Wielding 'Narrative' as a Tool for Marketing

In some past thread, I explained the 5 promotional mix viz

- Advertising

- Personal Selling

- Public Relation

- Direct Marketing

- Sales Promotion

So, Narrative as a concept falls under Public Relation and I daresay it's something we don't do well enough with.

We hear of publicists and our understanding about them seems to just revolve around ensuring that media personalities have every material they’ll need to splash an artist across [relevant] media platforms. For this piece, I’ll be talking about one job that actual publicists do that isn’t lauded enough – showing you why hiring one really isn’t a waste of time or resources as many will think. 

Honestly, this piece isn’t about publicists who don’t exactly understand the scope of PR in its entirety. I think there’s been more focus on them and less of what actual publicists do, for this set to learn from. 

Typically, publicists work to get exposure for artists through press features, interviews, reviews on certain platforms, news relays, press releases, radio airplay and all that jazz. For publicists, a database of media contacts and their relationship/reputation with each of this contact is their biggest resource. This should be at the fore, if you’re looking to give that role a shot. But you know, Publicists also help shape your story in a way that interests people, showing them who you are, why you matter and why they should give you an audience. 

One of my favourite things that actual publicists do is helping artists find unique spots and juicing up the theme of specific project, event etc. You know in cases where a song or project can be all over the place? How publicists dig deep into the material or process to tap into interesting, workable angles and sell it to the press is intriguing - and said project starts to make sense, even in cases where it relatively is not all that. Publicists can whip out a story about the recording process and couch it in a way that makes perfect sense. Storytelling[Narrative] is a tool. 

In Marketing, Brand Identity is how you want the public to perceive you and Brand Image is what the public thinks of you. Ideally, these two concepts should stay married up. Hence, it's the onus of a Publicist [who knows their onions] to help artists hone in what their brand represents per time and how best to convey it to the public. This is ensuring the artist’s brand image and brand identity are in sync across the board ranging from their online socials, offline activities etc. Of course, the clearer your brand, the very best. This requires a level of work and meticulousness per time, reason why you might need experts to step in at some point. 

Getting to the crux of this writing - How can Artists work with Publicists to leverage their Narrative in Marketing.

I think it’s unfair of artists to recruit the service of publicists, throw caution to the wind, expecting the publicist to go figure things out or work magic because “they’ve been paid”.

Actually, a good PR execution is one where the artist works hand in hand with the publicist, providing every bit of information for smooth sailing. Publicists can help artists weave an appealing narrative enough for anyone to pay attention - sometimes before the music even - but the artist, in his own part, has to be committed to the process. 

While the typical form of promotion [advertising] is important, artists neglect subtle elements like developing a narrative, crafting an image to build affinity. Adding to the usual promo practice, the way you tell your story per time can resonate with people and in turn influence them to check you out. Truth is, many people have amazing music but for some, their narrative is what makes the difference. 

Now, a Narrative is not your biography or something that lies around on your streaming or social profile. It is something about you that pulls people on a more emotional or intimate level. It could be about  what spurred your desire to be an artist, how you got to this present level, the challenges and how you ro(i)se above them, where you’re headed, your interest, passion and how they shape you as a person/artist.

Please, note that you’ll need to balance between revealing too much and teasing vulnerability, using your narrative. An artist narrative is never-ending as they experience something new everyday. Here, Oxlade is one artist after my heart. His narrative resonated with me before the music and he hasn’t stopped. 

For some, the narrative is what draws them to the artist or the particular music; it's psychological. Your music will not always be first to work the magic, sometimes your narrative will. 

For specific projects, being able to describe the process of making the music is just as important as making the music. What inspired the music, was writing the music in response to an event you experienced, where and when did the idea hit and how did you take it down, what were you feeling or going through at the time, what’s the connection between you and your collaborator(s), how did it happen, what was energy in the room like. These are amazing stories that furthers your promotion. Many artists after exhausting their ad budget often go mute or stop talking/posting about the project because there’s really nothing more. Why?

Let these discoveries, processes guide your promotion leading to the release and after release. 

This is an underrated form of marketing. 

Your narrative also makes the job easier for writers, journalists - who are in the business of telling stories. Of course, they’ll listen to your music, post a press release or possibly review; but they also need a hook to make these articles come out well and artists with a well-crafted and interesting story sure piques their interest. When asked or talking about the inspiration of a project, by all means, develop a series of anecdotes that reveal something about the music, artist or process. For interviews, recycle these for each but be careful to make sure they do not sound rote.

Note that your narrative cannot be made up in one sitting. It unfolds over time and it's on you to take down the ones that matter. And honestly, your narrative doesn’t have to be groundbreaking or pathetic. Some artists seem to be fortunate to have interesting backstory - while that’s relative, it shouldn’t matter to you. Just zero in on your unique aspects. Write these things down and you’ll be surprised that many of the things that seem ho-hum to you could be fascinating to someone else – positive or negative. It just should seem sincere enough - even if you’re tweaking.