MarketingoftheOfficialMusicChartsintheNordicCountriesHowsocialmediacouldimprovethemarketingofthecharts?TiiaHeikkiläBachelor’sthesisSeptember2016SchoolofBusinessandServiceManagementDegreeProgrammeinMusic&MediaManagement

Description

Author(s)Heikkilä,Tiia

TypeofpublicationBachelor’sthesis

DateSeptember2016Languageofpublication:English

36

Permissionforwebpubli-cation:x

TitleofpublicationMarketingoftheOfficialMusicChartsintheNordiccountriesHowsocialmediacouldhelptoimprovethemarketingofthecharts?

DegreeprogrammeMusic&MediaManagement

Supervisor(s)Luck,HeidiAssignedbyMusiikkituottajat–IFPIFinlandry

Abstract

TheofficialmusicchartsinNordiccountriesproduceaccuratedataweeklyandannuallyofmusicsalesnationally.Thedatachartsproduceisimportanttothelabelsandthemusicindustryingeneral.Forexample,thechartsgiveinformationofthestateoftheindustry.Forthepublicthechartsshowhowtrendschangeandwhatisatthemomentthemostpopularmusic.

Thepurposeofthisworkwastoexaminehowsocialmediacouldhelptoimprovethemar-ketingoftheofficialmusicchartsinthefollowingcountries:Finland,Sweden,NorwayandDenmark.Theobjectivesweretofindoutifthecountrieshadcreatedclearstrategiesforsocialmediachannelsusedineachcountryandhowtheyhadimplementedthepossiblestrategiesorplanscreated.Anotherobjectivewastoconsiderthedifferencesbetweenthecountriesinordertofindoutwhatcouldbeimplementedinothercountries,too.

Thestudywasqualitativecasestudythatutilizedmixedmethodsfordatacollectionlikeasemi-structuredinterview,whichhadfourparticipants.TheinterviewwasheldinHelsinkionthe26thMay2016.Inaddition,thesocialmediachannelsusedbythecountriestomar-ketthechartswereobservedforatwo-monthperiodfromJunetoJuly.

Thestudyrevealedthatthecountrieshadnotcreatedanystrategiesforthesocialmedia.Moreover,thesocialmediapresenceofthechartswaslow.Thegreatestproblemforthemarketingofthechartswasdeemedtoberesources,forexample,lackoftime,personnelandmissingsponsors/partnerships.Inconclusion,awrittenstrategyforthesocialmediawouldbeasolutionforimprovingthemarketingandthesocialmediapresenceofthecharts.

Keywords/tags(subjects)Musiccharts,socialmediamarketing,strategyMiscellaneous

Kuvailulehti

Tekijä(t)Heikkilä,Tiia

JulkaisunlajiOpinnäytetyö,AMK

PäivämääräSyyskuu2016

Sivumäärä36

JulkaisunkieliEnglanti

Verkkojulkaisulupamyönnetty:x

TyönnimiVirallistenlistojenmarkkinointipohjoismaissaKuinkasosiaalinenmediavoisiparantaalistojenmarkkinointia?

Tutkinto-ohjelmaMusic&MediaManagement

Työnohjaaja(t)Luck,HeidiToimeksiantaja(t)Musiikkituottajat–IFPIFinlandry

TiivistelmäPohjoismaissavirallisetlistattuottavattarkkaadataaviikoittainettävuosittainmyydyim-mistääänitteistämaittain.Listojentuottamadataonyleisestitärkeääsekäyhtiöilleettäkokomusiikkiteollisuudelle,esim.Listatantavattietoamusiikkiteollisuudensenhetkisestätilasta.Yleisöllelistatnäyttävätkuinkatrenditmuuttuvatjamikäonjuurisillähetkellämyydyintämusiikkia.

TarkoitusolitutkiakuinkasosiaalinenmediavoisiauttaaparantamaanvirallistenlistojenmarkkinointiaSuomessa,Ruotsissa,NorjassajaTanskassa.Tavoitteinaolitutkia,ovatkomaatluoneetselviästrategioitasosiaalisenmediankanavillejatutkiamitenmaatovattoteuttaneetmahdollisetstrategiat.Yhtenätavoitteenaolimyösverrataeroavaisuuksiasosiaalisenmedianmarkkinoinnissamaidenvälillä,jatutkiamitävoitaisiinhyödyntäämuissamaissa.

Tutkimustoteutettiinluomallahaastattelu,jossaolineljäosallistujaa.Haastattelutoteutet-tiin26.5.2016Helsingissä.Yhtenätutkimusmenetelmänäkäytettiinmyöshavainnointia,jonkakohteenaolivatsosiaalisenmediankanavat,joitaerimaatkäyttävät.Havainnointitoteutettiinkesä-heinäkuunaikana.

Tutkimuspaljasti,etteivättutkitutmaatolleetluoneetsuunnitelmiasosiaalistamediaavartenjaettäsosiaalisenmediannäkyvyysoliheikkoakaikissamaissa.Suurimmaksion-gelmaksipaljastuivatpuutteetresursseissamm.ajan,henkilöstönjasponsoreidensuh-teen.Tuloksienperusteellakirjallisenstrategianluontisosiaalistamediaavartenvoisiollaratkaisu,jokaparantaisivirallistenlistojenmarkkinointiajasosiaalisenmediannäkyvyyttä.

Avainsanat(asiasanat)Musiikkilistat,sosiaalinenmedia,markkinointistrategia

Muuttiedot

Content

1Introduction.............................................................................................................2

2StrategicSocialMediaMarketing&Branding..........................................................4

2.1Definitions.....................................................................................................4

2.2SocialMediaStrategy....................................................................................7

2.3Co-branding&Co-marketing......................................................................10

3Methodology..........................................................................................................12

3.1ResearchQuestion.......................................................................................12

3.2Objectives....................................................................................................13

3.3Methods......................................................................................................13

4Researchresults.....................................................................................................18

4.1Interview......................................................................................................18

4.2Observation.................................................................................................20

5Discussion...............................................................................................................22

6Conclusion..............................................................................................................26

References..................................................................................................................27

Appendices..................................................................................................................31

2

1Introduction

Thepurposeoftheofficialmusicchartsistomonitorthemusicsalesofanationand

toproduceaccuratedataforthepublic,labelsandtheindustryingeneralona

weeklybasis.Thechartswillalsoproduceimportantdatafortheannualstatistics

gatheredbasedonthemusicsalesoftheyear.Theofficialmusicchartsareformed

byIFPI–theInternationalFederationofPhonographicIndustryinthefollowing

countries:Finland,Sweden,NorwayandDenmark.Asaglobalorganization,IFPIaims

tosecuretheoperatingconditionsofthemusicindustryworldwidebymonitoring

anddevelopinglegislationinorderformusicproducerstohavesufficientlegal

protectionandtobeabletocompetefreelyinthetraditionalmarketsandinthenew

digitalenviroment(ifpi.fi).Eachofthecountriesgatherdifferentchartsbasedonthe

salesoftheircountry.

Theearlierstudiesontheofficialmusicchartshasfocusedmoreontheformation

anddevelopmentofthechartsindifferentcountries.Forexample,suchtopicsas

chartpositioningandpopularmusicindifferentdecades(Achterberg,Heilbron,

Houtman,Aupers2011)andhowdigitalization/filesharinghasaffectedthemusic

charts(Bhattacharjee,Gopal,Lertwachara,Marsden,Telang2007)havebeenwidely

researchedinmanycountries.Thepurposeofthisstudywastofindoutwhetherthe

marketingoftheofficialchartshadbeenimplementedsuccessfully.Incaseitwas

not,theaimwastoexaminewhyandhowitcouldhavebeendonedifferentlyin

ordertoreachthedesiredoutcomes.

