In the hip-hop world, being away from the scene for five years is a near deal-breaker, so Eminem’s marketing team at Aftermath/Interscope Records had a unique challenge ahead of them: bringing back the dead. Using Twitter as a means to convey a story, something Eminem is very good at conveying musically, they were able to tell a tale in a series of disturbing and intriguing “tweets” that blurred the lines between real and fiction creating the type of viral buzz that is slated to carry the album to platinum status. There were basically two types of tweets going on simultaneously. One type was directly related to the release of the album with its accompanying iPhone/iTouch game and interactive website. While the other revolved around a haunting thought or something that would link Eminem to a mental institution/rehab facility called Pompsomp Hills.
By using this method of anticipation via intrigue, this musician was able to pre-engage his fans to talk about the experience and ultimately push them to hurry out to buy the product; a recipe for success!
Eminem is not the first artist to use new media marketing in order to engage a fan-crazed rage as you can see in the case of the “Twilight” book series , but it does take an imaginative artist to realize the power of a story and how incredible this power is for sales. This type of characteristic campaigning proves that you don’t need to be extra talented in order to bring yesterday’s news out of the closet. A compelling story and some clever marketing plotted out over a period of time will create a chattering frenzy; ultimately boosting a band or even a product like the Beanie Baby back, even if it was proven dead and gone.
-Jodi
.jpg)
