Inspired by an arcade takeover idea from the Imagine Dragons’ repertoire owner, we decided to re-create and adapt this concept locally.
In October, we held a free-for-all, pop-up arcade called Imagine Dragons Evolve Arcade Day at an Eighties-themed club called Cherry Discotheque. The main objective for this event was to drive album sales, increase awareness about Imagine Dragons’ latest album (Evolve) and create a distinct fan experience. Key elements of the Evolve Arcade Day were the 12 vintage arcade consoles (PacMan, Space Invaders, Street Fighter etc.), a beer pong table and an air hockey table. We wanted to make sure that the event was special for the fans.
To celebrate the band, we included special touches so fans could have the full Imagine Dragons fan experience at the event. From gifting the fans exclusive event badges to customising the drinks sold at the club (“Believer” drink and “Thunder” drink). During the event, we also conducted exclusive giveaways of the band’s merchandise and concert tickets. We also had the band record a special message for the fans which was played at intervals throughout the day.
To execute the concept, we hired a local media partner to assist with promoting and organising the event. This media partner has a strong online presence in Singapore and is deemed as the local go-to website for all things entertainment, thus we felt that they would be perfect for our target audience.
On top of organising the event, the media partner offered us media coverage on all their platforms including a header takeover on their website, Facebook page and multiple social posts. The pop-up Arcade Day yielded great results.
• One week before event: Evolve iTunes chart position within Top 10
• Post event: Evolve iTunes chart position within Top 5. Peaked at #3 a day after event. Imagine Dragons’ songs also remained in the top 5 one week after the event.
• Apart from Evolve, their previous album, Night Visions, also got back into the chart in iTunes at #34
• 1,000 new sign-ups for the Imagine Dragons mailer database • Upon announcing the event, the RSVP link had a CTR of 1,000+.
• Hiring a media partner/event company to execute the event was extremely helpful and alleviated a lot of work on our end. Tapping into their strengths (social reach, reach from website etc.) really helped amplify the event. Would seek to do the same in future.
• Creative, interesting pop-up concepts are a great way for fan engagement, even without the presence of the artists themselves.
• Creating hype and buzz with an artist-related event could be a more effective, indirect method of promoting an album.
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