TheOfficialchartshaveexistedforquiteawhilenowandtheyhavebeendelivering

informationtothepublicindifferentways.Theofficialmusicchartscanbeseenas

servicesthatoffervaluableinformationnotonlyforthepublicbutalsoforthelabes

andtheartists.Thepublicwillreceiveinformationaboutwhatmusiciscurrentlythe

mostpopularnationally.Digitalizationhasbecomeanimportantpartofall

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businessesinthewaytheywork,communicateandconnectwiththeiraudiences

throughvarioussocialmedianetworkingchannels,suchas,Facebook,Twitter,

YouTube,LinkedIn,WordPressandInstagram.Thelistofthesocialmediaisgrowing

allthetime,duetothefactthatnewandfasterwaysofsharingcontentalloverthe

worldaredevelopedbytheprofessionals.

Inthisstudy,thefocuswasonthestrategiesandtheoriesconcerningsocialmedia

marketing.Thereweretwomainreasonsforthis.Thefirstreasonwasthatthestudy

wasassignedbytheMusiikituottajat–IFPIFinlandrywhichutilizesthesocialmedia

toimplementazerobudgetmarketingstrategyinmarketingtheOfficialChartsof

Finland.Thesecondreasonwasthedigitalchangethathaspushedthe

customers/targetaudiencestothesocialmediaforquickinformationandforthe

opportunitytointeractwitheachother.Theprinciplesofmarketinghavestayedthe

same,buttherangeoftoolsusedhasgrownexponentiallywithinthepastfewyears.

Duetothenatureofthestudy,itwasimplementedbyusingqualitativeresearch

methods,inotherwords,byobservingandanalysingthesocialnetworkingsitesused

bytheofficialmusicchartsineachcountry.Thethesisprocessalsoincludedasemi-

structuredinterviewthatwasaimedatthepersonnelforming,publishingand

marketingthechartsintheresearchedcountries.Theaimofthisthesiswasalsoto

revealwhethertherewereclearlydevelopedstrategiesthathadbeenimplemented

bythecountriesandwhethertherewasawaytoimprovethemarketingwiththe

socialmedia.

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2StrategicSocialMediaMarketing&Branding

Changesintechnologiesandespeciallyinthedigitalareahavetransformedtheways

inwhichmarketingtriestoreachandengagethetargetaudiencesandcommunicate

tothemaboutthevaluecreatedfortheservices/products.Theoldtraditionaltools

ofmarketing(forexample,televisionandmagazines)havenotdisappeared,butthe

understandingofthenewtechnologyandthepossibilitiesthatthenewinteractive

mediahaveopenedforthemarketersisvital.Interactivemediahavemadeit

possibletoengageandinteractwithusersinawaythatrequirestheusers’inputs

(Investopedia).Theseinteractivemedia,suchassocialnetworkingsites,are

discussedbelowwiththemarketingperspective.

ThedevelopmentofWeb2.0(WorldWideWeb)hastransformedone-way-

communicationintotwo-way-communication.Thishasalsogivenpeoplethe

freedomtoconnectwitheachotherontheWeb.Inotherwords,thesparkforthe

socialmediacamefromthedevelopmentofWeb2.0.Thisgaveanopportunityto

multiplenetworkingchannelstodevelop.Suddenly,peoplewereabletodiscusswith

othersfromtheirhomecomputers,whichthenlateronspreadtomobiledevices.

Nowin2016,nearly80%ofthetimepeopleuseonsocialmediaisusedonmobile

applications(Sterling2016).Moreover,fromthemarketingperspective,the

developmentsintheinteractivemediahavechangedthewaymarketing

professionalscommunicateandengagewiththeiraudiencesbyopeningstraight

accesstocustomersandtheiropinions(Smith&Zook2011).

2.1Definitions

TheactualdefinitionofthesocialmediabyKotler,Keller,Brady,Goodmanand

Hansen(2012)is“agroupofinternet-basedapplicationsthatbuildontheideological

andtechologicalfoundationsofWeb2.0andthatallowthecreationandexchangeof

user-generatedcontent.”Thedefinitionofsocialnetworkinginthesamebookis“the

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groupingofindividualsintospecificgroups,likesmallrularcommunitiesora

neighbourhoodsubdivision,mostlycarriedout,initsmostpopularform,online.”

(Kotleretal.2012).Onsocialmediaandthenetworkingchannels,theusersareable

toconnect,shareanddiscusstheirinterestswithlike-mindedpeopleallaroundthe

world(Barefoot&Szabo2010).

Eventhough,thesocialmediahavechangedthewaysmarketerscommunicateand

engagewithcustomers,thecoreideasofmarketinghavenotchangedradicallyover

thepastyears.However,thetoolsusedinmarketinghaveexpandedinduringthe

lastfewyears.Especiallythesocialmediaasamarketingtoolhavebecomeoneof

themostwidely-usedinmarketingamongindustries.Theleadingsocialnetworks

havebeenrankedeveryyearbasedontheactiveaccounts.Facebookisthebiggest

ofthenetworkingsites,buttherearealsootherpopularsites,suchas:Twitter,

Whatsapp,Tumblr,Pinterest,Instagram,SnapchatandLinkedIn(Statista2016).

Beforedefiningwhatsocialmediamarketingis,thetermmarketingshouldbe

defined.PhilipKotler(2013)definesmarketingasfollows:“Marketingisthescience

andartofexploring,creating,anddeliveringvaluetosatisfytheneedsofatarget

marketataprofit.”

Hehasalsostatedthemostimportantconceptsofmarketingtobe“segmentation,

targeting,positioning,needs,wants,demand,offerings,brands,valueandsatisfac-

tion,exchange,transactions,relationshipsandnetworks,marketingchannels,supply

chain,competition,themarketingenvironment,andmarketingprograms.”(Kotler,

2003).Inotherwords,marketingaimstocreatevaluetobothservices/productsand

thecompanyintheeyesofthetargetaudiences.Simultaneously,italsorespondsto

theneedsandwantsofthetargetaudiences.

Nowthatbothsocialmediaandmarketinghavebeendefinedastwoseparateenti-

ties,thefocusshouldturntosocialmediamarketing.Atitscoresocialmediamarket-

ingmeanspromotingproductsorcompaniesonsocialmediachannels.Socialmedia

marketingcanbeseenaspartoftheelectronicwordofmouthmarketing,whichis

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betterknownasviralmarketing(Barefoot&Szabo2010).Sincethenatureofsocial

mediaisenablingpeopletoconnectwithlike-mindedpeopleandtoshareuser-

generatedcontent,itisalsovitaltounderstandwhatviralmarketingactuallymeans.

Viralmarketingisaholisticcommercialapproachbyacompanyaimingtocreatepos-

itiveconversationsamongthecustomersaboutproducts,brandsorservices.Dueto

itscheapnatureandabilitytoreachmillionsofpeoplefast,viralmarketinghasmade

itoneofthemosteffectivesocialmediamarketingmethodsamongthemarketers

(Wilde2014).Simplyput,itisaboutpeoplediscussingandsharingtheiropinions

aboutproductsorservicesthattheyhavetriedwithothers.

However,sincesocialmediahavebecomemarketingtooluseddailybythe

marketersandcustomers,itisimportantforeverymarketertounderstandhowto

harnessthesocialmedia.Ifonedoesnotunderstandthefundamentalsofthetools,

thenthosecannotbeusedtotheirfullpotential.Forexample,usingsuchonline

applicationsasFacebook,Twitter,YouTube,Instagram,Wordpress,Redditand

Linkedininmarketing,canexpandthemarketingtoatotallynewlevelbyreaching

andengagingthetargetgroupswhilemaintainingrelationshipswiththem.(CIRP

2016.)

