Though some people don’t tend to realise, it’s very common for a band or artist to have a ‘brand image’; despite this term being better associated with products such as Coca Cola or Heinz, it is being increasingly acceptable to apply it to musicians. This is because musicians and artists have themselves, in essence, become a product to sell. Recording companies are finding it ever more difficult to get their bands into the eye of the consumer because there is such a diverse and confusing blur of talent to choose from, which is constantly being laid out in front of the music consumer. This incredible variety makes it difficult for one band to be put above the rest and made more notable, this is why brand image has become more important over the last decade or so, because it makes an artist more relatable to a certain niche, and excels their appeal with that consumer group.
To demonstrate this, I’m going to analyse the ‘brand image’ of The Hoosiers, a relatively recent London-based band (their debut album was released in 2007), made up of three males, who to date have released two studio albums, fall under the pop-rock genre and are with the RCA Label Group. The Hoosiers, despite only having two albums, reinvented themselves (musically) between the making of the two; during the release of their first album their image was deemed ‘less conventional’ by some, and potentially more naive. The singles ‘Worried About Ray’ and ‘Goodbye Mr A’ from their first album were popular, the first reaching fifth position in the UK charts, and the second fourth position. Irwin Sparkes the lead singer of the band, appeared on ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’, a BBC music quiz programme, at the time hosted by Simon Amstell. On the programme, Sparkes was questioned about the band’s claim that they had invented a new genre of music: Oddpop. To this, Sparkes replied “Well, we basically invented sound.” Despite the comment being in good nature and not meant to be offensive, it still reflected the naivety of the band and how new they were to the whole business of being in the charts; suddenly thrust in the eye of the media.
Their first album cover was cartoon-orientated and distributed in four different colours. Named ‘The Trick To Life’, it portrayed the band’s desire to be seen as creative and playful but also smart too. The artwork was very abstract with intertwined semiotics related to the lyrics of songs in the album, for example just below the centre of the cover is the silhouette of a rabbit which can be linked back to the third track ‘Run Rabbit Run’. This meaningful and well-thought design represented The Hoosier’s desire to be seen as more than a mediocre pop band, and one which took care in their music; musicians who were ‘smart-casual’ and wanted to appeal to a grown-up audience.
In August 2010, their second studio album ‘The Illusion of Safety’ was released after the band’s reinvention of ‘a more conventional pop band with electro influences’ (according to ‘The Hoosiers’ Wikipedia page, October 2010). Just like the first, the cover was a complete cartoon with no inclusion of the members themselves, choosing to focus instead on the meaning behind the album name with semiotics and interpretations of lyrics. The bold, block shapes used had connotations of the band’s creative flair, and ability to have fun, which continued their image of ‘young, cheerful and contemporary’, appealing to their audience of young adults in the 22- 35 age range.
‘The Hoosiers’ continue this ‘brand image’ in their music videos; earlier videos were still playful and inventive but lacked a certain element that showed the band as confident in themselves as a legitimate pop group. Those videos released alongside ‘The Illusion of Safety’ filled this gap through the unique and experimental narratives which exuded the confidence they had gained since their debut album. To illustrate this, I’ll briefly explain and compare two of their videos, one from ‘The Trick to Life’ and one from ‘The Illusion of Safety’, whilst all the time making note of their ‘brand image’ and how they create and maintain it.
Video 1: Worst Case Scenario
(Track 2 on The Trick to Life)
This video is very focused on effects and band performance; there isn’t a defined plot to it and manages to defy Goodwin’s theory on the functions of music video. The fact that they have created such an unusual video by using only transition and optical effects alongside live shots of them playing, portrays their brand image of creative; they ignore the stereotypical forms of the pop genre and take an alternative approach. Most of the mise-en-scene is all the same (wood panelling), it’s the band’s costume and the colour used in them which provides a different view for the audience. By wearing fashionable clothing dubbed ‘geek-chic’, we see their attempt to connect with the interests of a young audience and target themselves at young adults who’re on-trend, and under Young and Rubicam’s Psychographic Profiling seen as ‘aspirers’. By keeping to a similar theme and limiting the dimensions of the video we see their lack of self-esteem, though the video is different it is still restrained.
Video 2: Choices
(Track 1 on The Illusion of Safety)
The ‘Choices’ video is built on a narrative, a definite plot is made for us and a story mapped out with the band members as the central characters. By taking on a greater role than their previous videos (they progress from playing their instruments which is their comfort zone, to acting and performing), we see the members become more confident with expressing their style of creativity. In comparison to Worst Case Scenario, the mise-en-scene, in particular the location and costume (both are linked to a theme and have a more obvious purpose than to be fashionable), are far more advanced than beforehand which again reflects this new found stability in the band’s campaign to create their identity. The Hoosiers want to express their modern-day image, and the way in which their music is fun and charismatic but sophisticated. They do this by the complex video plot, character/artist performance and experimental yet thoughtful mise-en-scene.
In summary, The Hoosiers’ brand identity is playfully sophisticated, they use cartoon designs for their album covers to express their individual creative style rather than using photos of themselves in an attempt to market the members instead of the music. With a target audience of young adults in the 22-35 age range, the band market themselves as alternative and cheerful through stylish gimmicks (in quirky music videos) and intelligent semiotics (on their album covers) to appeal to that audience.
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