become even more of a household name in Australia, thanks to the extensive integrated marketing campaign by Maccas. I'm lovin' it 🍔. - NL

Ad-Free TikTok: Worth It?

TikTok is trialling an ad-free subscription model, priced at $4.99 USD, in select English-speaking markets outside the U.S.

This move aims to enhance user experience by eliminating direct platform ads. However, influencer marketing campaigns remain unaffected, meaning users might still encounter promotional content.

Despite the global dip in online ad expenditure, TikTok's advertising revenue remains strong, with major brands such as Pepsi, DoorDash, Amazon, and Apple leading the advertising charge.

With 60% of ad buyers favouring TikTok for short-form videos, it's yet to be seen if this ad-free tier can supplement the platform's primary income.

💡Insight - TikTok stands out as a platform where brands have seamlessly integrated ads, making them feel organic and native. After all, their guiding principle for advertisers is "Make TikToks, not ads". Given this, I'm sceptical that users find the ads intrusive enough to pay for their removal. Worth noting Meta is also exploring this idea. - NL

LEARN

Top Social Apps of 2023

Navigating the digital realm is pivotal for anyone in the music industry, and understanding where audiences are most active is key.

A recent article by SocialMediaToday delves into this, providing a simple breakdown of monthly active users across major social media platforms.

From Facebook's staggering 3.03 billion users to TikTok's rapid rise with 1.5 billion, the article offers solid insights.

Check out the full article here.

FAST FACTS

Impress Your Boss with This Fast Fact

👉 Neil Young reportedly lost $300,000 USD in recording and publishing revenue after removing his music from Spotify. (Link)

As noted in Billboard, this financial hit might not faze Young. He's long been known for his stance against commercialising his music.

In his 1989 song "This Note’s For You", he famously sang, "Ain’t singing’ for Pepsi, ain’t singing for Coke. I don’t sing for nobody, makes me look like a joke."

KEY FINDINGS

Our Top Picks This Week

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ICYMI

Catch Up on Our Recent Stories

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