Thesocialmediachannelsmentionedintheaboveparagraphareallbasedonuser-

generadedcontent.Theuser-generatedcontenthasgivenfreedomtotheusersof

thesechannelstopublishwhattheywant.Thecontenthasbecomeincreasingly

importantwhenconsideringthesocialmediamarketing.Socialnetworkingsiteshave

becomeaplacewherepeoplesharetheiropinions,reviews,videoswiththeirclosest

friends,familyandevenstrangers.Thecontenthasalwaysplayedabigroleinthe

marketing,butnowithasincreaseditspopularitysincecreatingjustmentalimagesis

notsufficient.Forexample,sharinginterestingarticlessimilartothecontentofa

certainpageattractsmoreattentiontothepage.Contentmarketingisdefinedas

followsbytheContentMarketingInstitute:“Contentmarketingisastrategicmarket-

ingapproachfocusedoncreatinganddistributingvaluable,relevant,andconsistent

contenttoattractandretainaclearly-definedaudience—and,ultimately,todrive

profitablecustomeraction.”Whenunderstandingthetargetaudience,itiseasierto

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understandwhatkindofcontenttheywanttoseeontheirsocialmediafeeds.Since

thefocusisonthemusicindustryandthecharts,assumptionscanbemadethatthe

targetgroupsareinterestedinmusic-relatedcontentandthenewsthatarefreshon

thefield.

2.2SocialMediaStrategy

Strategyisoftenseenasanoutcome-orientedprocessthatsetsspecificobjectivesandgoalsforthemarketingpersonnel.Nevertheless,itisaplanthat

“integratesanorganization’smajorgoals,policies,decisionsandsequencesofactionintoacohesivewhole.Itcanapplyatalllevelsinanorganizationandpertaintoanyofthefunctionalareasofmanagement.Thustheremaybeproduction,financial,marketing,personnelandcorporatestrategies,justtonameafew.Ifwelookspecificallyatmarketingthentheremaybepricing,product,promotion,distribution,marketingresearch,sales,advertising,merchandising,etc.strategies.Strategyisconcernedwitheffectivenessratherthanefficiencyandistheprocessofanalysingtheenvironmentanddesigningthefitbetweentheorganization,itsresourcesandobjectivesandtheenvironment.”(Proctor2016.)

However,asnotedintheabovecitation,amarketingstrategyshouldalwaysbea

partoftheoverallstrategyofabusiness.Amarketingstrategysupportsthemain

strategyevenifithasitsownobjectivesandgoalstoreach.Thestrategyshouldbe

seeninabiggerpicture.Asocialmediastrategyisakeyelementtounderstanding

thesocialmediaactivitiesthatacompanyareengagedin.Italsohelpstomanage

socialmediapresence.Understandingtheneedforasocialmediastrategyisim-

portant.

Thenatureofsocialmediaisthattheyareconstantlychanging,newchannelsare

developed,newusersappear,andthewaysinwhichpeopleusesocialmediachan-

nelschangeallthetime.Creatingasocialmediastrategywillhelptoconcentrateand

focusthemarketingeffortsontherightchannels.Intheend,thestrategywillpro-

videplentyofinformationabouthowactivethesocialmediachannelsareatthe

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momentandhowtheyshouldbe.Inthebeginning,socialmediawerecreatedfor

peopleforconnectingwitheachotherandstayingintouchwithfriendsandrela-

tives.However,socialmediahavetransformedintoasimultaneousflowofinfor-

mationandcommunication,offering,forexample,reallifenewsandconnecting

people.Foramarketerithasmeantgreatpossibilitiestoreachandengagewiththe

customers.Amarketermayreachaudiencesbycommunicatingandsharingrelevant

contentthatthecustomersfindappealingandinteresting.Thesocialmediaalsogive

thepossibilitytomanagethebrandimageandmonitorwhatisdiscussedonline.Ac-

cordingtoSchaffer,therearecertainelements,whichasocialmediastrategyshould

include:branding,content,curation,channels,frequency,engagement,listening,

campaigns,influencesandcrisismanagement(Schaffer2013).Inotherwords,the

strategyshouldhaveclearbrandguidelinesthatareimplementedonlineandstate

whatkindofcontentshouldbesharedonthechannels.Curatingthechannelsby

overseeingwhatiswrittenonsocialmediahelpstounderstandthetargetaudiences

better.

Italsoshowswhatchannelsarethemostconvenienttouseandhowtoreachmore

people.Regardingfrequency,havingatimetableoraplanonhowoftensomethingis

postedonthechannelscanhelpkeepingthechannelsactive.Inaddition,theyare

keptactivebycreatingappealingcampaignsthatencouragepeopletoconnectand

toengagetothem.

Inaddition,thereareotherwaystoimplementzero-budgetmarketing,forexample,

byhavingweeklye-mailnewslettersconsideringthecharts.(Kalb1996).InFinland,

implementingzero-budgetmarketinghasbeenutilizedgreatlybycreatingsocial

mediacampaignsinordertoengagethetargetaudiencestothelabelswhichhave

providedmaterials,suchas,newalbumsasprizesforonlinecampaigns.The

campaignshaveaimedatmakingthetargetaudiencesspreadthewordandreach

theirconnectionsthatareinterestedinthesameissuesasthetargetaudience.

Moreover,e-mailbasednewslettersaresenttothemediainordertocreatevisibility

tothecharts.

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Forthemarketingstrategiesofofficialchartsandanyothermarketingstrategy,itis

importanttodefinethetargetaudiencesproperly.Thechallengeforthetarget

audiencesofmusicchartsisthattherangeiswide.Thereisnosinglegroupthatis

interestedinacertainmusicstyle,and,therefore,thediversityofthetarget

audiencesisgreat.Understandingandbeingabletosetoneselfintothepositionof

thetargetgroupsisvitaltoanyorganization,profitableornot.Thechartsarelike

livingorganisms,theydonotstayexactlythesameallthetime.Instead,everyweek

therearesmallandsometimesevenmajorchangesinchartpositions,suchas

numberoneoftheweek.Moreaccurateinformationaboutthechartscanbefound

onthewebsiteofIFPIFinlandry(www.ifpi.fi).

Thesechangesshouldalsobeconsideredinmarketingandtowhomthemarketingis

targetedat,alsotakingintoaccountwhatkindofcampaignsarelaunched.For

instance,ifametalbandisnumberoneoftheweek,itmeansthereshouldbea

completelydifferentsetofviewswhenpublishingit,butstillremainingloyaltothe

brandimage.Whenthinkingfromtheperspectiveofmusicchartsoranybusiness,it

isvitaltofindthetargetgroupsthatarewillingtoengageintheconversationwith

thecompany.Inaddition,conductingmarketresearchthatisup-to-datewiththe

latesttrendsofthemusicindustry,isamajoradvantageingainingnewpeopletothe

targetaudiencessincethereisalinkbetweentrendsandcharts.Whenthetarget

audienceandtheirbehaviourisunderstood,itisthemarketers’turntodecidewhich

toolstousetoreachthembest.Thisiswhenthefollowingaspecsshouldbe

considered:whatkindofcontent,how,what,whenandwhereandtowhomto

communicate.(Kotleret.al.2012).

