Last month, Macklemore’s hit single Thrift Shop went platinum. Macklemore didn’t take the traditional route to a million downloads. He’s got no label, and he raps about gay rights, substance abuse and his lyrics reference Malcom Gladwell.
Macklemore’s rise to fame has been nothing short of extraordinary and it wasn’t a fluke. He’s really good at marketing himself. In fact, most companies could learn a few things about marketing from Ben Haggerty.
1. Pick A Fight
Macklemore isn’t just an independent artist. He aggressively goes after the labels. On Jimmy Iovine he writes,
I replied I appreciate the offer, thought that this is what I wanted
Rather be a starving artist than succeed at getting fucked
Macklemore’s story has an enemy. It breeds support, his fans feel like, by supporting Macklemore, they’re sticking it to the man and helping him on his quest. He’s building his brand on the backs of the labels without having to give them a cut. Being independent defines macklemore, he’s become “that independent rapper”.
Some of the most successful startups have started out by creating beef with a bigger competitor. Just look at Uber’s all out war with Taxi Commissions, Box’s fight with Sharepoint and Salesforce’s battle with all of software. Companies like WePay are defining themselves by their competitors and using it.
2. “Leave No Seat Unsold” (Start small and build your tribe)
Macklemore and his producer Ryan Lewis recently explained that, “the idea is to have 300 people at a 300-capacity venue who loved it, then the next time there we can do 600 to 1,000 and you go and grow from there”. Instead of going for broke all at once, they slowly built their tribe piece by piece.
Etsy didn’t launch with a million sellers on day one. They built a community bit by bit. Airbnb started out pitching “ninth graders with three readers”. On the other hand, Airtime did the opposite, they blew millions of dollars on a star studded launch. Instead of carefully building a community, they saw a blip on the first few days and a slump ever since. Color, had the same problems.
Gary Vaynerchuk is the posterchild for this. When he recorded his first winelibrary video he didn’t have a million twitter followers. Gary built his following day by day over the course of 5 years.
3. Be outlandish (design is marketing)
Macklemore doesn’t look like Jay-Z or Eminem, or any other rapper. He’s known for his hipster look, a love of outlandish thrift store clothing and an obnoxious fade haircut. He’s setting himself apart through his looks.
When you look at companies like Pinterest, Wander, or Branch one of the keys to their successes have been interfaces that feel like works of art.