New Dylan Release Gets Viral Push
Columbia Records is looking to drum up interest in tomorrow’s release of a Bob Dylan’s greatest hits collection by means of a viral marketing campaign that offers personalized greetings from the singer and lets users customize a famous Dylan movie moment.
The campaign uses an iconic clip from the 1965 Dylan documentary “Don’t Look Back,” by filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker. The clip shows Dylan standing in an alley flipping through cards that show the lyrics to the song “Subterranean Homesick Blues.”
The viral campaign, designed by U.K.-based agency Ten4, directs users to Dylanmessaging.com, where they can put their own words on 10 cards and send a personalized video to friends. The e-mail carrying the greeting will show up in mailboxes with the tag line, “Bob Dylan has a message for you.” After the personalized message, a few more cards tell viewers that the greatest hits album, titled simply “Dylan,” is out now. Viewers get the chance to replay the message, respond to the sender or create their own Dylanesque clip.
The viral message also offers links to the official Web site for “Dylan.” Users who click through to the site can buy the set, either as a single CD, a three-CD boxed set or a digital version containing 51 song downloads. Visitors to the site can also upload fan photos, share stories about Dylan concerts and upload a widget offering a dozen videos of Dylan songs.
In addition, a software development company has turned the Dylan message maker into a Facebook widget.
Charles Stanford, Sony BMG senior marketing director of the international catalog marketing group, was quoted in press reports as saying that the campaign is intended to enhance Dylan’s appeal among audiences too young to remember his early triumphs. “We wanted to try to connect with the younger demographic,” he said.