Nowadaysmostofthesocialnetworkingsitesgivethepossibilityformarketersto

monitortheiractionsonthepagesandtoeaserecognisingthedifferenttarget

groupsthatareactiveandcreatetraffictothesites.Forexample,intheFacebook

statisticsoftheOfficialChartsofFinland,themarketerscanmonitortheirpages’

statistics.Forexample,itispossibletofindthetargetgroupsandfindinformationon

howmanypeopleandhowmanylikescertainpostshavereached,howmanyhave

engagedwiththepostsandpage(Facebook,HelpCenter,2016).Twitteralso

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includesthesefeatures.Ithelpsthemarketertoseeanalyticsprovidinginformation

onaudiencebehaviourand,inparticular,ithelpsthemtoseewhatworkswithin

theirtargetaudience.Followingthesestatisticsgivesthemarketerspossibilitiesto

understandtheirtargetaudiencesfarbetter.

2.3Co-branding&Co-marketing

“Abrandisanintangible,legallyprotectable,valuableasset.Itishowacompanyor

productisprecievedbycustomers(ortargetaudience).Itistheimage,associations

andinherentvaluecustomersputonyourproductandservices.”(Smith&Zook,

2011).

Theabovequotehighlightswhybrandingshouldbepartofanymarketingstrategy

eveninthemarketingofmusiccharts.Brandingisnottheeasiestpartofmarketing,

anditcantakeyearstocreateasolidbrandforaserviceoracompany.However,in

somecasesitcanbedevelopquickly.Inanarticle,BasicsofBrandingbyJohn

Williams(Entrepreneur2005),itisstatedthatthefoundationforthebrandisalogo,

websites,promotionalmaterial,packingandmuchmore.“Asuccessfulisan

identifiedproduct,service,personorplace,augmentedinsuchawaythatthebuyer

orusedpreceivesrelevantunique,sustainedaddedvaluethatmatchestheirneeds

mostclosely.”(Kotleretal.2012).However,thesemustbevisuallyconsistentwith

eachothertocreateconnotationsinthemindsofthetargetaudienceswhenthey

hear,seeorreadaboutthecertainservices/products.

Williams(2005)explainsthatabrandstrategyis“how,what,where,whenandto

whomyouplanoncommunicatinganddeliveringonyourbrandmessages.Where

youadvertiseispartofyourbrandstrategy.Yourdistributionchannelsarealsopart

ofyourbrandstrategy.”Brandingiseverywhere,forexample,inthelanguageusedin

theupdateoftheservices’Facebookpages,e-mailssentandcustomerservices.The

imagethatisgivenfrominsidetooutsidemattersintheeyesofthetargetaudienc-

es.

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However,co-brandingandco-marketingshouldbeconsideredwhenworkingwith

thecharts.Thesetermsareeasilymixedwitheachother,buttheyare,actually,

completelydifferent.Co-brandingasatermmeanstwobrandscombiningtheircom-

petenciesandreputationsinordertocreateanewserviceoraproduct.Co-branding

hasalsoproventoraiseconsumerawarenessofthebrands,qualityofthebrands,

brandequityandtheattitudestowardsthebrands.(Singh,Kalafatis,Ledden2014)

Co-marketing,ontheotherhand,asatermmeanspromotionalcollaborationbe-

tweentwobrands.Inotherwords,bothbrandspromoteaserviceoraproductfor

eachotherandintheendsharetheresultsofthecooperation.(Sibley2016).

Thinkingofco-marketingandco-brandingfromthestrategicperspective,theterms

definedonaboveparagraph,fittheco-operationsbetweenlabelsandthecharts

and,ofcourse,betweencommercialradiosandthecharts.Theco-operationsare

beneficialforbothparties,butthemajorbenefitscometothecharts.Co-operation

withthemajorlabelscanbeseenasco-marketing.Thelabelsalreadyhavesteady

existingfoundationsintheeyesoftheirtargetaudiences.Promotingthenumberone

albumoftheweekthroughthelabels’andartists’networkswidensthenetworkfor

theofficialmusicchartssothattheycanreachnewtargetaudiencesandgainmore

visibilitytothecharts.Co-marketing,however,shouldworkbothways,and,

consideringthis,theofficialchartsofferthetitleof“numberone”tothemostsold

albumoftheweekcreatingcredibilitytotheartistorbandintheeyesofthetarget

audiencesatthesametime.Thetitle“numberone”shouldbeseenasahighly

appreciatedachievement,andmarketingpersonnelshouldpayattentiontothe

brandingofthechartsinordertocreateappreciatedvalue.

Sinceco-brandingisaboutcreatingsomethingnewwithtwobrands,theco-

operationbetweencommericalradioscanbeseenaspartofit.Thecommercial

radioscanproduceradioprogramsbasedontheofficialchartsthatareofferedto

them.Inaway,thiscreatesanewserviceofferedforthepublic.

Thisco-operationnotonlygivesamajoradvantageinmarketingtheofficialchartsby

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givingavisibilityandcredibilitytothecharts,butalsobybeingplayedonthe

commercialradiostationsthatalreadyhaveestablishedbrandsinthecountry.In

addition,thisco-operationofferstheradiosthepossibilitytocreateprogramsthat

showswhatactuallyisthemostpopularmusicinthecountryonaweeklybasis.Both

oftheseco-operationsareaboutgivingandreceiving.

3Methodology

ThepurposeofthepaperwastoresearchhowmarketingoftheOfficialChartscould

beimprovedbyusingsocialmediamarketing.ThefocuswasontheNordiccountries,

Finland,Sweden,NorwayandDenmark.Allofthecountriesdohavesocialmedia

accountsfortheofficialcharts,buttheyarenotusedtotheirfullpotentialfromthe

pointofviewofmarketing.Thereisarecognizedneedforresearchwithaspecial

focusontheactualmarketingoperationsandonhowtoimprovethesocialmedia

marketinginordertoraisethevalueandvisibilityoftheofficialchartsineachcount-

ry.

3.1ResearchQuestion

Thekeyquestiontowhichthisstudyaimedtoanswerwashowsocialmediacould

helptoimprovethemarketingofthecharts?Thesub-questionsthataimedtohelp

toanswertheabovequestionwere:

1.Isthereaclearstrategyforthesocialmediamarketingoftheofficialchartsineach

country?

2.Howhassocialmediamarketingbeenimplementedineachcountryfortheofficial

charts?

Theseresearchquestionsansweredtotheneedtoknowwhathadbeendone,and

theyalsorevealedtheweaknessesthatshouldhavebeentakenintoconsideration

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whileworkingwithsocialmediaandthecharts.Thesehelpedtofindouthowtoim-

provefromthecurrentstate.

3.2Objectives

Objectivesforthisstudyweretofindouthowthemarketingisimplementedineach

ofthecountriesthisthesisconsiders.Italsocollectedqualitativedatafromprimary

sourcesofthecountries,thisincludedconductinganinterviewwhichwasanswered

byfiveparticipantsworkingforIFPIineachoftheresearchedcountry.Theyare

specializedinmarketing,promotionandcommunicationsintheirprofession.In

addition,thesisanalysedthesocialmediapagesusedbythecountries.

Onegoalwasalsotoconsiderthedifferencesofthepossiblestrategiesbetweenthe

countriesandhowfunctionalthosehavebeenineachcountry.Alsotofigureout

whetherthetoolsandmethodsusedintheothercountriesinthemarketingthe

chartscouldbeincludedinthemarketingdoneinFinland.

Theseobjectiveshelpedtoanswertheresearchquestionsinordertofigureoutthe

stageofthemarketinginawiderscaleofthecharts.

