For years, Def Leppard has been my all-time favorite band. They’ve risen above tremendous and unusual struggles. They’ve sold over 65 million albums and performed for over 50 million fans. I’d be willing to bet that your music collection has at least one of their CDs in it (most likely “Hysteria” – and if it doesn’t, run out and buy that, stat).
As an avid fan, I’ve watched many interviews where they have repeatedly told the media to stop considering them to be a hard rock band (they’re not – never have been infact) and that they are no where near “done” with their careers. Today, they launched the latest proof of that: “Songs from the Sparkle Lounge.”
Why am I talking about them on this blog? Because I often talk about the importance of marketing and communicating a clear, concise message. Def Leppard knows how to do that.
Albums like “Slang,” “X” and “Yeah!” all have unique sounds that still preserve the melodic rock and catchy hooks they are known for. Each of these albums demonstrates that they aren’t afraid to take creative chances and pay tribute to their own musical influences – but most importantly, each album’s style proves that their music is relevant to a modern audience. (Although I’m the first to say that there are many hits on each of those albums that deserved to make it big and never got enough air time.)
With messages like that (and knowing that radio stations will give them only a brief moment on air), marketing becomes key. Not only does the band embrace all the things we expect from modern bands (social networking, websites, blogs, microsites, etc.) but they clearly understand how to tell the world about their product. In the last week, the band released their new CD (which comes with comemorative guitar picks), scheduled a performance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” performed twice on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” (see section about NOT being a heavy metal band) and announced new songs available on Guitar Hero 3.
Now that’s marketing!
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