6. A music campaign promotes an artists product and it is a combination of a
website, an album and a music video. The overall aim of a music campaign
is to create awareness and demand.
8. A$AP Ferg’s genre of music is hip-hop/rap. We know this through symbolic
conventions relevant to mise-en-scene and costume. For example, A$AP Ferg is
wearing a large chain and a do-rag in the video of ‘Plain Jane’.
A$AP Ferg’s costume in this video adheres to the conventions of hip-hop/rap
confirming the genre of his music for the audience.
9. Target Audience
I believe A$AP Ferg’s target audience is males from the age of 16 - 25 years old. This is
because hip-hop/rap tends to appeal to males due to themes of violence and anger. He has
been promoting his album through the use of social media such as Facebook, Instagram and
Twitter and this was an effective choice as statistically the majority of people who use social
media are 16 - 25 years.
10. A$AP Ferg’s USP
A$AP Ferg’s USP is that he is ‘brutally honest’ in the music he writes and he
is also extremely musically versatile. A$AP Ferg is also part of the ‘A$AP Mob’
which is an exclusive hip hop collective which has helped to make him
extremely popular.
11. Links Between The Three
Products
The links between the three products is that the website is used to promote
both the album and the artists music videos. The music video is used to
promote the album and show audiences more about A$AP Ferg as an artist
with an overall goal to increase sales.
12. What Is Similar Across All
Three Products?
The similarities across all three products is that A$AP Ferg is present in all of the
products. A$AP Ferg is present in the homepage of his website, is present on his
album cover and he is present in his album.
13. The Ideology of A$AP Ferg
A$AP Ferg’s ideology is that he wants to stand out and be different. He wants to make music
which is honest and sends a message to the world. He wants to make music the way he
wants to with no rules.
‘I want to give the people Ferg. Cause they’ve never seen Ferg. And that’s the excitement of it’.
14. Richard Dyer’s Star Theory
Richard Dyers star theory suggests that there are 3 main features that make a star.
The Star as a construction
The images of the artists that we are shown through advertising, television, magazines and more have
been created by their management.
The Star as a commodity
The star has been constructed by their record label to appeal to their target audiences. Certain music
magazines feature bands old artists on the front cover as their image becomes the commodity that will
attract the target audience to buy the music magazine.
The Star as an ideology
This is what the band or artist represents and believe in, they could make this fit the target audience to
gain a larger audience.
15. Richard Dyer’s Star Theory
Fundamentally, the star image is incoherent, that is incomplete and ‘open’. Dyer says that this
is because it is based upon two key paradoxes.
Paradox 1
The star must be simultaneously ordinary and extraordinary for the consumer.
Paradox 2
The star must be simultaneously present and absent for the consumer.
16. How Has This Campaign Constructed
Richard Dyers Star Theory?
This theory applies to A$AP Ferg’s campaign as A$AP Ferg is extremely
independent. Ferg strongly believes in his ideologies and applies it to his
music. He is not afraid to say what he is thinking. He represents the star as
an ideology.
17. Difference Between The
Products
The difference between the products is that an album contains the music of A$AP Ferg and
the albums artwork, the website is a digital platform that aims to promote A$AP Ferg’s music
and him as a person, and lastly the music video is there to engage the audience, to promote
A$AP Ferg’s track and to overall create a star image.
18. Was This A Successful
Music Campaign?
Overall, I believe this music campaign was very successful for A$AP Ferg. This is because the
album reached number 5 on the American iTunes chart performance and songs such as ‘Plain
Jane’ have had nearly 240,000,000 million views.