3.3Methods

Thestudyusedqualitativemethodstofindouthowthemarketingofofficialcharts

hadbeenimplementedandwhatcouldbedoneinordertoimprovethecurrent

state.Thisstudywasinits’coreaqualitativecasestudy.

Qualitativeresearchisusuallyseenasastudythatdealswithpeople,societiesandis

interestedinunderstandingwhyandhowpeopleinterprettheworldand

expereincestheyhaveinit.(Meririam2014)Sincethefundamentalbasisof

qualitativeresearchistofindouthowsomethingaffectssomethingorhow

somethingisimplemented,itwaslogicaltochoosethequalitativeresearchapproach

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forthisthesis.Thiswastofindoutandtounderstandhowthemarketingactually

hadbeenimplementedthroughsocialmedia,whetherthereweredifferencesfrom

countrytocountryandwhattheweretheopinionsofthecountriestowardssocial

mediamarketing.Thisalsogaveabasisforconsideringhowitcouldbeimproved.

Thestudyusedmixedmethods,whichmeansthattherewereusedmorethanjust

onequalitativeresearchmethodtogaindata.Inthebook,MixedMethodResearch:

MergingTheorywithPractice(Hesse-Biber,Nagy.2010)isdefinedfivereasonstouse

mixedmethodsforastudy:triangulation,complementarity,development,initation

andexpansion.Triangulationmeansusingmorethanoneresearchmethodto

examinetheresearchproblem.Thisimprovesthecredibilityofthestudy’sfindings.

Complementary,ontheotherhand,aimstogiveabetterunderstandingtothe

researcheroftheresearchproblemandmakeresultsofresearchmoreclear.

Developmentisaboutonemethodcreatinganothermethod,forexamplestatistics

collectedbyaquantitativemethodcanleadthereacherstocreateanqualitative

methodtohelpunderstandtheresearchedproblem.Initiationsimplyputmeansthat

thereisapossibility,theresearchdoneraisesmorequestionstobeclearedout.This

mayalsoleadtoacompletelynewresearchaboutthetopic.Inaddition,expansion

produceexactinformationoftheresearchtopicaimingtohelpthefuturestudies.

(Hesse-Biber,Nagy.2010)

Inthischapterisdiscussedthemethodsusedinthedatacollectionofthisstudyand

theirrealiability.Observingthesocialmediachannelswasonewayofresearching

theactivitiestakenonthechannelsbytheNordiccountries.Inaddition,aninterview

wasconductedtolearnmoreaboutwhethertheyhadappliedanactualstrategyor

planforthecharts.

Duetothenatureofthestudyfocusingonsocialmediamarketingandtheonline

platformsusedbythecountriestomarketthecharts,observationwasusedinorder

toanalyzeandunderstandhowthemarketinghadbeenimplementedbyeach

countryontheirsocialmediachannels.Thisresearchmethodgoesunderthename

netnographywhichisonesectorofethnographythathasdevelopedfrom

15

anthropology.NetnographyhasbeendefinedbyKozinetsasfollows:“Ethnography

conductedontheInternet;aqualitative,interpretiveresearchmethodologythat

adaptsthetraditional,in-personethnographicresearchtechniquesofanthropology

tothestudyofonlineculturesandcommunitiesformedthroughcomputer-mediated

communications"(Kozinets2006).

NetnographystudiesthecommunitiesthatInternetuserscreatebyusingthesocial

networkingsites.Forobservingthesekindsofcommunitiesoneshouldbepartof

themand,dependingonthesubjectstudied,takepartintheconversationsorbea

passiveobserver.Inotherwords,whenanthropologystudiesgroupsandtheirbe-

haviourincertainenvironmentsinreallife,netnographystudiesthesamebutonthe

Internet(Kananen,2014).Thesocialmedianetworkingchannelsusedtorepresent

themusicchartsineachcountrycanbeseenascommunitiesinwhichpeopleinter-

estedinpopularmusicgatherinformation,shareandhaveconversationsaboutthe

musicthatisonthechartsatthattime.Theyalsoshareinformationabouttheirper-

sonalfavouriteswhilefindingotherpeopleinterestedinthesamemusicastheyare.

Whatactuallywasstudiedandanalysedofthesocialmediapageswerecontent,reg-

ularityofpostinginformationandinteractingwiththetargetaudiences,visualap-

pearanceandtheintegrityofthepagesincasethecountryusedmorethanjustone

socialmediatoolinthemarketing.

However,theobservationmethodwasproblematicbecauseofits’validityandrelia-

bility.Theresearchwasconductedunderashortperiodofatime.Theobservation

tookplaceduringJuneandJuly.Itcouldhavebeenrecommendedtohaveatleast

fourmonthsofobservingthepageinordertogetmoredatatobeanalysed.Theva-

lidityalsosufferedduetotheever-changingnatureofsocialmediaandsocialnet-

workingsites.Thisisduetothefactthat,theyevolvebasedonthecontentcreated

bythetargetaudiences,developersofthepages,marketersandeventhechangesin

themusiccharts.

Theseissuesweretakenintoaccountandthestudyfocusedontheactionstakennot

16

onlyduringtheobservationmonthsbutalsobeyondthem.Itmeantthattheearlier

activitiesofthepagesweretakenintoconsiderationwhenanalysingthemaccording

totheircontent,regularityandactivity.

Anothertoolusedforcollectingqualitativedataforthisstudywasasemi-structured

interview.Semi-structuredinterviewisanopen-endedinterview,whichisalotsimi-

lartotheunstructuredinterview.However,semi-structuredinterviewdoesfollowa

listofquestionswritteninadvancebutthereisafreedomtodecidehowandin

whichordertoaskthequestions.Forcomparison,thestructuredinterviewfollows

tightlyasetofquestionsaskedinexactsameorderfromalloftheinterviewees.This

methodisoftenusedwhenthereisonlyonechancetointerviewcertaingroupof

peopleoraperson(H.Russell.2011).

Theinterviewprovidedprimarydataforthestudy,wastargetedatpeopleworking

withmarketing,promotionandcommunicationinrelationtothechartsunderIFPIin

thechosencountries.Intheinterview,participatedfiveinterviewees,LisaCronstedt

(HeadofMarket&CommunicationsatIFPISweden,ProjectManageratGrammis),

PernilleMøllerPoulsen(CommunicationConsultantatIFPIDenmark),RoyErland

Funner(ProjectManageratIFPINorway)andTrudeLøken(Promotion/WebatIFPI

Norway)andTommiKyyrä(DeputyDirectoratIFPIFinland).Theinterviewtook

placeduringameetingheldinHelsinkion26.5.2016.Theinterviewquestionswere

senttotheparticipantsbeforehandtogetfamiliarwith.Theinterviewgaveabetter

lookatwherethechartsstandintheircountriesandwhathasbeendonemarketing

wisewiththecharts.

Analysingthedatafromtheinterviewwasdoneusingqualitativecontentanalysis

technique.InanarticlewrittenbyShannonandHsieh(2005),thequalitativecontent

analysisisdefinedasamethodtointerprettextbyprocessofclassificationof

patterns,codesorthemes.Thedatacollectedforthisstudythroughinterviewwas

firstrecordedandtranscriptedintoamorereableforminordertobeeasierto

analysed.

17

Thenextstepwastocreatethemesthatthenwereanalysedoftheinterview.The

firstthemewasproblems.Thisthemewastoanalysewhatseemedtobethe

difficultiesineachcountryfacedinsocialmediamarketingofthecharts.Thesecond

themewasopinions.Thissecondthemewastoanalysethethoughtsofthe

intervieweestowardssocialmediastrategies.Thethirdthemewassolution.Aimed

toanalysethepossiblesolutiontotheproblemsthattheintervieweesstatedunder

thefirsttheme.

