Rollout Roundup: The Best Marketing Rollouts of the Week
Ranking and critiquing this week's marketing rollouts.
Because I was busy with fashion week, I haven’t gotten a chance to cover rollouts of the past couple weeks, so I made this week’s edition inclusive of some of those I missed.
Kehlani - Altar (Single)
I’m seeing many new fans emerge, and many are saying they’ve taken interest in Kehlani for the first time ever, including myself.
Strengths: Her album trailer, a few months early, was stunning and caught my attention for sure. I’ve never paid too much attention to Kehlani to be honest, but I’m definitely checking for her now. Paired with her recent increased use of social media, Kehlani surely has all eyes on her right now. Couples with a viral picture of her holding hands with SZA, she’s in a great spot right now for the next few months to really make some waves.
Weaknesses: Can we go beyond trailer and good photos/videos for this album? Would love to see Kehlani really open up and express herself through this rollout with some creative ideas that go beyond the typical major label rollout blueprint.
KBaby Keem - The Melodic Blue (Album)
This one is going to be mostly critique, because I think this is one of the best projects of the year musically, and as a new Baby Keem stan, I expected more out of this rollout.
Strengths: Social media moments. Twitter took the lead on Kendrick’s silly verse from the first single. With TikTok following the lead, Family Ties quickly began trending on TikTok. In his defense, Keem also put a lot more into this rollout than he usually does. He stopped hiding behind colorway graphics and really put himself into the creative and social/digital part of this rollout, which was exciting to see from him.
Weaknesses: The trailer felt incredibly familiar. Like the exact play has been done a thousand times before. A zoom-out of the ocean with girls standing next to you, that literally could have been (and has been, probably) done by anyone. I also didn’t see much around the rollout besides this, a lot of the anticipation was lead from Kendrick’s funky verses and the reaction they got on TikTok and Twitter. We’ve seen some of the best rollouts lately come from Columbia Records, so I know they had the talent and budget to do more here.
Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Album)
Rollout of the Year Contender
Lil Nas X just set the standard.
Strengths: A laundry list. The singles prefacing the album, MONTERO and INDUSTRY BABY have both made it on this publication before. Lil Nas X is one of the best visual artists of our generation. Let’s start with The Baby Registry: Although I didn’t love the pregnancy angle, I did LOVE how Lil Nas X made a “baby registry” with a charity to go along with each song. I love how he always adds the ethos into everything he does, and it felt like this aligned perfectly with his brand while promoting good causes. His billboards were absolutely hilarious and catered perfectly to his audience. He wrote things like “Gay? You may be entitled to financial compensation” on Billboards around LA. This was so innovative and much funnier than a regular “go stream my album” type of Billboard. The Montero Show was a funny edition, and so were all the skits he put together to introduce the singles such as a the “Industry Baby” Montero trial video. Lil Nas X had one of the most creative rollouts I’ve seen all year, without a doubt.
Weaknesses: I’m just gonna say it - I didn’t love the pregnancy thing. It felt goofy in a way that wasn’t impactful. Plus I don’t necessarily love pregnancy and birth as a joke, no sensitive shit but it just rubs me the wrong way. The rest of his rollout was so original and intentional, but this part didn’t align. His Breakfast Club interview was also a lot less eventful than I thought it would be. Lil Nas X is definitely one of those artists whose humor translates best on social media, but in this day and age that’s fine.