MusicBizAdvice.com
Case Study: Why Bon Jovi is Music Business 101
by Randi Reed
Research Assistance: The fans at Backstage with Jon Bon Jovi
PART TWO
One of the secrets to Bon Jovi's business success is that unlike many
artists, they're never afraid to be the first to try a new technology or
marketing method to reach their fans. In fact, they welcome it--which isn't
to say due diligence isn't applied; it definitely is. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't. The point is, Bon Jovi have the guts to be pioneers,
while many other artists stand on the sidelines watching to see if it works
out. Just some of
Bon Jovi's many "firsts" are:
-
Being one of the
first artists--if not the first--to enlist fans to help make one of
their videos. For their "Bad Medicine
 " video the band invited fans to
the video shoot, handed out additional video cameras for fans to keep,
and collected the resulting footage at the end of the night, which was cut
into additional footage shot by video director Wayne Isham.
-
Pioneering the
American XS Serialization Program for their Bounce album and tour, in
which each CD contained a unique PIN that the consumer could register
and use to log on to a special website for exclusive downloads, video,
and VIP concert tickets. A lawsuit over the rights to the technology
ensued and Bon Jovi were caught in the middle, but fans liked the
content nonetheless.
-
In the early '90's,
Bon Jovi was the first artist to sell merchandise on a cable shopping
channel (former manager Doc McGhee did the honors--not the band itself).
Then on April 12, 2003 Bon Jovi took it a step further and appeared on QVC for a nationally
televised live performance from the sold-out Bounce tour, with a
Limited Tour Edition Bounce CD & DVD/VHS package featuring previously
unreleased performance footage sold on QVC. Over 30,000 copies were sold
during that night, and although reviews on this marketing method were
mixed, we at MBADC think it took cajones to try it. Other artists such as
Shania Twain and Neil Diamond followed suit and appeared on QVC as well.
-
On September 18 2002,
Bon Jovi's concert at Shepherds Bush Empire in London was the first
"live, interactive event across a cinema network." The event was
broadcast to 25 venues across Europe via satellite and high-speed cable
connections and marked the first time fans at various venues could
communicate with each other on the venue screens via text messaging. The
Shepherd's Bush Empire webcast had over one million viewers, and 375,000
viewed the event live.
-
In 1995, Bon Jovi
performed the first-ever outdoor street performance on The Late Show
with David Letterman. In 2000, Bon Jovi and David Letterman teamed up
again for another first when Bon Jovi performed the first rooftop show
at The Late Show with David Letterman.
-
On September 5 2002,
Bon Jovi made history by opening the NFL season with a kick-off concert
in New York City's Times Square and helicoptering over to Giants Stadium
to perform at halftime at the New York Giants-San Francisco 49ers game.
It was the NFL's first-ever Thursday kickoff, the Times Square
performance drew more than a half million people and the performance was
shown in a live half-hour special on VH-1, and Bon Jovi was the first
artist ever to perform at Giants stadium during a New York Giants game.
-
On the Bounce tour,
Bon Jovi introduced new technology by being the first artist to use a
new type of LED video screen on
tour.
-
On November 21, 2004,
Bon Jovi was the first artist to do a live concert on Samsung's
INHD/INHD2 High-Definition network channel, paving the way for other
High Definition music programming.
-
On September 19,
2005, Bon Jovi was the first artist to play at the new Nokia Theatre in
New York City's Times Square. The event was carried around the world via
live webcast, was simulcast to movie theaters across the US and Canada,
and employed multiple new technologies.
Bon Jovi and their team
are especially adept at marketing synergy. In addition to the
above-mentioned campaigns, during the course of their career the band has
also teamed up with companies such as:
-
Target (releasing an exclusive CD of previously unreleased material that
could be purchased exclusively at Target stores, filming a commercial that
showed the band in the studio, and doing the band's first in-store
appearance in over a decade)
-
Duracell (filming a commercial for its
Longlife batteries which were used to
power the band's wireless mics, and offering coupon savings on the band's
Bounce CD)
-
Volkswagen (who marketed a Bon Jovi edition Golf in the 1990's)
-
MTV (among other promotions
with MTV, when Jon Bon Jovi bought his parents a new
home, their old home was sold to MTV to give away in a contest) and VH-1
(among many other events, VH-1 once had a contest to win a backyard BBQ
featuring
a concert by Jon as the entertainment)
-
The NBA
-
The Arena Football League (as one of the owners of the
Philadelphia Soul,
Jon Bon Jovi brought a new female audience to the fame and teamed up with
MTV's The Real World Philadelphia to build a playground
for underprivileged kids as part of the Soul's
community service arm)
-
and in their
latest partnership,
Major League Baseball.
-
The current
Smirkwatch campaign, developed by ad guru
Donny Deutsch's
company, is synergy at its best, tying in the concept of the album cover
art, the "Have a Nice Day" video (in which the smirk appears everywhere
including a crop circle) with a page of downloadable, printable smirks fans
can plaster everywhere. Taking it a step further, fans can then upload
photos of the places where they've left the smirk (who, by the way, is named
Joe V), ultimately bringing the
concept of the video into reality. The combination of fun and Jersey
attitude matches the band's image perfectly.
-
The synergy continues as Sprint mobile phones are used in the video, and
Sprint will provide telecommunications for Bon Jovi's Have a
Nice Day tour...including a tour bus fully equipped for wireless
communication .
When Bon Jovi can't be the
first to do something, they're not adverse to
being the last. Bon Jovi played the last two shows at the historic Wembley
Stadium before it was torn down to make way for a new Wembley stadium.
And finally, sometimes Bon Jovi even have it both ways: As the most popular
American band ever to have performed at the old Wembley Stadium (5 times
during their career), during the forthcoming
Have a Nice Day tour Bon Jovi
will also have the honor of being the first artist to perform at the
new Wembley.
Additional research:
Bon Jovi.com
Editor's Note
04/2006: Although the new Wembley Stadium was booked and
confirmed as the venue and tickets sold out, the venue will not be
completed in time for the band's early June UK run.
“Having closed the original Wembley
Stadium, it would have been a fitting honor to open the new one," said
Jon Bon Jovi in a March 31 press release. "However, the most important
element was always the live concerts themselves. So while the location
may have changed, the celebration will remain the same. Thank you to our
fans - for your loyalty and your patience." Jon
went into more detail in a letter to fans on the Backstage with Jon Bon
Jovi website, along with a quip about offering to have the 144 thousand
ticketholders bring paint brushes to make the shows happen. The shows
that were to have been at Wembley Stadium were moved to Milton
Keynes, June 10 and 11, 2006, with the original tickets being honored.
Part 1 |