Alsoqualitativecontentanalysiswasusedontheobservationofsocialmedia

channelsusedbythecountries.Thethemesusedforthiswere:Regularity,content

andvisualappearance.

Scope

Thescopeofthestudywaslimitedtothefour(4)countriesthatwereresearched.

TheOfficialMusicChartsaregatheredandpublishedallovertheworldbasedonthe

salesofthecountries.ThefourcountrieswerechosenduetointerestsoftheIFPI

Finlandrycoveringthenordiccountriesthatareinthemostsignificantroleof

publishingthemusicchartsinthenortherncountries.

Thestudywillfocusonthesocialmediamarketingsinceitisthemainfocusin

Finland.Eachofthecountrieshasbeenabletoimplementthemarketingofthe

chartsastheyhavewishedandbecauseofthis,eachofthecountriesneededtobe

analyzedseparately.

Languageoftheresearch

Thestudywasdoneinternationallyamongthecountriesthathavedifferent

motherlanguages.Theonlypossibilitytokeepthestudyreliablewastoconductthe

researchinenglishwhichisusedinternationallyinallofthementionedcountries.

18

4Researchresults

4.1Interview

Itisobviousthatthesocialmediapresenceofthechartsineachcountryhasbeen

poorforaquitelongtime.Thisiseasilynoticedwhentakingalookatthecharts’so-

cialmediapagesofeachcountryandtheinterviewrevealedthereasonsforthis.

Oneofthemainresearchquestionswaswhetherthecountrieshadcreatedastrate-

giesorplansforthesocialmediamarketing.Thediscussionrevealedthatthecoun-

trieshavenotcreatedanystrategiesfortheirsocialmediamarketing.Thechartsare

publishedonceaweekandusuallythesocialmediapageslikeFacebookareupdated

accordingtoitonceaweek.Thereisnogoalsorobjectivesforthesocialmediaor

theyhavenotgivenanyguidelinesforthelabelsorartists.

Theinterviewalsorevealedthatthecountriesdonothaveanysponsorshiporpart-

nershipdeals,whichcouldprovideincometothechartsandmaybeincreasethe

marketingbudgetatthemoment.Accordingtotheinterviewees,theyarelookingfor

newwaystofinancetheirchartsandlookingfornewsponsorshipandpartnership

deals.However,thisalsomeansthattheyneedmorereach,visibilityandmorevalue

inordertogetthepossiblesponsorstobeinterestedinsigningadeal.Poulsen

thoughtthat:“Forus,weneedtogetthecashoutformorepeople,toshowthepo-

tentialmediacoveragebeforewecanhavetheactualconversationwiththespon-

sorshipsbecauseatthemomentwedon’thavealotofreachandweneedtowork

onthatbeforeanyonewouldbeinterested…”

Thelackofsponsorsandpartnershipsalsoaffectsthemarketingnotonlybynothav-

ingmoneybutalsootherresources.Sponsorsmeansmorechannelstouseandmore

peopletodothesocialmediamarketing.

19

However,eachofthecountrieshasco-operationswithlocalradiostationsandthe

newspapersthatplayandpublishthecharts.Norwayistheonlyonethatco-

operateswiththebiggestmagazineinthecountry,VGmagazine.VGpublishesthe

chartsonits’websiteandorganizesafestivalVG-ListaTopp20inOsloandotherbig-

gercitiesinNorway.Thisfestivalisorganizedunderthebrandimageofthecharts

buthasnothingbutthenametodowiththechartsstatesLøken.Inothercountries,

thechartsarepublishedontheirwebsitesoraspecificwebsitecreatedonlyforthe

charts.

Whenaskedwhatisthebiggestissueconcerningthemarketingthechartsonsocial

media,theintervieweeswereunanimousaboutthefactitistheresources.Even

though,thereisplentyofinterestingcontentanddataconcerningthechartsthat

couldbeutilized,itisneglected.Alsowhenaskedwhetheritwouldbeagoodideato

sharemusicindustryrelatedcontentonthecharts’socialmediachannels.Allofthe

intervieweesthoughtyes.Thereareplentyofcontentthatcouldbeused.However,

thisisbecause,thereisnotimetoconcentrateoncreatingagoodplanhowtouse

thesocialmediaandactuallyimplementit.DuringthediscussionPoulsentoldthat:

“Wehadsomeideasaboutthechartsbutit’snotsomethingthatweatthemoment

prioritisethatmuch.Ithinkit’sjustduetoresourcesandtimeit’snotthatwedon’t

thinkithaspotentialbutwejust…ifwereallywanttodosomethingwithsocialme-

diathenweprobablywouldneedsomekindofsocialmediaagencytohirethemfor

aperiodandtransformitbecausewearenotsocialmediaexpertsandwedon’thave

thetimeandresourcestodoitourselves...sobutifwehadsomeexpertssothen

definitely.”Inotherwords,socialmediamarketingdoestaketimeandpersonnel,

whichthecountriesdonothaveatthemoment.

Duringtheinterview,itwasdiscussedwhichsocialmediaplatformsarethemost

popularineachcountry.Theresultdidnotdifferfromcountrytocountry,Instagram,

SnapchatandFacebookwererecognisedamongtheintervieweestobethemost

usedintheircountries.FacebookseemstobethebiggestofthemallandSnapchatis

risingrapidly.However,Cronstedtarguesthatusingallofthesocialmediachannels

isamustandthatthechannelsshouldbelinkedtoeachothertomaximizethe

20

reach.

AccordingtoRoyFunner,thechartshavelosttheirvalueinNorway.Itisnotjust

Norwaystrugglingwiththisproblembutitcanalsoberelatedtotheothercountries

aswell.Inaddition,sincethecoreofsocialmediaistoshare,discussandconnect

withpeople,healsoquestionsthefact,iftheofficialchartsareactuallyevenatopic

onsocialmedia.Thereisnoavisiblebenefitofthesocialmediaatthemomentfor

thechartsfromvalueperspective.However,inthediscussionalloftheinterviewees

thoughtthatsocialmediacouldbenefitthechartsiftherewasresourcestoimple-

mentittothemarketingsomehow.

Theinterviewmadeitclearthat,thechartsaremainlyimportanttothemusicindus-

tryandartists.PernilleMøllerPoulsenstated:“Itismoreimportantthatweengage

artistsandlabels,maybeconcertplaces,likethinkoutofabox,thinkwhowouldbe

interestedintalkingaboutthechartsandmaybeitislessimportanthowmuchactivi-

tywehave.”

Whendiscussingabouttheengagementandtheactivityofthesocialmediapagesof

charts.Artistsandlabelsaretheonesthataremostinfluentialandhavethemost

followersonsocialmediaintheindustryandcaneasilyspreadthewordandengage

theirfanbasestotheconversation.Oneofthechallengesseemstobegettingthese

partiestoengagetotheco-marketingwiththecharts.

4.2Observation

Thesecondpartoftheresearchwasobservingthesocialmediachannelsfortwo

monthsperiod,JuneandJuly.Itrevealedthesameproblemsthatroseduringthe

interview.Thesocialmediapresenceislowandtheusageofthesocialmediachan-

nelswasmonotonous.Itdidnotencouragepeopletoshareorcommunicatewith

eachother.Thechannelswereupdatedonceaweekwhenthechartswerepub-

lished.ThemainchannelseachcountryuseshavebeenFacebook,Twitterandthe

21

websitesofthecharts.

