How Do You Stand Out in the Digital Age? With Print— Lessons From a Rock Band Using Print Marketing

March 24, 2022

It’s not easy to get people’s attention in this fast-paced information-overload environment. On any given day, online users likely interact with dozens of advertisements, online recommendations, or cleverly disguised sales pitches. So how do you get your brand to stand out? Creators and business owners have to get creative when looking to get their audience’s attention and make a lasting impression. This is where the power of print can really set you and your brand apart.

One rock and roll band figured out how to get their fans’ attention in a unique and unexpected way. Want to know how?

Here’s how this print postcard campaign got everyone talking.

How One Rock and Roll Band Took Postcard Marketing to the Next Level

Good print marketing tactics emerge in any industry. Whether it’s a tech start-up, up-and-coming company, established or well-known brand, or a rock and roll band. For almost 20 years, the indie rock band Arcade Fire has been surprising music fans with original and inventive musical performances. The band’s fame comes from their ability to reinvent themselves and compose unique musical landscapes that bend the limits of the genre and maintain the distinct and dazzling Arcade Fire sound.

At the same time, the band is also well-known for its marketing tactics and a clever approach to keeping fans interested in an oversaturated market. Whether it’s performing while wearing giant paper-mache masks of themselves, writing fake news stories and reviews about themselves, creating a fake band name and website, or building a site where fans can become nostalgic over their childhood homes, Arcade Fire has always found a way to make people pay attention.

Their fans have been patiently awaiting a new album since 2017 and Arcade Fire was not about to release it without piquing everyone’s interest first. There’s a lot going on online, after all, and not making a splash can simply see an album release go unnoticed. So how did they do it?

In 2022, mysterious postcards began to appear in the mailbox of fans across the country. The postcards were simple, playful, and mysterious. In typical Arcade Fire fashion, they had a simplicity to them without foregoing the power of the cryptic message.

What did the Postcards Contain?

These mysterious postcards were a simple white background and the words We Missed You at the top. Below this are several lines of musical notation on a treble clef. The music appears to spell out a specific melody that—to those that can read music notation— provides a musical teaser they can decipher and bring to life on any instrument.

Why is this Good Marketing?

Instead of reaching their fan base through online means, the band bypassed the noise of the digital world for something far more personal. They sent out one out of four postcards to fans that had previously purchased from the band and—in that sense— knocked on the door unexpectedly. Each of the postcards seems to contain a piece of this new melody, and this led to the fans themselves posting videos about the mysterious cards online and generating even more excitement about something that is still yet fully to be explained. The band used their already existing fanbase to create buzz and do the promoting for them.

Fans even began playing the musical notes on their instruments and trying to connect the dots for themselves. As it turns out, parts of this album were recorded right here in El Paso, Texas!

What Marketing Lessons Can We Learn From These Innovative Artists?

Whether you are into indie music or not, the tactics and fresh approach to marketing can serve as inspiration for changing things up in your marketing game. So, what’s one way you can stand out and catch your customer’s attention? By putting a personal touch on some well-designed print materials.

Lesson #1: Print can catch people’s attention in a unique way. When you have a well-crafted message and a good design, your print materials will catch a person’s attention more than any digital ad. People are oversaturated with digital advertisements and have learned to ignore them, but something they can touch and hold might just dig a little deeper and make a lasting imprint.

Lesson #2: A clever design says a lot about your brand. The visual message is part of your brand. Crafting an effective message can be visual and textual. Sometimes, less is more. As we saw with the surprise postcards, it didn’t take a lot of writing or complex drawings or images. Simplicity targeted at the right audience goes a long way.

Lesson #3: Print is not dead. The very oversaturated nature of the internet means that there are opportunities to stand out with the right strategy. Print is a great supplement to any online marketing efforts your business may undertake, but it is not to be discounted. According to Finances Online, print marketing drives stronger brand recall.

Here are some more statistics cited in the article to back that up:

82% of consumers trust print ads the most when making a purchase decision
Combining print and digital ads, it can make online campaigns up to 400% more effective

Take Your Marketing to the Next Level. Print With Style & Reap the Benefits

Regardless of your type of business venture, you can benefit from beautiful print materials such as postcards, flyers, posters, and more. In the end, good design and clever messaging are effective in any medium. The print legacy lives on as an outstanding way to build your brand.

Have an idea you want to bring to life? Universal Graphics can help your company make eye-catching promotional and print materials. Give us a call and learn more!