It gives me great pleasure to announce that today’s Brand Champion of the Day is Erik Jeffries. Erik is a guitar player for the emerging Indie band, A Shoreline Dream. I have known Erik for a number of years, having crossed paths on many brand development projects. Recently, I discovered Erik is in a band. His understanding of brand is exemplary, and his passion for music is infectious. For that, Erik Jeffries is the Brand Champion of the Day. Here is what Erik wanted to share with us about what it means to be a brand champion for A Shoreline Dream.
“The band was founded in June 2005. People describe our genre of music as atmospheric, melodi-psyche or shoegazer (those who never look up). You might think of our music as momentum building, and then the sound falling off. One of the first things we did was to form our own record label. We did not want to go the traditional route of most bands, where we play a ton of venues and hope we get picked up by a label. We wanted to control our own destiny from the get-go, and we have. We have found that it is often easier to get an audience with key influencers such as magazines, retailers, musicians, producers and others because we can approach them as a label, rather than just the band.
In terms of brand positioning, we have created an identity that evokes the same emotion as our name and our music. We also align our visuals with our brand. We even created song titles with the theme of coastal cities. Just like any other business, we understand the importance of targeting our markets. We distribute our music through Landmark Theatres, Urban Outfitters, Tone Vendor and other companies and media outlets that appeal to independent consumers. Our approach is often guerrilla marketing. It is not uncommon for me to leave stickers or postcards on airplane seats, and to promote our band on appropriate social network sites and blogs like MySpace and Last FM. In our industry, it is not cool to be mainstream, but often that is the goal. I call it popularity through obscurity.
Also, like any other business, a key to developing your identity is by way of co-branding with influencers or other well-known brands in the industry. A great example is that we recently collaborated on a track with Ulrich Schnauss. We wrote a track and sent him the digital files and then he added his work to the piece. We then worked with Kramer, previously recognized as Rolling Stone’s producer of the year fame, who mastered the track. Not only does this allow us to work with industry leaders, but helps us enhance our brand. This June the track will be released, and we will be touring with Ulrich in Texas this July. We have also composed music for North Face and other companies for their training and development seminars and websites. This allows our brand to reach traditional markets.”
Erik, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today, and best of luck on tour!
I want to commend the 19- member mountaineering team who lit the Olympic torch last week at the summit of the 29,035-foot-high Mount Everest. As the torch was lit, team captain Nyima Cering yelled, "One World, One Dream," the slogan for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I am not always big on slogans, but that one I love.
