Mura Masa’s debut album was packed full of artist features from several different lanes – a major selling point for the record. To reveal each feature, the album was announced via a unique Facebook Live stream. Individual billboards for each artist were placed in their hometowns – from Guernsey (Mura Masa), through Harlem (A$AP Rocky), Nantes (Christine & The Queens) and more. Video footage of each billboard was stitched together and live streamed from the Facebook page.
Mura Masa had also produced some underground tracks that were less commercial and suited to diehard fans. To utilise these most effectively during the album campaign, the Wave/Soul M8s EP was released via a data capture free download mechanic.
An elusive URL was posted on socials, consisting of a sign-up field, which then revealed a gif of the EP artwork. When fans clicked on the artwork, tracks downloaded.
We then launched a pre-order for UK tour pre-sale access via the official UK store.
Knowing that the vast majority of this audience consume music via streaming, we also launched a Spotify pre-save mechanic for access to the album launch party. Boiler Room live streamed the event, creating noise online the night before album release.
A pop-up event in Peckham was set up across release weekend, with exclusive merchandise on sale, DJ sets and a performance. Access could be gained only by signing up to the official mailing list, and Mura Masa’s intimate set was live streamed on his Facebook page on release day.
Such an essential part of Mura’s artist proposition, and something that sets him apart from artists in the same genre, is that he is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist. To showcase this, a documentary series was commissioned to capture footage of him in the studio and on tour, with fans and collaborators. This has been rolling out as a series on Vevo and, in part, natively on socials. Mura Masa’s content posted across socials and beyond uses a very inimitable aesthetic; his gif/stereo image style content became a USP with leverageable cut-through. We utilised this across our digital ad spend strategy, most notably via a Facebook canvas ad. There was an interactive hub filled with content from across the campaign, emulating the style of Mura Masa’s Instagram profile and allowing fans to dive deep into this world. We remarketed to fans who interacted with this format with a buy message.
Content is key; there was a consistency and strength of quality across all content used, with a specific aesthetic and tone of voice that resonated with his audience and helped to create a unique digital world for fans to feel invested in.
Segment audiences for better results; by targeting our ads to distinct “tribes” reflecting the album’s eclectic flavour and features – cultural tastemakers (Christine & The Queens), hiphop heads (A$AP) and cool pop (Charli XCX) – our ad spend was much more effective.
Remarketing is essential; building a funnel to guide audiences through stages of intent is crucial. By driving awareness and engagement using the Facebook canvas ad (55k engagements @ £0.03p CPE), we harnessed a pool of engaged fans and progressed them through the funnel by remarketing to them with a sales message.
Live streaming should be a vital component of each campaign tent pole; this is the most effective way to cut through social noise and reach a digital audience.
Email marketing is not dead. Clever data capture incentives helped triple the mailing list to 14k subscribers in time for out now messaging.
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