To help promote rap artist Busta Rhymes' new album, Elektra Records, New York, is conducting a promotional e-mail campaign which will offer consumers the chance to create their own customized music CD from his back catalog once they have purchased his new album.
Consumers who order a copy of Rhymes' new album, titled “E.L.E. — The Final World Front,” from participating online music retailers between Dec. 9 and Jan. 15 will be eligible to take part in creating the customized compilation CD. Participants will be able to choose four songs from a group of 10.
Ken Krasner, president and co-founder of Electric Artists, New York, an Internet marketing solutions provider for the music industry, said consumers will be contacted through an e-mail message 48 hours after they order the new album.
Custom digital product creator, CustomDisc.com , Stamford, CT, will send the message containing a Web address where customers can reach an information page. Customers will also be given a unique password they will have to use in order to verify their purchase.
The page will instruct consumers how to create and order up to as many as five customized discs. Each disk costs $4.99 plus shipping and handling.
“The unique aspect of this campaign,” Krasner said, “is that it gives us a way to drive awareness of the new album while stimulating sales of the artist's back catalog.”
Krasner said he doesn't plan to base the success of the campaign on the number of albums it helps to sell, but will be more concerned with how well it works for consumers.
“We only had a week to implement the entire program after it got the green light,” Krasner said. “The success of this campaign is going to be measured by how good the customer service end of the program is conducted. We want it to be a seamless experience for the consumer. If we feel it is successful in that aspect, then I plan on using this style of campaign in the future.”
The campaign is going to be promoted heavily throughout the sites of participating partners, which will include online music retail sites as well as music destination sites, said Krasner. Among those participating are Tower Records Online (www.towerrecords.com), Trans World Entertainment (www.twec.com), Borders.com, SonicNet.com, Launch.com and Ticketmaster Online.
