1. What does this band’s mise-en-scene
What does this band’s mise-en-scene
suggest about their musical
suggest about their musical
genre and target audience?
genre and target audience?
3. Why study ‘In Rainbows’ as an
example of a marketing strategy?
• To understand the impact of digital
technology on the 4Ps of marketing
1. Product
2. Place
3. Price
4. Promotion
• To evaluate the success of this strategy
4. 5 things you may not
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk
- Creep
know about Radiohead
• Radiohead are an innovative and original British band from Oxfordshire.
• They met at independent school and have an intellectual approach to their music.
This appeals to fans who are interested in non-commercial music.
• They were discovered as a result of playing gigs in local venues around
Oxfordshire. It took 10 years for them to gain critical acclaim and to win awards.
• Their first single, ‘Creep’, was blacklisted by Radio 1 for being too depressing.
• In 2004, Radiohead left their label, EMI (now part of UMG) and were without a
record label.
• In 2007, Radiohead released their new album, ‘In Rainbows’, as a pay-what-you-
like digital download.
5. 1 Product
• Radiohead’s seventh studio album
2 Place (distribution)
October 2007
•Distributed online as a digital download for its first 10 weeks via inrainbows.com
November 2007
•Pre-orders taken for a limited edition boxed set via inrainbows.com
January 2008 onwards
•Official digital download withdrawn.
•Physical CD released – XL Records involved in its distribution in UK and Europe
•Digital download via iTunes at normal prices
6. 3 Price
• Digital download = £0.00-£99.99 – depending on what you
want to pay
• Limited edition boxed-set: £40 ordered via inrainbows.com
• Physical CD = usual price
4 Promotion
• Launch announced as a blog post
• Streamed live webcast of the Radiohead performing the album
• Music video competition via an animation website
7. Did it work?
• Gave the artists control over the release of the
album: “every record for the last four … has been
leaked. So the idea was like, we'll leak it,
then.”(Thom Yorke, lead singer)
• Created interest for a successful physical release:
charted at number one both in the UK and in the
US;
sold more than a million copies in its first year of
release;
won 2 Grammys and had 3 Grammy nominations
8. In summary:
• An innovative marketing model:
– Online launch before traditional formats were released
– Consumer choice with regard to pricin
– Gained huge quantities of media coverage – print, radio and TV – because people did not know whether it
would work.
• Effective because:
– Band were well established
– Digital formats were becoming commonplace
– The target audience is young; technologically aware; willing to try new things.
• Broke the mould for music industry marketing
– Band controlled the 4Ps themselves – created the product; set the price; decided on the place (distribution
channels); and organised promotion
9. Task:
• New blog post – title =
Radiohead: ‘In Rainbows’ Marketing Strategy
• Go to Public – Media Studies – Mrs Gardiner
• Re-title this powerpoint and upload it to your blog.
Add a summary that answers these three questions:
1. How did Radiohead use digital technology in their marketing strategy for
‘In Rainbows’?
2. Why do you think this strategy worked well for Radiohead’s fans?
3. Radiohead created this strategy themselves. They used record labels for
production and distribution of physical CDs only. What is it about
Radiohead that meant they could they do this? (Think about number of
albums already released, prior success and their attitude to music.)
10. Task:
• New blog post – title =
Radiohead: ‘In Rainbows’ Marketing Strategy
• Go to Public – Media Studies – Mrs Gardiner
• Re-title this powerpoint and upload it to your blog.
Add a summary that answers these three questions:
1. How did Radiohead use digital technology in their marketing strategy for
‘In Rainbows’?
2. Why do you think this strategy worked well for Radiohead’s fans?
3. Radiohead created this strategy themselves. They used record labels for
production and distribution of physical CDs only. What is it about
Radiohead that meant they could they do this? (Think about number of
albums already released, prior success and their attitude to music.)
