Artist Case Study

1. Artist Case
Study
Launching Plan B’s album

2. UK music acts have been some of the
most quickest to embrace social media
marketing - often as part of a multi-media
strategy - to increase word of mouth,
sharing and positive interest in new
releases. The launch campaign for the
Plan B album, Ill Manors, was a good
example of this: it was powered by
traditional and digital media working in
tandem. The Ill Manors album was
written as the soundtrack for the movie
of the same name which the artist wrote
and directed. There were five main
components used to engage fans of the
unique hip-hop act:

3. Plan B
• A ‘tweet to unlock’ campaign promoted via TV and online video pre-rolls where the hashtag
#illmanorsalbum unlocked pre-released tracks.
• A ‘Tag London’ campaign where fans tweeted their opinions on the social and political climate
using the hashtag #ILLMANORS. Subsequently, these were projected onto the Houses of
Parliament, Olympic locations and other iconic London venues.
• More than 100,000 fans took part in the album’s launch party. This was streamed live online via
YouTube.
• Online, mobile and in-game advertising via PS3 and Xbox provided platforms for teasers and
homepage takeovers using music, games, film and lifestyle forums.
• Fans could vote for their favourite album track on Facebook to win tickets to Plan B’s performance
at the iTunes Festival.
• The combined impact of the various initiatives resulted in 5.9m Facebook fans, 342,000 Twitter
followers, 8.3m YouTube views of new album content and a boost in sales.
• Ill Manors became Plan B's second number one album in the UK, and was nominated for
numerous best album awards including at the Brit Awards, the Mercury Music Prize, the MOBOs
and the Urban Music Awards.

4. Artist Case
Study
Newton Faulkner - broadcasting the studio
Zoo

5. • Faulkner and his label, RCA - part of Sony, decided
to open up the recording process, making it visible
via cameras that were accessible on social media
channels.
• The 24/7 feed kept fans interested even in the
technical demands of recording, thanks to a
concerted campaign by Powter, Livestream and
RCA.
• In the five weeks of the live stream, the Newton
Faulkner experiment attracted more than 50,000
visitors to Livestream and generated 505,822 page
views. Vistors came on average for more than 11
minutes and 6% bought from the site. The
initiative also created 10,000 Tweets and brought
the artist another 2,120 Twitter followers.
• Guitar virtuoso Newton Faulkner had accumulated
two number one releases, multiple platinum discs
and a nomination for the Brit Awards, the UK
music industry prize, by the time he was ready to
record his fourth album.
• The artist's challenge was how to innovate with
the new release and engage his social followers in
the lead up to the new album's launch.

6. Compile your own
example of an artist
case study.
This must be a
BRITISH ARTIST!