Rollout Roundup: Breaking Down the Best Rollouts of the Week - 11.15.24
Breaking down the rollouts of FLO, Shawn Mendes, and Tate McRae.
Welcome back to Rollout Roundup, where I break down the best (and worst) marketing rollout moves of the week. If you’re new here, thanks for reading! My name is Olivia, and I own a music marketing company called Amethyst Collab, where I work with artists on creative rollout strategies with a focus on digital marketing. Let’s dive in!
FLO - ACCESS ALL AREAS (Album)
Strengths: FLO crafted a great visual brand for this album, with their red album cover recognizable as ever, and new high quality press photos coming out consistently throughout their rollout. Their interview with The Terrell Show, which came out the day before the album’s release, gave them a great opportunity to showcase their unique personalities and their raw talent at the same time. The icing on the cake is a Cynthia Erivo cameo, who, as she stars in Wicked’s upcoming movie adaptation, narrates their intro/trailer.
Room for Improvement: I’d love for the personality content to continue. The music is checking all the boxes, and with girl (or boy!) groups, the key to unlocking super fans is to create fan favorite personality traits that vary between each member of the group. Interviews or trending social content could go a long way towards that.
Shawn Mendes - SHAWN (Album)
Strengths: The real heavy-hitter of PR moves throughout this album rollout is Shawn Mendes finally letting the public know some that they’ve speculated about for years - his sexuality. While it’s great to see Shawn be true to himself, he knew this moment would make headlines, as speculation around his sexuality has surrounded him during his career, second only to curiosity around his relationship to the leading pop girlies (Camila Cabello and Sabrina Carpenter).
Room for Improvement: I didn’t feel anything about this rollout to be unique or special, especially for such a big artist. Moving the release date around was also a bit messy, and left fans confused about his release timeline. I would suggest going all-in on some fan activations post-release to make up for it.
Tate McRae - 2 Hands (Single)
Strengths: Tate is the master of TikTok teasing. With the sound amassing an impressive 13,000+ video creates and counting before the song is even released, it’s safe to say she had success with this single too. Her use of social media is as fun and playful as her music, with her finsta showcasing a more unfiltered side of the often polished pop star.
Room for Improvement: I loved the content Tate created while on tour that showcased her bus and rehearsals. More vlog-style content from her would be a fun way to round out everything she does. Otherwise, I don’t have a ton of notes for this spectacular rollout.