Stir Crazy

http://www.guerrillafreelancing.com/standing-out-and-selling-records-in-a-downshifting-record-industry/


Taking a bit of a break from the normal designer/illustrator/writer/programmer, I would like to discuss a really creative and out of the box guerrilla marketing tactic being utilized by a hiphop group. I stumbled across an article earlier today that stood out to me and I knew that I had to share it with my readers here to show you just exactly how out of the box you can think while still selling items and making a name for yourself at the same time.

Dood Computer and Stir Crazy are two hiphop artists from New York and Detroit who got together and put together a project titled Penny Dreadfuls. The beauty of the project is not the style of their music or the quality of the lyrics, but this:
They put the album out as a cassette tape with a free download coupon inside of it.

In a day where the music industry is downsizing everything and focusing on itunes records instead of putting out an album worth buying, Dood Computer and Stir Crazy took it back to the age of Cassette tapes. But why is this a good idea?

People love retro items and love the ‘old school’ feel that a cassette tape gives. The target demographic will see this as a middle finger to the music industry, the ‘big wig’ execs and the direction that music is going now and will eat it up in the process. But they make the intelligent move of not just putting the $6.00 tape up for sale – they also give a coupon inside that allows you to download the album for free.

So, instead of just putting the album for free on their website (or charging the $6.00 to download it) they’re giving the buyer a piece of memorabilia that they can keep with them forever while also giving them the option to download it and put it in their ipods/mp3 players.

I did a bit of searching and found that getting 250 cassette’s printed up from a printing company can range anywhere from $250-$400 depending on the duplication process and extra items you’re after. So, if they’re spending $1.00 per cassette and selling for $5.00 profit – they’re making a killing on a product that most people would have otherwise just downloaded and forgot about.
Another piece of their marketing

Below is a video they put together with stop motion photography, which adds to their marketing campaign. The style of the video and the items inside the video are perfect (again) for their target demographic. I give these guys 2 thumbs up for the creativity they show here and wish them the utmost success. I’ve not heard of them before today, but I am a fan.