How would you have marketed POP??

[Leeloo]

Remember, this was 1997. So, they should have opened for the Spice Girls! They should have adopted Spice like characters: Bono could be Ginger U2 Spice, with red hair and a tight Irish flag shirt and high black boots. Edge should have been Sporty U2 Spice, with a football helmet and kleats. Adam could be Posh U2 Spice, in a tux. Larry, Baby U2 Spice in pastels. No Scary, we don't need anyone else scared away! They could have put out a simultanious movie release called "U2 World" in which they travel around in a bus having wacky adventures. There could have been bubblegum stickers and action figures. That's how it should have been marketed!

 

[u2popmofo]

I wouls have had bono shave his head much sooner!

I loved the whole POPmart schtick. I still think it is my favorite U2 tour. Everytime I watch any of the POPMart shows, I get pretty fired up when I hear PopMusic and Mofo.

I think the problem was the transformation to a style of music that was not hip in America and with the "rock-music" loving crowd that had eaten them up previously.

American taste sucks ass. (and yes, I am American)

I totally agree.


On a side note, I think I'm the only person here who doesnt think 'Gone' is single material at all. Great fan song, but I sure can't see anyone buying POP because of that song.

 

[Red Ships of Scalla-Festa]

gone is not single material i agree, but its certainly a better single than if god would send his angels or please.

 

[womanfish]

I agree Gone is not a single. It's like Kite. One of my VERY favorite U2 songs, just not right for a single.

Staring at The Sun, Do You Feel Loved, Disco, Last Night on Earth are all good single choices.

 

[Salome]

I don't think another marketing campaign would have made a lot of difference

personally I would have released Mofo as the second single (well, actually I would have picked Do You feel loved, but the band doesn't seem to like to release singles of songs that they aren't comfortable about playing live)

and I would have fired the idiot who thought that Last Night on Earth video was a good one

I'd never have released Gone and If god ... as a single

 

[Tabby]

Since it's such a dark album they should have gone for a cool goth look. The album cover should have been all black, like Smell the Glove by Spinal Tap, with a silver hologram name.

 

[HelloAngel]

and I would have fired the idiot who thought that Last Night on Earth video was a good one

I you. God I hated that video.

 

[Saracene]

Well, I don't know if a different campaign would have made POP click with public better, but overhauling the POPMart visuals could only have been a good thing. I understand what the band was aiming at, but this garish camp image they adopted didn't suit them -at all- and made them look like miscast actors.

 

[U2One]

I wouldn't do anything different. Screw the sales, screw the media/critics. I loved everything about this album, tour, and era on the whole. I loved the entire spectacle known as PoPMart. The stage, outfits, antics. It was a great era for U2, just like all their other eras have been

 

[STING2]

First, the POPMART TOUR WAS A SUCCESS. It is today still the 3rd highest grossing tour worldwide in history. Over 171 million dollars in Gross and 4 million fans in attendence for the 93 date tour. Only two Rolling Stone tours have done better worldwide.

In addition, the album sold 5.5 million copies in 1997 alone, enough to be one of the top 20 albums of the year worldwide.

Yes, its true attendence was off in the USA (perhaps by as much as 50% when compared to ZOO TV attendence figures) but the attendence they had in the USA was still enough to give them the biggest tour of the year in the USA in 1997. Some USA markets were thin, but new highs were set in such places as Chicago where U2 played 3 stadium shows for the first time in that market.

Bottom line, I believe U2 did the best they could, to market the material they had. It was obvious Europe would like this album and tour better than the USA. While the album sold 1.5 million in the USA, it sold nearly 3 million in Europe.

The only thing I can think of is perhaps releasing "Gone", I think that would of been a great single. Its the best song on the album and one of the shortest songs at around 4 minutes, perfect for radio programers.

Other than that, I think they did a fantastic job. People should realize that sometimes good material is not going to be as popular with the public in a certain country or region or the world in general, as it should be, regardless of the promotion.

 

[oliveu2cm]

I wouldn't do anything different. Screw the sales, screw the media/critics. I loved everything about this album, tour, and era on the whole. I loved the entire spectacle known as PoPMart. The stage, outfits, antics. It was a great era for U2, just like all their other eras have been