Analysis: What can retailers learn from the One Direction marketing machine?
The music business' response to the challenges posed by the digital revolution offers useful lessons for retailers.
You might not think, at first glance, that One Direction's teenage fans have much in common with the average supermarket shopper. But the music and retail industries are in fact facing a range of similar problems.
While retailers have been busy dealing with Amazon and other etail leaders, the music business has faced innovations such as iTunes, Spotify and the problem of illegal downloading. Its response is illuminating.
The digital revolution hit the music business harder and faster than almost any other sector and as a result it's now teeming with ideas about how to react. The industry has had to rethink how it makes money, and much of its response has focused heavily on how it markets products.
Dino Myers Lamptey, head of strategy at media agency The7stars, which managed the recent campaign for Daft Punk's new album, says the tide is finally beginning to turn. "In recent years, marketers in the music industry have gone beyond accepting their fate and have begun to rewrite the rules on how the industry operates and communicates, and sales have finally begun to rise once more," he says.
That was recently demonstrated by the furore surrounding the release of the One Direction film 1D: This is Us, a feature-length movie about the boy band that shot to fame after appearing on The X-Factor.
For an act that began as an X-Factor loser - they came third in 2010 - One Direction have amassed quite a following.
Between them they have close to 25 million followers on Twitter and they have even managed to crack America. The extent of their popularity was particularly clear on the night of the film premiere, when 70,000 fans turned Leicester Square into a makeshift campsite.
So how did the marketing machine surrounding One Direction achieve this? Mark Hardy, a former Syco/Sony Music Entertainment marketing director, says there was a carefully planned strategy: "The essence of the strategy was not to position One Direction as demigods, but as 'my mate' the girls could have access to 24/7." The boys underwent extensive social media training and the fans - or 'Directioners' - were routinely asked to make decisions for them, such as what they should wear. Hardy says it was all about interaction and collaboration and "making the boys feel really accessible".
But he observes that success often boils down to the strength of the product. He says, for instance, that Daft Punk's recent success with Random Access Memories, which became the fastest-selling album of the year, was down almost entirely to a "brilliant" song - the group's summer hit Get Lucky.
But Myers Lamptey argues that the success of Daft Punk's album wasn't all down to the strength of the product.
Retailers struggling in the face of digital growth and showrooming should take note. Adam Graham, chief executive of creative agency Weapon7, points out that, although the ultimate purchase may not be made in the bricks-and-mortar store, "it's still a massive advantage and should be viewed as an opportunity to build an emotional connection".
Some have done this well, he says, again mentioning Apple.
But Graham believes others have either gone too far or done too little in terms of store experience. "Burberry I'd say is too 'out there' and doesn't offer a useful customer experience," he argues. "It's difficult to get what you want despite the iPads and the big screens, which actually get in the way. And yet Burberry is in stark contrast to places like Argos, where the store experience is less than warm." What retailers need is something between the two, he advises.
He advises retailers to think of shoppers as fans, and says music does a good job of offering gradation of products according to level of involvement, which means the creation of exclusives or special editions for the most passionate fans. He says retail marketing communications can lack the sense of authenticity or connection that they have in the music world, and warns that communications in retail can be ham-fisted in execution.
An intuitive approach, added value, alternative streams of revenue and meticulous execution - the music industry has learnt a lot over the past few years, and much of it is applicable to retail.
Think beyond existing business models. Bertrand Bodson, digital director at Argos, says it took the music industry "a very long time to accept that the world had changed".
Make use of video to produce interesting, relevant and useful content. Adam Graham, chief executive of agency Weapon7, says that most retailers still don't understand how to use video effectively.
Don't overlook the importance of the 'live' store experience, nor of the product itself. "Apple offers that live, experiential feel. It's about freeing up the stores to be fun," says Mark Uttley, former vice-president of insight for Sony Music International.
Ensure communications feel authentic. Jon Stanesby, director of strategic services EMEA at marketing cloud software and services company Responsys, says that New Look is using Twitter to talk about industry news and to comment on events in a 'human' way. "It's accepted that a brand tries to sell, but that shouldn't be what the communication is all about," he says.
Consider fuelling demand with one-off, time-limited or exclusive deals. Dino Myers Lamptey, head of strategy at media agency The7stars, says fans and consumers enjoy being the first to find, receive, and share content.