OK I admit it, I love Def Leppard – I think they’re a brilliant British band who have survived the sorts of personal and professional turmoil that would of forced most other bands to pack up and go home.
Alcoholism?
Yes
Drugs?
Of course
Death?
Absolutely
Car Accidents Where Drummers Loses Limbs?
Hasn’t every band?
Not only that, but despite playing the sort of music that’s about as popular as a red-haired stepson these days, they’ve continued to sell millions of albums and concert tickets all around the World.
In short, they deserve respect, not ridicule.
Anyway the reason for this post is that I’ve just seen they’re using quite a novel approach to launch their new single – they’re doing it via the game Guitar Hero.
Now I think this is a very interesting move – not just because it’s the sort of strategy that will gain them a bunch of free ‘media’ exposure – but because the Guitar Hero game series is enormously popular so it will give the band the sort of ‘publicity/awareness’ that previously would of cost them millions of dollars to create
Not only that, but thanks to Guitar Hero, the Heavy Rock music genre is becoming popular again – especially with the younger audience – so bands like Def Leppard won’t be seen as ‘has beens’ anymore, they’ll be seen as bands who play the sort of music that’s the antithesis of the manufactured pop kids have been brought up on … and as they start to claim Heavy Rock as the genre for their generation, Def Leppard and the like can ride the wave of popularity all the way to the bank.
Finally – and this is equally important – Guitar Hero uses songs where the guitar is the centrepiece of the music so even if the players don’t like what Def Leppard write, they are being ‘groomed’ to favour music where the guitar isn’t hidden away, but placed upfront and centre.
I’m not saying this strategy will see Def Leppard recreating the success they experienced with their HYSTERIA album, but I am saying it’s a canny move to make a band that’s almost 30 years old be ‘discovered’ by a generation that most brands would kill to talk to.