YAHOO! MUSIC UNVEILS MARKETING CAMPAIGN FOR ITS NEW "UNLIMITED" SUBSCRIPTION PACKAGE
The following night, the same Yahoo! Music Suite was the home of a post-VMA party, hosted by Missy Elliot, one of the key figures in Yahoo! Music Unlimited’s new marketing campaign. This party attracted such guests as Alicia Keys, Kanye West, Tweet, Dave Meyers, Jessica Simpson, Nick Lachey, Common, Joss Stone, Jessica Alba, John Legend, Quincy Jones, Jeff Gordon, A.J. Calloway, LA Reid, Orlando Jones, Eddie Irvine, Nicky Hilton and Paris Hilton. Both parties were highlighted by music sets featuring playlists by such attendees as the Hilton sisters, Nick Lachey, Jessica Simpson, Jay-Z, Eva Longoria, Vivica Fox, Carmen Electra and Pharrell Williams.
Yahoo! Music used the VMAs to launch their new Unlimited service, complete with ads that ran during the televised broadcast. Of course, internet-savvy music fans were already buzzing about the revolutionary new service, which offers users the opportunity to play music from a catalog of more than one million songs and to transfer tracks to portable devices, as well as the unique ability to share and discover music with other subscribers through Yahoo! Messenger. Enhancements to the latest version of Yahoo! Music Unlimited include new homepages and significant speed and performance functionality upgrades.
"We are committed to building Yahoo! Music Unlimited into the standard online music service for digital music fans," says David Goldberg, VP and GM of Yahoo! Music. "Yahoo! Music Unlimited gives consumers access and control of their music experience, coupled with unique personalization and community features that will help them discover even more music."
The multimedia campaign—which kicked-off last weekend—includes breakthrough online media, television and radio ad, outdoor teaming, wild postings, guerilla and influencer marketing. The campaign, which was conceived by the San Francisco agencies Soho Square and OgilvyOne, features “Mini-Pop Stars”—minutely drawn detailed depictions of well-known musicians, including Green Day, Missy Elliot, Big & Rich, Ciara and others who are featured performing throughout several elements of the multimedia campaign. All the ads and marketing efforts feature the line "Over A Million Songs—5 Bucks a Month—This is Huge," which establishes Yahoo! Music Unlimited as the lowest-priced music subscription service with an extensive music library.
Yahoo! bombarded Miami with guerilla street teams last weekend to educate consumers on the benefits of the new service. Teams used Segways (including, for the first time ever, audio Segway XTs) on the beaches throughout South Beach and Miami Beach. Online ads and banners currently feature Mini-Pop Stars' songs, offering the chance to sign up for a free trial of the service. Many of the online ads feature music, animation and a way for consumers to interact and have fun with the Mini-Pops, which are being used throughout the Yahoo! network and other online sites.
A television ad featuring Green Day, meanwhile, depicts the three band members literally losing their heads, as they play their hit tune "Holiday." As their heads then find their rightful owners, a banner reads: "Lose it to Green Day—Over A Million Songs—5 Bucks a month—This is Huge."
Several of the Mini-Pop ads can be found here: http://music.yahoo.com/promos/thisishuge/
"We've gotten an overwhelming response to our innovative Mini-Pop marketing campaign,” says Yahoo! Music head of Programming and Label Relations Jay Frank. “It feels like we've finally unleashed our next wave of growth as we promote the Yahoo! Music Unlimited subscription service. This is about expanding Yahoo! Music in the hearts and minds of consumers, artists and influencers and being their #1 place for music."
Yahoo! Music Unlimited can be accessed by downloading the free Yahoo! Music Engine music management software from http://music.yahoo.com. Yahoo! Music Unlimited is available for $4.99 per month for an annual subscription or $6.99 per month for a monthly subscription. Yahoo! Music Unlimited comes with a free music management application, the Yahoo! Music Engine, which lets consumers rip, mix and burn CDs, import and manage music. Yahoo! is also offering a seven-day free trial to consumers. At present, the Yahoo! Music Unlimited service is only available to users within the United States.
