Building Your Tribe

The band O.A.R. sells their CD on a USB bracelet. If you buy the bracelet at a show, you can come back after the show and have that night's show saved to the USB drive. They are also selling these recordings (on a USB drive) on their website for $30.

So they charge a little more to get people to buy the bracelet, but in the end you get a one of a kind product, and now you have a memory that can live on forever.

Queen Makes You Buy Without Hearing It

Queen and Paul Rogers are using a similar tactic on their new Cosmos Rocks CD. You can pre order their new CD, and in addition to the CD you receive FREE ACCESS to the Queen & Paul Rodgers "Album Club"

This means you get first crack at listening to the new album. You get previously unreleased live tracks. Automatic entry into 12 prize draws to win exclusive prize.  An opportunity to purchase an exclusive "Album Club" T-shirt.

The "album club" t-shirt is uber marketing. You've made people pay to get into the club, and then you make them pay to prove they are in the club. For more information go to www.queenonline.com

AC/DC Says No to ITunes

To the best of my knowledge you can't buy AC/DC in a downloadable version. This too me just begs to get your music stolen. If you don't provide this format in a way for people to buy, those that want it in this format will steal it from you.

Building A Tribe

Uber Marketer Seth Godin has a new book called "Tribes." You can hear Seth Introduce it at the "Marketing Over Coffee" website (a cool marketing podcast). While I haven't read the book his prelude ot the book really got me thinking. In it he states something so obvious and (for me) so thought provoking.

He said a tribe needs two things:

1. A common interest

2. A Way to communicate.

We have a common interest (the music business, selling more music, getting more fans, gigs, technology), and we have a way to communicate (voicemail, email, forums).

Many bands name their fans:

KISS- Kiss Army
Grateful Dead - Dead Heads
Jimmy Buffet - Parrot Heads
(notice the last two make a killing on tours).
Terri Clark - "Hat Brats" where she is letting them write a verse in a song, ask her questions, and other items that only members can do.
Def Leoppard - "Fan Club" (how original) $30 a year.

By having merchandise, or special names, it helps build a tribe identity. So far I've got more from the launch audio from Marketing Over Coffee, than the book, but I'm only 28 minutes into it.

Do you have any examples of tribes? How do you build your tribe of fans?
You can buy the book in iTunes for around 6 bucks

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