We were launching Power Punch, the second album for Owiny Sigoma Band – a band made up of members from Kenya and London. The record was being marketed to a fairly niche audience – an edgy subsection of the world music market, which exists in small pockets across the world. We wanted to build on our online profile from the first record. The band had not really engaged in social media on their first record – there was no website, Facebook fan page, Twitter account or email database when we started this campaign. We were also working on a very limited budget, so had to be creative about what we did to market the record.

Video creation:

We focussed our marketing campaign around creating really nice and sharable content for YouTube. On the first record we had created some content using the UK-based musicians. For the new one, we announced the record with a short video (created in-house) with Joseph and Charles – the two African band members talking about their instruments, which are very antiquated and unusual. Then Louis the bass player from the band brought us a brilliant video he had made using footage on his iPhone, shot on tour. We posted this on YouTube and it went viral very quickly, including getting a great reception in Kenya, where young people are very connected.

We made a further two videos for the campaign – one shot in Zanzibar when the band played a show there and a third actually shot specifically for the video – all on iPhone.

Finally, two live videos were shot at soundcheck for the band’s sold out show at Village Underground.

Streamed show:

We partnered with Boiler Room to stream a live show during the tour. Unfortunately Boiler Room’s internet failed during the broadcast. Luckily we were able to cut our own version of the day for YouTube.

Database creation:

We ran a free download with email to unlock via SoundCloud in the run up to the album campaign.

We also had free download codes with vinyl formats (single and vinyl album), which provided additional data collection opportunities.

Website:

We built a Flavours.Me website in house which costs £20 a year and was easily adaptable to act as a hub for all the activities around the band.

Facebook campaign:

After we set up a Facebook fan page for the album, the band were asked to support Atoms For Peace on their European tour, so this was the perfect opportunity to grow their fanbase. We targeted Atoms For Peace fans in each city on the tour for a few days before and after each show, to either watch a video or like the page. We also targeted areas of key support for the record – BBC Radio 6Music listeners, Songlines readers etc.

Instagram:

The band embraced Instagram and the aesthetic worked great, providing fans with lots of real-time insight into events, such as the Atoms For Peace tour, travelling to Zanzibar etc. We synched the Instagram to their Twitter and Facebook, giving a great flow of content. Hashtagging: The album title, Power Punch, provided a great hashtag for all the Twitter mentions of the band’s content, thank yous to key supporters, plus Instagram content.