5 Seconds Of Summer Analysis

With over 7.7 billion people in the world, the number of musicians has been found through research to be around 10% of the world’s population. Through further analysis it is found that the music streaming app Spotify holds over 2 million artists. Most people’s source for music is the top 100 charts. Where the top 100 songs of the month or year are broadcasted for the world to see. This means that only 0.005% of artists on Spotify have the chance to make the chart. Through advertisement in the app, on YouTube, Instagram and television advertisement artists hope for the chance to see their name on this chart. The band 5 seconds of summer (5sos) uses clever advertisement to have achieve this goal multiple times and acquire a large fanbase that continues to grow. The band's choice of advertising their album ‘Youngblood’ over a variety of media platforms, conflicted their built identity and developed new ways of interaction between them and their audience.

‘5 Seconds of Summer’ used a diverse selection of media advertisement which portrayed to their fanbase that they were contradicting the brand identity they held for themselves. Before Youngblood, their IVI was kept very simplistic, with a teenage rock feel, that created a refreshing sound within the music industry. However, the Cantineco states, “The release of 5SOS’ 3rd studio album ‘Youngblood’ marked a shift in direction musically and aesthetically. We created a multilayered campaign to re-engage the existing fan base whilst reaching new audiences using a more mature style and vision.” Their main way of advertising was a 7-part video on YouTube and Instagram called Cocktail Party. In the seven-episode series, the band is shown drinking cocktails while discussing their album Youngblood. In each episode they focus on two songs within the album discussing their meaning. This caused viewers to begin discussing the new marketing they had presented. After a 3-year gap of music publication the demographic of their target audience had changed. This caused an alteration in their advertisement as they continued interaction with their original fans while bringing in a larger range of listeners. As said by lead guitarist Michael, “(the song) Youngblood is probably my favourite song… it feels like a throwback, but it also feels modern at the same time.” Through this simple statement it is implied that the band is taking risks musically by producing new elements while still keeping true to their original style. This achieved a new fanbase that held an interest in the newer components while still keeping their existing fans interested. Additionally, with the release of the new album the bands original aesthetic changed. In order to fit their new fanbase they adapted their visual elements while still incorporating new styles and colours. For example, the album covers evolved from being very simplistic with black and white features and a single pop of colour. Youngblood conveys a bright cover, with warm tones making the visual more appealing. Through these new additions of multi-platform advertising, 5 Seconds of Summer contradicted their original brand identity.

‘Five Seconds of Summer’ uses new media techniques to develop new ways of interaction with their fan base. The new selections of media caused their audience to feel involved in the new album’s production. The 7-part series was a new addition to their advertising campaigns, creating an unexpected element for fans to interact with. An additional advertising technique was the interaction through twitter. Small video teasers and release dates were published to the band’s twitter accounts, leading to viewers discussing what they believe the rest of the song would be like. As viewers begin to talk between their friends about this teaser, new people will watch it, causing news to spread fast through the audience. Furthermore, the band decided that to spread the video even further, every interaction, be comment or like, would get an automatic response from the band. Whether it be a thank you or a gif, people began interacting with it to see whether the rumour was real. As more interactions came through, it became a ‘viral’ tweet that was soon on everyone’s page, Instagram and snapchat, purely through audience reposting. This was a new technique they trailed that was successful in marketing despite relying on their fans to share the video. Another carefully thought out interaction with the audience was the flash sales of merchandise. Ashton Irwin said, “One of the things I love most about 5SOS is being a part of creating extensions of our music, like merchandise that represents our fans and band.” The flash sales were brief and were quite confidential as it showed their new aesthetic, again providing their audience insight into the new plans that they have instore. ‘Five Seconds of Summer’s’ carefully chosen marketing techniques to engage their fanbase after their break, uses unseen ways of interaction to develop a connection with their audience.

Through contradicting their original brand identity and creating new ways of interaction, ‘Five Seconds of Summer’ was able to successfully market their new album ‘Youngblood.’ Through their new choice of aesthetic and multi-platform marketing, it is evident that their brand identities no longer suit the bands new music due to a new fanbase being formed. Their new choices of marketing have additionally created a new connection with their audience. The choices of brand and interaction resulted in the band being a part of the 0.005% of users on the number one chart. Furthermore, their advertising resulted in ‘Five Seconds of Summer’ reaching number one on the chart, despite a lack of musical production for 3 years.