AMINAL’s motto states that all efforts to categorize the genre they play in are futile and that it is “their sworn duty” to melt their audience’s face. Indeed, the “molten rock”, as they call themselves can be used to define the style of the band and, thus, its appeal. The somewhat careless attitude towards what and how they play does not make the band appear uninteresting to the public; it is the part of the style they consciously use to attract new audience. In crude terms, people enjoy seeing a bunch of regular-looking dudes play cool music and not present themselves as stars, which helps in creating a closer connection between the band and the listeners; in other words, merging music, the art, with regular life.
Strengths: bond that AMINAL are able to create with their audience. Weaknesses: despite rather unusual genre definition, the band’s music does not present serious innovation. Opportunities: ongoing popularity of rock music as well as companies and services committed to catering to indie bands’ promotion needs can help AMINAL increase their brand awareness. Threats: the market is oversaturated with numerous indie bands playing in similar genres and often having similar sound; the quality of the material AMINAL and many other similar bands produce is not commercial, so there is a good chance AMINAL’s voice will drown in voices of their peers.
Audience demographic: mostly male, single, medium or low income, 20-35 years old, high school education, employed at a small local business, freelancers or self-employed. Geographic targeting: local area with potential further expansion to the regional population. Target audiences’ lifestyle mostly revolves around work and home with not much social life going on, therefore, many of them prefer to spend a night or two per week in a local bar. Younger part of the audience may be interested in performing and is likely to be learning how to play an instrument, usually, a guitar.
The basic elements of the product and the intangible benefits that help form connections with the audience are:
Easily relatable and non-pretentious music (the benefit is that it is still hard-hitting upbeat rock songs);
The performers themselves, maintaining stripped-off approach when it comes to their on-stage personas, in other words, being themselves, (thus, easily forming the connection with their audience);
The audience is likely to associate AMINAL with words like “raw sound”, “easy going”, “noisy (in a good sense)”, “careless”, “upbeat”. The style AMINAL play in is suitable for small bars or venues where the space is tight, which allows for a strong connection between the players and the public because the former basically immerse themselves in the crowd surrounding the stage. An optional alternative source of income for a band like AMINAL would be to host open and private drums, guitar and bass lessons for the local community. There is a constant demand for musical tuition and this could serve as another way to promote the band’s music.
As a young band, it is preferable that AMINAL make use of DIY release approach. Many indie bands that are beginning to make a name for themselves in their local area are now releasing their albums and EPs online, usually on Bandcamp because it is the biggest and the most acclaimed platform for independent and small-label music nowadays. In order to withstand the competition it is sensible to put out albums on pay-as-you-like basis. There is not much sense in putting a predefined price tag on the album because many bands nowadays release their music for free and the value they offer does not differ from the value AMINAL’s music has, and there is no point for the listener to pay for it if it is possible to obtain the same value for free elsewhere. The useful thing about Bandcamp in this case is that it is possible to let people download music in exchange for just their email addresses which can generate a substantial addition to a band’s mailing list. It is possible for a band with a decent following on Bandcamp to sign a deal with an indie label and keep releasing their music online at the same time benefiting from label’s marketing outlets.
For small bands like AMINAL the best promotional tactics is to play shows regularly at any venue that will have them. Since no label supports the band yet, little that can be done in terms of mass marketing. The point of frequent participation in shows is to increase brand awareness and make the band easily recognizable among the lineup of their peers. The simplest way to measure the effectiveness of this “play-everywhere” strategy is to count the number of people attending the shows. People tend to share things they like with their friends, so if all goes well for AMINAL, the number of visitors at their shows should increase.
Since AMINAL’s promotional campaign is aimed at population in the local area, additional ways to promote the band are local newspapers, radio and TV shows. The message conveyed through these marketing outlets should be purely emotional, aimed at engaging the audience by presenting them with a sample of emotions they can experience at the band’s live show. A significant part of AMINAL’s target audience are savvy Internet users, so it would be unwise to leave out this means of promotion. It is possible to merge digital and real world in this case by placing some stickers with QR codes outdoors which, when scanned, will lead to band’s website with the dates of the upcoming shows in the area on the front page.
First of all, AMINAL should spend some time and probably money to develop and put up a decent website online. The page on Reverbnation is not appropriate for a band serious about their promotion although it may seem like a convenient option for those who have no skills or resources to get a website. The features that have to be available on the website: shows schedule with the ability to see detailed information about the show, such as the location and the other bands that are going to perform there. The second important thing to have is embedded player with the latest/best songs (Soundcloud so far is the most convenient tool for this). The website also must have links to band’s social media accounts, such as Facebook and YouTube, at the very least. Facebook is primarily used to maintain and develop relationships with the current fanbase while YouTube can be successfully used to keep the buzz up when it comes to releasing an album or announcing an upcoming show (by posting excerpts from the studio or rehearsals).
Milestone 1: play 5 shows in the upcoming month.
Milestone 2: release a 4-track EP in 2 months.
Milestone 3: release a second 4-track EP 2 months after the first one.
Milestone 4: play at least 30 shows till the end of the year.
Marketing goals for the next 5 years:
Sign up a deal with an indie label.
Get 5000 active followers on social media.
Co-tour the local area with another local band.
Marketing goals for the next year:
Get 200 followers on social media.
Film a music video or at least create a lyric video.
Get at least 500 views on it.
Marketing goals for the next 3 months:
Arrange an open music class with the band members as tutors.
Get a publication about the band’s last performance in a local newspaper.