However,oneexceptionisNorway’sVG-ListaTopp20,whichisusedtomarketthe

festivalheldinNorway.Thisgathersthefestivalgoerstoseewhoisgoingtoperform

there.ThisisalldoneunderthechartbrandcreatedinNorwaybutdoesnotconcen-

trateontheactualchartsbutthefestivalinstead.Intheinterview,Lokenstatedthat

theyhavenothingtodowiththisevent.TheFacebookpageofthisfestivalisagood

sampleofsharingvideos,picturesandinformationofthefestivalonthechanneleve-

ryday.Thepagelooksinterestingandgathersthefansoftheartiststothepage.

TwitterandInstagramfollowthesamestyle.ExceptionisthatTwitterismorenews-

likeandInstagramtoshowtheartistsbypicturesthatwillbeperforminginthe

event.NorwaydoesnothaveanactualFacebookpageoranysocialmediachannel

forthecharts.ThechartsarepublishedonthewebsiteoftheVGmagazine,which

explainsthenameofthechartsasVG-lista.Thevisuallookiscreatedbythemaga-

zineandgoesaccordingtoits’websitevisuallook.

SocialmediachannelsthatareusedinDenmarkareFacebookandTwitter.Ofcourse,

thechartsalsohavetheirownwebsite.Thevisuallookofthechartsgoeshandin

handineachofthechannels.However,theregularityofthepostisonceaweekand

statethenumberoneoftheweekofalbums,singlesandvinyl.Nevertheless,the

postsutilizepicturesbyweeklyupdatingthecoverpictureofthepageonFacebook.

Denmarkalsolinksthewebsitetothepostsandtagsartiststhatarenumberoneon

theweek.Inaddition,Denmarkhasahashtagforthelists#HitlistenNU.

InSweden,inregularuseareFacebookandcharts’website.Onceagain,thepostare

madeonceaweek,mostlyjuststatingthenumberonesandlinkingtheposttothe

website.Visuallythepagesareconsistent.

InFinland,intheuseareFacebook,TwitterandInstagramtogetherwiththewebsite.

Thepagesareupdatedatleastonceaweekwhenthechartsarepublished.There

hasbeencreatedclearnumberonevisualsforthesitesandfortheposts.Theactivi-

tiesincludesharingmusicnewstotheartistsgettingnumberonetrophies.Themain

22

contentisthechartsandadditionalcontentcomesfromthemusicindustryandits’

latestnews.

5Discussion

Thestudyhasexposedthatthebuildingblocksofunderstandingsocialmediaand

theimportanceofhavingaclearsocialmediamarketingstrategyforthechartsis

defective.Successfulsocialmediapresencedoesnotcomewithoutresearch,good

planningandimplementation.Atthemoment,eachofthecountrieshavefocusedon

communicatingthepublicthenumberoneoftheweekonthechartswhenthe

chartshavebeenpublished,eventhoughthereisplentyofadditionalandinteresting

contenttosharerelatedtothecharts.Thiskindofcommunicationdoesnotencour-

agethetarget/possibletargetaudiencestotakepartintothediscussionandcom-

municatewithothers.Itisone-waycommunication,whichisnotrecommendedon

socialmedia.Afterall,thenatureofsocialmediaistocommunicatetogetherwith

others.Forthesocialmediachannelsofofficialmusicchartsshouldbeconsidered

othercontentthatisinterestingandtopicrelatedtothemusicindustry.Thiscould

helpthemtogaininterest,reachmorepeoplethroughengagementandgivecharts

morevalueintheeyesofthetargetaudiences.

Thepurposeofthisstudywastofindouthowsocialmediacouldhelpimprovethe

marketingofthecharts,whethertherehavebeenstrategiesthathavebeenimple-

mentedandhowthemarketinghasbeenimplementedtilltoday.Itbecamevery

clearthattherehasnotbeenanykindofstrategiesinSweden,NorwayorDenmark.

IncomparisontoFinland,wherehasbeencreatedactualguidelinesforthelabelsfor

theusageofsocialmediainordertogainmorevisibilityandfollowerstothecharts.

Themarketingofthechartsineachofthecountrieshasbeenimplementedoncea

weekmainlyusingtheFacebookpages,WebpageandTwitter.Ithasbeenstrictly

informative.

23

Itisclear,whatthecountriesshoulddo:istocreateawrittenstrategy/planthat

statesthepurposeoftheofficialmusiccharts,createamissionandvisionforthem,

analysethecurrentstateofthesocialmediachannelsused,createclearobjectives

andgoalsdesiredtobereachedwithinacertaintimeframe,forexamplemonthly

rateshowmanynewfollowersorhowmuchactivitythepagesshouldhave.Defining

thesocialmediachannelsthatareusedandhow.Creatingaguidelineforthechan-

nelsincludingtimetablewhentopost,usageofhashtags,taggingandsharing.Also

creatingvisualguidelinesthathelppeopletorecognizethemusicchartsbrandwhen

itissharedondifferentchannels.Itcancreatemorevalueandtrusttothecharts.

Theguidelinesshouldbesharedwiththelabels’marketingdepartment,artistsand

otherpartnerstocreateaclearpathtothemusiccharts.

Duringtheinterview,itwasdiscussedshouldthecountrieshavethesameguidelines

forthecharts.Atthemoment,eachofthecountrieshasbeenfreetoimplement

theirsocialmediamarketingastheyhavewished.Thechartsarecompiledofthe

salesofthecountriesandpresenttherealpositionsbasedontheweeklysales.This

makesthechartsthetrustworthiestofallthechartscompiled.Thisshouldbecom-

municatedtothepublic.Itwasdiscussedhowcreatingsharedguidelinesbetween

thecountriescouldcreateconsistencybetweenthecountriesandtheofficialcharts

brand.Ifthecountrieshadthesameguidelinesforthechart,itcouldcreatethe

trustworthiestandgrowthedesiredimageofthechartsinternationally.

Brandingshouldalsobereconsideredtobeagreatpartofthesocialmediastrategy

oftheofficialcharts.Brandingisnottheeasiestpartanditcantaketimetocreatea

strongbrandimagine.Thisiswhyforthecharts,itisimportanttounderstandwhatis

messagetobecommunicatedtothepublic.Inaddition,thinkingabouthowtodoit,

whentodo,wheretodoitandtowhomtodoit.Thebrandingofthechartsshould

beseeneverywhere,forexample,inthelanguageofthepostsonsocialmedia,the

picturescreatedandshared,e-mailssent.Givinganoveralllookandexperiencethat

isconsistencewiththebrandallthetimeisimportantincreatingtrustandengage-

ment.

24

Consideringthepossiblepartnershipsandsponsorshipsinthemarketingwisecan

improvetheimageofthemusicchartsandreachmorepeoplebygivingmorere-

sourcesandchannelstobeused.Theco-marketinggivesthepossibilitytopromote

incollaborationwithbiggerbrandsinwhichbothpartiesbenefitfromtheagree-

ment.Suchcollaborationgivesmorevolumeandchannelstobeusedinpromoting

theofficialcharts.Inadditionitcancreatetrustintargetaudiences,incaseifthe

partneriswellknownandhasalreadyestablishedpositioninthemusicindustry.For

musiccharts,suchpartnershiporsponsorshipdealcouldbedoneforexamplewith

streamingserviceslikeSpotify,radiostationsoranyorganizationthatsomehowre-

latestomusicindustry.However,thereisneedformorevisibilityandmediacover-

ageinordertogetsponsorsinterestedinthecharts.Thisputspressureontheover-

allmarketingandthesocialmediapresence.Theactivityofthesocialmediachannels

usedforthechartsshouldbesomethingtobeinvestedin,inordertogaintheinter-

estofthepartnersandsponsors.

