How Daft Punk Got Lucky: PR Lessons from Electronic Music’s Dynamic Duo
Long gone are the days when you camped out overnight to pick up the hottest record. Now, we all find new music during procrastination time, sifting through SoundCloud releases, Spotify playlists and YouTube videos from the comfort of well-worn desk chairs. The need for instant musical satiation, increased competition and online pirating have made public relations for musicians, shall we say, “harder, better, faster, stronger.” Artists are forced to leverage on- and offline presence to attract crowds and sell records. It’s a daunting task, to say the least.
But seriously, guys and gals, we’ve been “up all night” jamming Daft Punk since Random Access Memories dropped a few weeks back. If you’ve been following these electronic pioneers (like, AT ALL), it isn’t hard to understand why. Perfectly released clips of funky hooks, in-depth interviews with a stellar list of collaborators and a TOTALLY planned “leak” swayed Daft Punk bystanders into brand junkies — these sheep included — in a few short months. (Not that they needed any help in recruiting listeners. Their subreddit alone has 21,248 “humans after all.”)
The recent photograph of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter playing champagne pong (Uh, amazing?) without their helmets had us reaching for our well-worn copies of Random Access Memories yet again and giving ‘em another spin. Somewhere between “Lose Yourself to Dance” and “Touch” we realized this French pair could teach us a thing or two about PR.
You see, Daft Punk obeyed a few simple PR rules that inspired us to pull out our already thin pocketbooks and put money down on this long-awaited piece of electro-pop genius. And we’re not alone — Random Access Memories has claimed the Billboard No. 1 spot for two straight weeks in a row. Not too shabby, eh?
Content, timeliness and strategy all worked in tandem to make the album’s success anything but, well, random. So listen up, marketing and PR pros! You can take notes from this duo.
Write the Hook
Like any good pop song, a PR campaign has to have a hook. Daft Punk has understood their personal hook from the beginning — music and mystery. Everyone knew they would create a dope album unaffected by egos and personalities. (It is Daft Punk, after all.) All they had to do was showcase their best and the fans would flock. With a great double mask graphic and a list of obscure collaborators, Daft Punk’s album was full of jaw-dropping innovation and seamless brand continuity. Fans just needed to know what Niles Rodgers’ magic fingers could produce and how Panda Bear’s vocals would sound vocoded. The results were truly magical.
Lesson Learned: You’ve heard it over and over, but content is king. Develop key messages that are specific to your clients and their audiences. As Daft Punk proves, that’s the key to success.
Set a Tempo
What’s a dance song without a pounding tempo and perfectly timed entrances? Daft Punk knew exactly when to release pretty much everything in their publicity plan. It all started out with hints in interviews and releases of collaborators. Then, a few months before the album dropped, teaser after teaser popped up online, whetting fans’ appetites and growing more viral each time. Take a peek at this timeline of events to see why everyone and their mama was clamoring for this record.
Lesson Learned: Timing is everything, so figure out the sweet spot of alluring and transparent. Then, stick with it.
Add Harmony
No one wants to listen to a boring melody. You need harmony to intrigue the ear! Daft Punk didn’t focus on just one channel to let fans know that their album was dropping and that it was rocking. They were featured on prominent blogs. They created mini-music videos, saturated websites with mysterious commercials, hit up music festivals and even infiltrated SNL. They hosted album drop parties with the luckiest ducks in the world sampling the upcoming ear candy. All of this on-and offline work made Daft Punk all anyone could hear or talk about for weeks.
Lesson Learned: Strategize and integrate. Enough with the mass press releases, already! Find innovative channels to share your story in a timely fashion. Know where your audiences are and cater to them on the channels they use most often. That’s how you create real excitement, whether it’s a brand or an amazing album.
All the noise paid off. Daft Punk released another album skillfully and successfully. The heavily hyped album received universal acclaim (except for Diplo’s snarky — and probably drunken — rant on its musical viability) and has been chugging along at No. 1 for over two weeks. There’s no doubt about it — these dudes have marketing chops. Their tactical decisions are the perfect case study for any musician, and really anyone in public relations waiting to “get lucky” too!
Champong, anyone?