The HOW and WHY behind ‘The Beat Goes On’
A brand new music culture report by Prism Sport + Entertainment and VML powered by Audiense data
About VML
At VML, over 300 years of experience is combined with cutting-edge technology to drive innovation and growth. As a unique fusion of creative agency, consultancy, and technology powerhouse, VML delivers end-to-end solutions across communications, commerce, CRM, CX, data, and more. The goal is to create meaningful consumer experiences and foster a culture of connection and inclusion.
The Challenge
One of the primary challenges faced by VML London and Prism was the oversimplification of the concept of "super fans" in the music industry.
Brands often treat super fans as a homogeneous group, overlooking the nuanced differences within various fandoms. This misinterpretation makes it difficult for brands to effectively engage and monetize these diverse audiences.
Additionally, traditional survey data provides only a snapshot of audience behavior, failing to capture the dynamic and multifaceted nature of social interactions and preferences.
This limitation hinders a deep understanding of fan communities, which is crucial for targeted marketing strategies.
The Solution
To address these challenges, VML and Prism collaborated on a data-driven approach to dissect and understand music fandoms.
They developed a comprehensive methodology that utilized diverse data sources, including social media interactions, search data, and WPP’s BAV. By leveraging tools like Audiense, they were able to capture every interaction, click, and like, providing a more complex and detailed picture of fan behavior.
This approach enabled them to identify and analyze over 600,000 fans across 45 different artists, revealing more than 200 distinct fan communities. This data-driven insight allowed them to understand the unique characteristics and preferences of each community, providing a foundation for more effective and targeted marketing strategies.
The Results
The implementation of this innovative methodology yielded significant and impactful results.
- VML and Prism were able to uncover surprising insights, such as the distinct differences between the fan bases of seemingly similar artists like Kendrick Lamar and Future. These insights demonstrated that engagement strategies need to be tailored to the unique preferences of different fan communities.
- The report generated considerable interest both within VML and from external clients, leading to new business inquiries and enhancing the agency’s ability to deliver scalable and evergreen data-driven solutions.
- This approach not only improved the targeting and effectiveness of marketing campaigns but also highlighted the value of detailed audience segmentation, ultimately driving greater engagement and brand loyalty.
Why not let the team behind this success speak for themselves?
Victoria Hoyle
Social Insights Director | VML