#2 A Focused VoiceĪnyone who’s participated in a creative brainstorm can relate to this one. In an era of information overload, Jay-z’s subtle advertising minimalism prodded audiences into heated social media engagement and speculation about some…well…thing. This, coupled with a short, intriguing spot during the NBA Finals, formed the perfect combination of breadcrumb trail and style. Mysterious ads surfaced across New York billboards and subways throughout June, emblazoned with only the ominous 4:44 on a stark orange background. #3 Provoking CuriosityĪ few weeks’ notice was all Jay needed to build a huge amount of anticipation for 4:44. In turn, they increase the breadth and accuracy of any proprietary metrics pulled from their CRM, thus creating more targeted opportunities to turn leads to customers.
By marketing the album and 6-month trial as free gated content, Tidal’s classic give-to-get vastly kicks up their subscription numbers and expands their customer database. To access the album, all Sprint customers had to do was supply an email address and enter a Sprint passcode. Meaning the album release boosted Tidal subscription numbers (for the time being), but also created a value add for existing Sprint Customers, while attracting new customers to both platforms.
4:44 was first made available June 30 th on Tidal, but a free 6-month trial for the music streaming platform was extended to all existing Sprint customers, meaning nearly 60 million customers were given free access to the album, plus an additional 6 months of free high-fidelity streaming. In January of 2017 Sprint acquired 33% of Jay-Z’s premiere music streaming service, Tidal, for a neat $200 million. If you’re ready to peep that higher-level game, here are five marketing lessons gleaned from the rollout of Jay-Z’s latest album: #5 Cross Promotion I’m here to examine how Hova leads a revolution across an industry. Radio personality, Charlamagne tha God, sums that up better than I can: “Stop talking to me about 4:44 Album if your credit score not a 700 or better tho.”īut I’m not here to look at the Jay-Z phenomenon from that perspective. I suppose if you’re looking for inspiration in terms of building your neighborhood weed peddling gig into an empire, 4:44 is an album that you can not only enjoy musically, but also learn from. I turned my life into a nice first week release date” “Y’all think it’s bougie, I’m like, it’s fineīut I’m tryin’ to give you a million dollars’ worth of game for $9.99 “You wanna know what’s more important than throwin’ away money at a strip club? Credit” Take your drug money and buy the neighborhood, that’s how you rinse it” “Please don’t die over the neighborhood that your mama rentin’ Not shy about schooling folks, Jay-Z includes sage financial wisdom in his song “Story of O.J.”: The Jigga Man has managed-and I do mean, managed-to grow his financial portfolio to an estimated $810 million through shrewd business acumen and raw talent. The confessional nature of the album is an interesting addition to the year’s list of hip hop inventory, blending intense personal rumination with adept readings on others, (“ But I could see a side-eye in my sleep”) especially newcomers to the music hustle.Ĥ:44 provides a unique glimpse into the mind of an artist who has maintained front-and-center relevance longer than anyone in the history of hip-hop. Long-suppressed thoughts tend to bubble to the surface over the course of 4:44, rapper Jay-Z’s latest release. Welcome back to EarShot, a periodic treatment of music, musicians and branding.