Juggalos: Rabid Branding, A Case Study

juggalos: rabid juggalos: rabid branding, branding,

a case studya case study

jenny benevento@jennybento

http://www.jennyjenny.org

#sxjuggalos#sxjuggalos

•we’re not gonna talk we’re not gonna talk about the quality of the about the quality of the music.music.

FIRST RULE OF ICP LECTURE!FIRST RULE OF ICP LECTURE!

miraclesmiracles

gathering of the juggalo

list of things at gotj

wrestlingjuggalo court

hayridesbouncy castles

helicopter rides

carnival ridesfreakshow

midwayburning man

ladies oil wrestlingopen mic rap battlemiss juggalette contestautograph & photo sessionswrestling tryoutswet t-shirt contestsdating gamemovie screen

photo by Derek Erdman

George Clinton & Parliament FunkadelicPowergloveKittieBobby BrownYing Yang TwinsAfromanAndrew W.K.GWAR

Ron JeremyBrian PosehnPauly ShoreTom GreenDustin DiamondGhost HuntersHarland WilliamsJimmie JJ WalkerCharlie Sheen

photo by Derek Erdman

Eshamol dirty bastardBone Thugs-n-HarmonyDigital UndergroundToo $hortIce-TXzibit2 Live CrewTech N9neThree Six MafiaChuck De40Kottonmouth KingsIce Cube

The Iron SheikRowdy Roddy PiperMick FoleyJerry LawlerCowboy Bob OrtinHacksaw Jim Duggin

acts at gotjScarface

Method Man & Red ManNaughty By NatureWarren GTone LocCoolioTwiztidRob BaseMC ChrisBusta RhymesFlava FlavMystikalJuvenileLil JonVanilla IceChynaColt Cabana

why should we care?

best selling indie band of

ALL TIME

20 years, 23 albums

~$10 million/year

100,000 people attended GOTJ, in the middle of NOWHERE

gold/platinum albums that debut at #1

longest running hip hop album on billboard

more fans nowthan ever

no radio play

who buys

records anymore

?

kings of all media

albums

2 record labels

merchandise

wrestling leaguefeature films

music videos

sports videos

comicbooks

energy drinks

radio station & podcasts

Independent

that’s some niche

how do you make a juggalo for your brand?

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stand for something

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something specific

something obvious by

looking at you

“Everybody we kill is either a racist bigot or they're somebody who beats their wife, or they’re a drunk. That's who we kill--we're like vigilante superheroes. But I don't justify my lyrics. We are just plain fun."

Violent J, MTV News 1997

“If you’re a juggalo, you ain’t one of the cool kids in your high school, and if you are, so the fuck what? If you’re into that, you shouldn’t be looking down on other people.”

--Shaggy 2 Dope, G4TV interview

something that’s not for everyone

“The thing with ICP is there are very few sort of ‘casual fans.’ I’d say people who like the music but don’t consider themselves Juggalos make up maybe five to ten percent of their overall fanbase.” Vice, “In the

Land of the Juggalos”

you’re different, just like everyone else

different, but part of somethin

g

find an enemy

EminemTRL

corporations

normals

“The World’s Most Hated Band”

mainstream

Disney

haters reinforce your

community

embrace being underground

community before product

“I don't care if you've been down 1 day or 10 years, you're all the same to me. you're my family.”

American Juggalo

"It's a lifestyle, it ain't a music choice. It's a lifestyle." “Why am I a

juggalo? cuz that's how I was born."

"This is home."

taken from American Juggalo

"I don't come here for the parties, i don't come here for the music or the rides, I come here for the family. And everybody just accepts who I am and what I do. and I love it a lot--I couldn't ask for a better lifestyle."

American Juggalo

American Juggalo

"I'll tell you for real about being a fucking juggalo that shit made me the motherfucker i am today....I grew up to be a fucking decent fucking good hearted good natured motherfucker."

take care of each other

But my homies are family too Who was you with when you got tattoos? Who was you tripping with when you did them mushrooms? Who the fuck threw up all over your car? And then felt worse then you about that shit in the morning? (Friends ya'll) Who loans ya money, homie? Who owes ya cash? Who taught you how to use the bong for the grass?

We worldwide, were homies around the planet Sticking together like zippers on Michael Jackson's 'Beat It' jacket They got my back like a tat for that, I love ya'll Hanging till we old and grey like grandpa

don’t bust your community.

help them.

let them say what you can’t

give them places to meet

be one of thembe one of them

“They’re more fans of their

fans than their

fans are of them.”

--MTV News, 1999

“All these motherfuckers be me.”-Shaggy2Dope

let them run it

“We don’t lead them, Juggalos lead us.”

-Violent J, Wired 11/2010

have a mythology

“When we speak of Shangri-La, what do you think we mean?/

Truth is we follow God/

We’ve always been behind Him/The Carnival is God/

May Juggalos find Him”"The

Unveiling"

piggyback on an

established brand

Require physical cues

merchandise!

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be sincere

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hard work

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“Every damn day! Every day we don’t stop...You have to keep banging on these pots & pans. If you don’t you won’t have their attention. They’ll stop looking at you if you’re not making no noise. You better keep their attention, and then when you got their attention you better stand up and fucking dance...better believe to the right of you and to the left of you there’s guys dancing all over the place. If you want it, it’s right there. If you want to get to the top of that mountain....you can slowly but surely start walking that motherfucker...It may suck...that’s how you make it. Your destiny is in your hands.”

Violent J, The Adam Carolla Show, 08/08/2011

Believe in somethingthat’s unlike anything else

emphasize the weirdnessto the alienation of some

Making a community that people want to join

give them free reign

let ‘em do all the work

Have a mythology

Have a visual indicator for joiners

Preferably one they bought from youDo it every day

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jenny benevento@jennybento

#sxjuggalos

http://www.jennyjenny.org