CASE STUDY:
There's more to marketing music than just making music. It's important for a musician to establish a "brand" early in their career. Funny enough, a solo musician or musical group often has an established musical style by the time they start to play professionally: It might be popular music, jazz, country, rock, folk, dance, electronica, or something entirely original, but it's a preference they establish early in their learning stage. Gearing a clients branding design often goes hand-in-hand with their chosen style of music. For instance, creating a Heavy Metal look of gothic and black may not be the best idea for a country and western entertainer.
Wesley Cole, a fantastic young jazz-funk-groove bass player, and Berkley School of Music alumni, understands the importance of a quality brand: "Not only does the music have to be great," says Wes, "but my audiences' perception of (me and) my product must also instill a positive feeling."
Wes contracted Virtual Pictures Company (VPC) to develop a unique and postive brand that would reflect who he is and what he does. One of the design suggestions that Wes conveyed to VPC was his affection for the design simplicity and color palettes of 1950's jazz albums. It was a great suggestion and provided a solid direction for us to explore. Below, are a few of the 50's jazz album covers we looked at for direction - below that is the finalized logo and event poster design we completed for Wes.
Final logo choice and promotional poster:
One important tactical promotional venue for marketing a musical talent is video. Video has become a major vehicle in establishing a musical identity and gathering a larger audience. Below, is a 20-second, animated introduction VPC created for Wes' band, Cole-Collective. This intro will be be placed at the front-end of each of their perfomance videos - again,solidifying their music brand to their audience, and potential audience.
Introductory Animated Video Intro: (Click here to view the animation online)
Establishing a successful brand takes constant attention, refining and development. As we continue to develop Wes' brand and promotional materials we'll be sure to show you our efforts
For more information on Wes' band, Cole Collective, visit his main website at: http://ww.cole-collective.com, or his MySpace page at: http://www.myspace.com/colecollective.
If you think Virtual Pictures Company can help you with your branding or visual marketing needs, please don't hesitate to contact us via email or by telephone: 602.432.0428. If you have a few moments, please visit our online portfolio: Product Visualization | Animation | Video | Branding | Print | Web Marketing | Music