Cryalot is the side project of Sarah, the enigmatic frontwoman of Kero Kero Bonito, and producer Jennifer Walton. The goal of this campaign was to establish Cryalot as a self-sufficient project with strong first-party data, and without being dependent on the marketing properties of KKB past this debut Icarus EP announcement.

Two days out from the debut single, we shared info and artwork to KKB’s socials and mailing list. The call-to-action was to sign up via SMS/ email to get the music video “drop” and future news – all powered by the CRM platform Laylo. One day out, we launched the YouTube premiere page. The EP pre-order, debut single/video and store were all launched on day three via the newly pollinated channels, along with a digital advertising campaign managed by Motive Unknown. Throughout the campaign we utilised Laylo drops to build anticipation and demand for each moment.

Cryalot’s highly creative visuals around the Icarus narrative gave lots of content to play on; from the dark aesthetic of ‘Hell Is Here’ to the bright ethereal visuals for ‘Touch The Sun’. On the release of the latter, we worked with digital creative Alice Backham on an Instagram filter layering Cryalot’s crystal teardrops and silver eyes onto fans’ faces. Sarah launched the filter and fans showed support by using and sharing it.

Cryalot were engaged across socials with regular Instagram story takeovers and inclusive Twitch streams, giving a glimpse into the Cryalot world through cryptic broadcasts, DJ sets and listening parties as the campaign unfolded.

In the lead-up to the EP release, we posted an incentive to work YouTube’s algorithm: “Tell us your worst nightmare on the ‘Hell Is Here’ YT comments for a chance to win a signed poster” After an array of responses, ranging from deeply disturbing to comfortingly familiar, Cryalot spent over an hour on Instagram Live reading out comments and interacting with viewers for an inclusive and communal experience.

We launched track-specific merchandise which helped reinforce the Icarus narrative of the EP and visual campaign. The nature of Laylo’s “drop” sign-up strategy helped set the tone within the audience for this limited, exclusive and time-based approach, leading to high click conversion rates. Focusing on the Laylo “drop” strategy also gave us the first-party data to be able to share useful insight with our live agent to confidently book shows which we could market quickly and cost effectively.