U.G.L.Y. - Marketing and Promo Idea

kossgardner
Apr 12, 2018
4 min read

Hello all! I want to give you a special read! I was holding on to this, but I feel it needs to be seen, so here we go! A few years ago I interned for an artist management company that represented a scope of artists, one being Chris Brown’s CBE artist group U.G.L.Y. The group’s name is an acronym for Under Greatness Lies You. They are an eclectic mix of 3 different souls all coming from different backgrounds to bring you an, in my description, alternative/electronic/pop fusion of sound. They are no longer active as a group, but they were something special and could have really shaken up things. Anyway, I was tasked with coming up with a unique promo idea for their debut EP, DMT,when it came out at the time. So I sat long and hard and came up with what I felt was a awesome marketing and promo push for their work. This was pitched, and unfortunately didn't get past the manager to the group, but nonetheless it's a lot of fun.

*This was thought of back around 2013/2014

For those that don’t know, DMT is a drug that is powerful hallucinogenic that dramatically affects human consciousness. People believe they can achieve a higher sense of being and can cross realities and planes and experience things the simple human mind cannot. Keep that in mind as you are reading the campaign.

On The Run: A campaign built around the release and promotion of UGLY’s EP

(I came up with the title “On The Run” for a campaign before the Beyonce and Jay Z series FYI)

Story: UGLY – Under Greatness Lies You. UGLY are fugitives on the run for being the leaders of a rebellion against “The Industry”. The whole time period is in a light dystopian setting. All forms of entertainment are ruled by a monopolist entity called “The Industry”, the main form being music. Everything that is released is used as a way to control the masses and to make sure no one knows their full potential and leave their creativity dormant as it could potentially ruin everything “The Industry” stands for and has built. (Think as if the world was in black and white, perfect beaver cleaver families) They force feed the same type of cookie cutter artists and lackluster visuals down everyone’s throat, they don’t allow choices and the public doesn’t even realize they don’t make their own choices. They just follow. Anyone who shows even a sign of opposition to the way things are, are arrested and taken away where they’re never heard from again. Legend says that those who go against “The Industry” are brainwashed and become a former shell of themselves and thrown into a camp somewhere in the mountains, forced to package CD’s.

Three brave souls rise up out of obscurity to lead a rebellion against “The Industry”. They go by the name of UGLY. They began secret meetings underground and slowly recruited followers for the cause. Their plan is to release a body of work (The EP DMT) and visuals that challenges the masses and tries to get them to think outside of what they are used to and take down “The Industry”. “The Industry” caught wind of this and UGLY are now wanted fugitives. There’s already one music video out, RED, which is somehow interrupting the airwaves of “The Industry” approved content at random moments. There’s also been word that UGLY has secret shows to further push their message that you can only find out about through a secret system. “The Industry” wants to put an end to all of this before it gets beyond their control and are now in a race against time to try and stop the success of this rebellion before the EP drop date.

This is the background story, now these are things that can be marketing/promo for the EP that ties to the story:

A promo video of the background story, doesn’t have to be real elaborate, but it needs to come off legit. Promote it all through social media, music blogs, youtube, etc.
Make WANTED Posters of UGLY and put them up in many different areas around he city, on them the picture of the group, maybe each person splitting space on the picture. The EP’s name and subsequent information.
“Secret” shows could be an option. Almost how raves are revealed, different shows from UGLY could be revealed through some sort of SMS service or mailing list or social media type entity. It could play into the whole story of these underground shows that “The Industry’’ cannot find out about. The message could allude to the rebellion. It makes it fun for the fans.
There can also be short videos put out alluding to the fact that they are transmitting secretly giving updates and information about their music. The videos could start off showing content that “The Industry” would show and then is interrupted by a transmission from UGLY. (Youtube Videos)
If a street team is made, they can be marketed as the followers of the rebellion, trying to get the message out about UGLY. Ugly can always mention to be on the lookout for the street team spreading the word. The street team can wear a noticeable armband or sash to make them stand out to those passing them. Those in the street team would have to be willing to play the part of a rebellion troupe.
#ontherun or #riseupwithUGLY – Use these tags on Social Media as an interaction between the group and their followers, the fans can give their own stories on fighting for a cause or anything that falls in with the theme.
The rollout for this would need to be executed very carefully and very strongly as in feeding it constantly across various mediums.

I thought this would make it very fun for their already committed fan base as well as for the new followers they were going to obtain. I felt this would really make people notice and pay attention to what they were doing. I never actually got to present it to the group like I had hoped, but the manager liked a lot of the elements.

Here’s a link to their EP, take a listen and prepare for a trip beyond this world!

https://soundcloud.com/uglyofficial/sets/dmt-ep

Also, this music video, which is directed by Chris Brown, should help you understand their artistry too.