Inaddition,themusicchartsareimportantsourceofinformationtotheartistsandto

thelabels.Forthecharts,itisimportanttohavethemusiclabelsandtheirart-

ists/musicianstoco-marketandengageinsocialmediaactivitiesrelatedtothemusic

chartsgivesagreatdealofvisibilitytothecharts.Themusiciansareoneofthemost

influentialpeopleonthesocialmedia.Thisiswelldemonstratedbythecampaign

“MusicFuelstheInternet”createdbyRIAA(TheRecordingIndustryAssociationof

America).Thiscampaignpointsoutthemostinfluentialmusiciansondifferentsocial

mediasitesbyshowinghowmanyfollowerstheyhave.Ifthinkingthisway,these

highlypowerfulpersonsdonotonlyreachhugeamountofpeoplewhenposting

somethingonsocialmediabuttheyarealsomostlikelygettheirpostsgoingviralby

thefactthefanssharethecontentwithotherfansandthecycleisready.Inthepoint

ofviewofthecharts,collaborationwiththehighlyfollowedmusiciansdoesgivea

greatamountofpublicitytothecharts.

Socialmediachannelsshouldbeconsideredaccordingtotheusageofthoseinrela-

tiontothemusiccharts,theindustryandwhatisatthemomentusedthemostof

thechannelsineachcountry.Duringtheinterview,itwasdiscussedthatthemost

25

usedsocialmediaareFacebook,InstagramandwebsitesinFinland,Denmark,Swe-

denandNorway.Thepromotingandmarketingofthechartshasbeenfocusedon

Facebook,websitesandtheradiostationsincludingthesocialmediachannelsof

those.Forthecountriesresearched,Facebook,Instagram,WebsitesandTwitter

wouldimprovethevisibilityifuseddailyoratleastthreetimesaweek.Notingthat

usingthechannelsaccordingtotheirnaturebutstillremainingtheoverallimage

createdforthechartkeepsthechannelsconsistentandkeepsthechartbrandclear.

Oneofthehardestandtime-consumingpartsistocreateavaluetoanyproductora

servicethroughmarketing.Duringtheinterview,itbecameclearthattheofficialmu-

sicchartsineachcountryhavelostalotoftheirvalue.Theofficialmusicchartsneed

plansthatarefollowedonweeklybasiscreatingclearimagewhatthechartsareand

whythosearepublished,partnersandsponsors,improveactivityonthesocialme-

dia.Whenstartingfromthebuildingblocksofthechartsandunderstandingthe

meaningofthechartsfortheindustry,artistsandindividualsconsumingmusicis

wherethevaluecreationstarts.

Thebiggestproblemofmarketingthechartsonsocialmediahasnotedtobethelack

ofresourcesliketimeandpersonnel.Creatingaplanthatgivesstraightguidelines

whentopostandwhatkindofcontentcanhelptoeasethisproblem.Notingthat,

mostofthesocialnetworkingsiteshavethetoolstomanagethepage,includingtim-

ingthepoststobepublishedonexacttimeoftheday,agoodexampleisFacebook.

Thisgivesthepossibilitynottostressaboutpostingsomethingonyourfreetime.

Thereisalsositesthatoffersuchpostingservicesonthesocialmediathatdonot

havethetimingpossibility,forexamplehootsuite.comthatoffersbusinessesatool

totimetheirpostsbutalsotomonitorwhatisdiscussedonlineandoffersanalysisof

theactivities,campaignsandsuch.(hootsuite.com)Usingsuchplatformscanhelp

usingsocialmediaagreatdeal.However,itistruesocialmediatakestimetobecome

successful.

Thereisalsowaystooutsourcethesocialmediamarketingtomarketingagencies

26

specializedinsocialmedia.However,thenthequestionismoneyandhowmuchof

thepossiblemarketingbudgetcanbeusedinthesocialmediamarketing.Thisonthe

otherhandleadstothesponsorsandpartnershipsofthecharts.Usingsocialmediais

notcheapevenitmightbethoughtso,ittakestimeandpersonneltobuildagood

socialmediapresence.

6Conclusion

Fortheconclusion,thisstudywasdoneunderMusiikkituottajat–IFPIFinlandry.It

researchedhowthesocialmediacouldhelpimprovethemarketingofthechartsin

countries:Sweden,Norway,DenmarkandFinland.Theresearchwasaqualitative

casestudy.Itwasimplementedthroughaninterviewinwhichparticipatedfiveinter-

vieweesworkingforIFPIineachcountryandbyobservingthesocialmediachannels

usedbythecountriestomarkettheofficialcharts.

Theresultsrevealedthatthecountrieshavenotcreatedstrategiesoraclearplans

howtousethesocialmediachannelstomarkettheofficialchart.Thebiggestprob-

lemswererecognizedtobethelackofresourcesliketimeandpersonnelwhenmar-

ketingthecharts.Thelackofresourceshasalsoleadtothedecreaseofthevalueof

thechartsinthecountries.

Forthefuture,itcouldbestudiedandcreatedastrategy/plan/guidelinesthatcould

beappliedtoalltheNordiccountries.Aclearstrategywouldnotonlyhelptheper-

sonneltoknowwhattodoandhowtodobutalsothelabelstogetherwithartiststo

knowhowtorefertothechartsandwhatkindofactionstotakeonsocialmedia

channels.Notonlycouldthestrategyhelpunderstandinghowtooperatewiththe

chartsbutthiswouldalsohelptoseethechartsandthepositionsofthoseinabigger

picture.

27

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Appendices

Appendice1. InterviewQuestions

1.What’syournameandhowareyouinvolvedwiththechartsinyourprofession?

2.Howdoyouseesocialmediamarketingbenefitingthechartsatthemoment?Isit

working?

3.Whatisdonerightnowinthemarketingthechartsinyourcountry?

4.Whatdoyouthinkisthebiggestprobleminmarketingthechartthroughsocial

media?Isitlackoftime,resources,andinterestfromthepossibletargetgroups,

contentorsomethingelse?

5.Howhaveyoutriedtoengagethetargetgroups?

6.Whatistheimageyouwanttocommunicatetothepublicofthecharts?

7.Haveyoueverconsideredorhaveyoucreatedcleargoalsorobjectiveswhatyou

wanttoreachthroughsocialmedia?Orhaveyoucreatedaspecificguidetobefol-

lowedwhenmarketingthroughsocialmedia?

8.ShouldtheoveralllookofthechartsbeconsistentamongtheNordiccountries?

9.Thechartsrepresentthemusicindustryonweeklybasis.Whatkindofothercon-

tentcouldbesufficientinyouropinionwhenmarketingthecharts?

32

10.Doyoucollaboratewithlabelsorradiostations?

11.Doyouhaveanyothercommentsaboutthechartsandthemarketingofthose?

33

Appendice2. Secondappendice

Socialmediachannelsobserved

Norway–VG-lista

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/vglista/?fref=ts

WebsiteVG:http://lista.vg.no

Twitter:https://twitter.com/vglistatopp20

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/vglistatopp20/

Denmark–Hitlisten.NU

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/Hitlisten.NU/?fref=ts

Website:http://www.hitlisten.nu

Twitter:https://twitter.com/hitlisten

Sweden–SverigesOfficiellaTopplista

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/sverigetopplistan.se/?fref=ts

Website:http://www.sverigetopplistan.se

Finland–SuomenVirallinenLista

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/listaykkonen/

Website:http://ifpi.fi/tilastot/virallinen-lista/

Twitter:https://twitter.com/listaykkonen

Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/listaykkonen/?hl=fi