Kanye West promoted his single "All of the Lights" through limited edition posters in his hometown of Chicago and an impressive music video directed by Hype Williams that received heavy airplay. He also collaborated with prominent rappers on an exclusive remix that expanded his fan base. Drake promoted "Marvin's Room" with a darker, relatable music video that portrayed heartbreak realistically rather than flashy stereotypes. He conducted an informal YouTube interview to seem more down-to-earth. Covers of the song by JoJo and Chris Brown introduced Drake to new audiences and positioned him as equally talented.

1. Advertising Campaign 1 Artist: Kanye West Single: All Of The Lights

2. Kanye West – All Of The Lights Prior to the release of his single “All Of The Lights”, West released a limited run of posters, depicting him in his hometown Chicago with typical Chicago weather. This can be seen as an attempt to set up a strong fanbase in his hometown as well as reminding the audience that West has not forgotten his roots. This makes the star seem less like a celebrity and more like a real person, which would cause the audience to want to buy the single more as they understand it’s just his way of making a living.

3. As a further promotion for his single, West also released an impressive music video, directed by Hip Hop music video legend director Hype Williams. A visual accompaniment to the song is useful as it invaded TVs world wide, and not a day could pass that the video didn’t make an appearance on the music channels. Constantly seeing such a memorable video would get the song stuck in the audience’s head and thus make them want to buy it even more.

4. DJ Semtex (of BBC Radio 1Xtra) is seen as a leading authority on what’s hot in the hip hop world, and covered both the production of the “All of the lights” video, gave an album review and also introduced us to an exclusive remix West made with fellow rappers Lil Wayne, Drake and Big Sean – the latter is also signed to West’s label. By incorporating these artists, West can incorporate their fans into his already substantial following. Coverage on Semtex’s blog throws the release into the public eye, especially in the UK as West would have to cover all countries for the release to be a success. Undoubtedly, several other blogs such as WorldStarHipHop put West in the spotlight during the single’s production and release.

5. Advertising Campaign 2 Artist: DrakeSingle: Marvin’s Room

6. R’n’B star Drake, fresh from the success of his debut album Thank Me Later, is soon to be releasing the first single from his follow up album Take Care – Marvin’s Room. The song is a slow, heartfelt, emotive piece depicting the artist’s heartbreak with an unnamed woman, and the video is suitable. No flashy, conventional R’n’B video parties but rather Drake has chosen to go for a darker, more real party environment which will help the audience relate to both his lyrics and the concept behind both the song and the video, increasing sales when the single is released. He does not sport typical genre-stereotyped jewellery but is dressed in simple clothing, further increasing the audience’s ability to relate to him and want to help him progress professionally by buying the single.

7. This is a screenshot from a YouTube interview with Drake uploaded on the 23rd of June, 2011. As we can see, the interviewer is not a professional, there is no flashy setting or background, and the YouTube channel name is imbedded in the bottom left of the screen. This is an important feature, as it brings the artist down to a more human level, in-fitting with the single’s theme. During the interview he talks about how the songs he makes are for people who “drive around on the streets, thinking about life” and this sense of being the same as one of his fans is a recurring theme that Drake uses deftly to increase album and single sales.

8. With permission from Drake, female artist JoJo made a cover of Marvin’s Room which shows a similar heartbreak but from a woman’s perspective. This makes both versions more accessible to both sexes and perhaps even boosts Jojo’s popularity. Furthermore, R’n’B superstar Chris Brown also covered the song, which aids Drake as fans from both Jojo and Brown will be introduced to the artist if they didn’t know him already – similar to Kanye West’s remix of All Of The Lights. Relating the high quality of music made by Chris Brown to Drake is also going to aid in sales as fans will see Drake is on the same level talent-wise if not even higher.