The marketing of Reading and Leeds Festival
Reading and Leeds is a festival which occurs annually in England, where there are two separate festivals with the same line up.
In this festival poster, we instantly get the sense that this poster was marketed towards mainstream music listeners. The three headline acts Oasis, Pulp and Stereophonics were three of the most relevant bands within the 90s and early 2000s music industry, which would grab mass appeal. Oasis and Pulp are noted as some of the most influential bands from the 90s Britpop movement, who continue this legacy to this day with Oasis being the 200th most popular artist on Spotify. Additionally, Pulp’s most recognisable song “Common People” is coming up to a quarter of billion streams on Spotify. Stereophonics played a key part in the 2000s British indie rock movement with others such as Arctic Monkeys, The Libertines and Kasabian. In 2000, when this festival was happening, this genre of music was quickly gaining traction, making the stereophonics a popular headline. Therefore, this festival mostly caters towards a mainstream audience as they want something they are familiar with and will be guaranteed to enjoy the festival. This also benefits the festival as they know there is a demographic out there for the bands that are playing. Furthermore, this means they can focus on very simplistic marketing as the bands have their own individual brand they are trying to promote.
However, due to the nature of festivals, despite being the second most popular UK festival, it may also appeal to the explorer. As the festival will want to appeal to as many people as possible, they will be displaying bands from many different genres. An explorer may use this as an opportunity to discover new music and artists outside of their knowledge. For example, they have a dance stage headlined by Black Eyed Peas, in contrast to indie folk artist Elliot Smith and nu-metal band Limp Bizkit.
Moreover, I believe this festival would also appeal to The Aspirer, materialistic people who desire to have a high status in life. By having the most relevant bands in the British music industry at this festival, they know they may invoke jealousy from others at seeing such famous people live in concert, gaining bragging rights.
The marketing of Fender
Fender is arguably the most famous guitar brand of all time. However they wouldn't have gotten there if it wasn't from the 1960s “You won't part with yours either “ campaign. This campaign was led by Bob Perine, a graphic designer who partnered with Fender many times throughout his career.
This advert uses humor to reach the audience, by creating absurd situations to be carrying your guitar in. In this advert specifically, you can see a couple on a date, a scene the audience will instantly relate to intimacy and closeness. However, between them is a guitar.
This advert appeals to a mainstream audience, as during this time Fender were establishing themselves as a household name, building a brand people can trust. This advert depicts a scene that everyone can recognise, a typical date night in the 60s, that everyone can connect with. Additionally, this advert isn’t gendered, the guitar is directly in the middle of both the woman and the man ,promoting that women can also play guitar. During the 60s, women in music, especially instrument players were extremely underrepresented, therefore this may also appeal to the reformer. Many adverts produced for this campaign are female focused and intellects will be intrigued by this new representation within marketing.
However, accepting the fact Fender weren't as well known as they are today, this advert may appeal to the explorer as they want to try new and upcoming guitar brands. These people desire new experiences and 1960s fender offers exactly that. This is supported by the slogan “you won't part with yours either” which uses direct address to entice people into using their product. The tone is inviting, people want to join the group of people who use Fender and understand why this guitar is gaining popularity.
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