In 2013, Wilko Johnson was diagnosed with terminal cancer and given just months to live. For years, Wilko and Roger had promised to make an album together, but after Wilko’s diagnosis they decided to make it a reality and recorded Going Back Home in under a week.
The digital marketing campaign was run at a similar pace. This was a campaign of introduction and reeducation; of marketing to primary fanbases that are not particularly digitally engaged as well as converting a new and younger audience. All activations were designed to bridge the gap between the two artists’ fanbases.
Highlights
The Times+ Q&A at Brewery, London We partnered with The Times+ to organise a ticketed and filmed event, at which both artists were interviewed, providing an honest insight into the making of the record and their personal connection. The event was featured across The Times’ print and online platforms and editorial support gave the record added reach, context and meaning.
A bespoke microsite revealed content in a daily countdown by scratching images with a guitar pick.
On release day, fans gained access to an online guitar and were challenged to replicate distinctive riffs. We worked with Fender to promote the competition across their platforms; expanding the data capture opportunity and awareness of the release. (Wilko picked the winner of a signed Fender guitar from all submissions.)
Social media communications
We built Wilko’s online community from scratch – including social properties, database and new website, which allowed us to speak and listen to fans and provide official hubs for exclusive updates. The team initiated an effective Twitter crusade to ignite followers to get the album to #1 and ran competitions around the one-off live show to rewarding the loyalty and support of the dedicated followers.
RESULTS
l #3 in UK charts in week one
l Now certified gold (133,757 total sales across all formats)
l Winner of Album Of The Year at the Classic Rock Awards and Wilko was awarded the Q Icon
l #WilkoAndRogerForNumberOne trending in release week
l Wilko’s Twitter following increased by 433%
l The Who Twitter following up by 30%
l Wilko eCRM database grown by 4000% with an average open rate of 48%
l 276k Vevo views – a fantastic result for a non-traditional Vevo act
l 6k fans engaged with the guitar app
l Successes in cross-channel growth, engagement and ad interaction culminated in the astonishing chart position (Wilko’s first chart album in 27 years)
KEY LEARNINGS
By drawing on the heartfelt narrative behind the album and harnessing powerful brands such as Fender and The Times, we were able to connect this fairly specialist release with a much wider audience than would be typically possible for a record of this kind. The scheduled delivery of content was key to engaging fans of both artists and the more casual music consumer. Targeting different content to a range of audiences across a variety of platforms provided increased exposure for the album to audiences that may be new to the blues-rock genre and even Wilko as an artist.
Project Budget
Demographics
