Accidental Branding Case Study: Gorillaz
By April on Oct 27 Filed In Austin, Texas, Live Music 1 Comment
Have you ever “discovered” a band that had actually been around a long time, but for some reason or the other, you avoided it like the plague? The Gorillaz were just that band. I have friends that really dig them, but I guess I just didn’t give them a chance until they started popping up in my Pandora stations in recent years. You’d think as much as I love me some new wave, that I’d be totally interested in any band lead by Blur front man, Damon Albarn. Well, now I am. In fact, he’s my latest crush, right up there with Lorin from Bassnectar, James Murphy and Jack White. The dude is a genius. But more on that in a moment…
When I saw that they were coming to Austin, I jumped on the chance to pay a lot of $ to see them with some friends, fearing that it could be my only chance. Without studying up on them and being happy with the amount of music by the cartoon-character lead band that I had heard, my roommate and I headed out on our bikes to the Frank Erwin Center. DANG! After N.E.R.D. got the crowd going, the stage lit up in blue with giant letters that spelled out the band name, the cartoon story and music began and soon we were all looking and listening to a GIANT Snoop Dogg welcoming us to the world of the Plastic Beach.
Photo by Jermaine Calvin
From this moment on, we were completely captivated and engrossed in this fictitious world full of 2-D, Murdock, Noodle, Russel, Bruce Willis and more. Have you ever been lucky enough to see Pink Floyd live? They work really hard to get you to focus your attention on the music and the show as opposed to what they are doing on stage. I got the feeling that Damon Albarn prefers to operate the same way. As the man behind the curtain, Damon is able to control every bit of what we, the audience see and hear coming from the stage. There were so many musicians revolving around that it became impossible to count everyone up there and Damon was the one responsible for orchestrating the whole show. It was mind blowing. While dancing and watching the show my thoughts kept drifting back to work and the wonderful world of marketing. Why is this happening when I’m surrounded by my friends, incredible music and a complete spectacle? Because the Gorillaz are a brand and the Maestro makes sure that you and everyone present know who’s world you are entering. The giant screen had some of the best animation I’ve ever seen and mixed throughout all of the cartoons was the name, “Gorillaz”. At one point, towards the end of the show a giant, “I <3” flashed on the screen directly over the branded marquis. Was this sneaky? Maybe, I looked around when the “I love Gorillaz” sign flashed to see if anyone else was excited as I was by this surprise and uber intelligent branding, but apparently I was the only one in section 62 that appeared even outwardly aware of this amazing marketing. And yes, I was clapping like a crazy person. Crazy-in-love with how ridiculously savvy Damon is where branding is concerned. If you were there did you notice the overt branding? If so, were you offended by it? I wasn’t offended at all and actually became even more in-love with the Gorillaz and feel like they helped take the folks in the audience from “fans” to “family friends” in one set. Can you name another band that has successfully pulled that off without making you gag? I honestly can’t.
Photo by Amy Cavender
As a person who admittedly went into to this pseduo-blind, not only was I blown away by the (easy) marketing efforts by Damon and The Crew, I was also completely moved by the two last songs that went together, “Don’t Get Lost in Heaven” coupled with “Demon Days”. Just writing about this song, all of the hair on my arms is standing on end and I honestly feel like it was a life changing song. (It’s going on my “Mid-Life Crisis” mixed “tape”. Yup, that’s how rad it was!) How many times in your life do you come across a brand, a band, a song or a person that seems to show up just when you need them to? This is one of those times and I’m glad that I could be a part of the show/life-changing event.
Curious about the set list? Check out what my buddy @AustinBloggyLimits had to say and share. Also check out the photos that the rad folks from the Austinist posted.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by April Riggs, Sweet Leaf Tea Co.. Sweet Leaf Tea Co. said: Wondering how seeing the Gorillaz live could spawn a case study on branding? http://bit.ly/as4yNl Luv 2 @Austinist & @Austinbloggy [...]