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Roots of Youth rocks!
By Ann Williams | August 28, 2008
Hey. I got a query from a neighbourhood (and not so local) rock band. And, along with loads of the younger generation, I really dig their music (so maybe there’s life is this old girl yet!) Their query was: “We are a punk/pop band that stands for the youth. Our name is Roots of Youth and we want to become a noted brand. Any ideas on how we can support youth charities and get maximum exposure in the process?”
Well, let’s start with a bit of an overview of some of your marketing that I’ve seen and throw in some ideas as we go along….
The first thing I was to comment on is the band itself. Your voices match well and you have smooth support with the instrumentation which gives a great overall performance. That you sing in both Afrikaans and English is a decided plus for progress in the South African market. I think you have a winning formula for becoming a noted SA pop group. Keep doing what you are doing….
The Roots of Youth website
Then on to your website (www.r-o-y.co.za). Fantastic. I am sitting with your songs playing in the background now. It’s neat and concise while still giving the visitor a good feel of where you are coming from. Two suggestions and a gripe about it:
1. Make the writing one size bigger. All of the content is in size 1, which tends to put people off of reading it. (It’s one way to get a teenager reaching for their granny’s glasses!) This is a common web designer’s practice to try and fit more into the space but it is not best practice.
2. You had a CD cut in June - but when I got to the ‘Shop’ section there is nothing there. (Is the CD ready yet?) Hey. Come on, your fans want to buy your stuff and give you some money…! Make it easy for us. If you want to get easy e-commerce (and you don’t even need to have a credit card facility) without paying an arm and a leg, then have a look at MyGate.
And then my big bone of contention here is…. You are not just a copycat bunch of musos that plays only other people’s stuff in the same old way. You have original songs that sound great and that you wrote yourselves. Come on guys, one little mention on your website that Christoff does song-writing just doesn’t do you justice. Please tell your fans more about this part of your music journey. Have a look at my previous posting about Colbie Caillat and how she emphasises that she writes her own stuff, as well as the processes that she goes through when writing.
Facebook club
Which brings me on to my next point; telling people about yourselves. You have a super group on Facebook with quite a nice fan following. But what I don’t see is regular updates from you guys and dolls. You need to recognise that you while you may not be Paris Hilton (yet), that you already have a strong fan following - and they want to know more about you. Give them more info and make yourselves accessible to them.
I see that on your site that have a section for fans to send you mail. Do you send replies back to them? (Have a look at former 007 actor, Roger Moore’s, site for a good example of this.) You could give some more of this type of personal feedback on your Facebook group. This is a great way of interacting with your target market in this age group. Work these media.
And then a last note to close…
If you want to do gigs for charitable causes I would suggest that you approach some of the social investment foundations that a number of our country’s major corporations run. (Such as the banks.) Have a look on their websites or just phone their head offices.
I can also suggest that you look at the GreaterGood SA website (www.myggsa.co.za) as this will give you a really good idea of what the major charities and charitable sponsors are doing in South Africa and you could pick up some valuable leads.
Needless to say, there are still loads of other things that can be done to market you further, but this post is starting to read like a novel. As you are in my area I would suggest that if you would like to take this a little further, that you consider coming in for a short consult.
Good luck and keep rocking!
Topics: Communications, Mini Case Studies, publicity |
2 Responses to “Roots of Youth rocks!”
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August 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am
Dear Ann
Thank you so much for your valueble insights. I will immediately discuss this with our web designer.
Our first cd was a pilot project and the cd was never distibuted.We printed 1000 and sold the lot out of hand.This cd will become a collectors item since it will not be reprinted.It was too diverse and not genre specific.When we meet I will give you one.We kept a few for ourselves.
Our next cd will actually be our debut album and you will get it everywhere.
I will contact you in due time to set up a meeting.What is your rates?
Regards
Christine
August 29th, 2008 at 10:07 am
myGate is fine if you like paying a lot in all the hidden clauses and long-term contracts.Try PriceTag - http://www.pricetag.co.za - no merchant contract required, all 4 major credit cards have the SAME transaction percentage.