How would you have marketed POP??

[The_acrobat]

Whoever did the marketing approach to POP really fucked up.

Suppose you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, and market POP and POPMART. Keep in mind, you can't interfere with the band creatively. The album will have the same 12 songs, will be released on the same day, and they will go ahead with the Popmart Tour concept. What would you do in order to make sure Pop was a success, Popmart was a success, and U2 was a success in 1997?

 

[*BOOMCHAA!*]

have all four of them run around naked.

 

[HelloAngel]

Well, I for one would not have announced POP or PopMart in a KMart, or let the band be so kind of jokey about their press appearance approach back then - I think it's possible they were responsible for the "joke" feel of the POP marketing campaign.

I dunno. I'm just babbling.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

Whoever did the marketing approach to POP really fucked up.

Suppose you could go back in time, knowing what you know now, and market POP and POPMART. Keep in mind, you can't interfere with the band creatively. The album will have the same 12 songs, will be released on the same day, and they will go ahead with the Popmart Tour concept. What would you do in order to make sure Pop was a success, Popmart was a success, and U2 was a success in 1997?

First off I would scrap the KMart promo performance it just didn't work on any level for me. The other major screw up of POP was Discotheque video, I mean what the heck was that ? Sure there making fun of themselves but it looks like Larry didn't even want to be there. I think the video for that song single handedly doomed that album. My first video/single choice would have been Gone, ofcourse hindsight is 20/20 since everybody including U2 really loves that song. Next thing on the disaster list was the POP A Year in The Life Of tv special, they should of just made a live concert instead of interviews. Bottom line POP was a marketing massacare and whoever was responsible should be sued because that album really does rock.

 

[BonoBabe40]

have all four of them run around naked.

Hey I'd pay to see that.....

 

[Rafiennes]

First, I'd keep the Discotheque video and the KMart thing - it took people off guard, That was good. Keep the ABC special, just lose Dennis Hopper as the host ("They're still wrting Sunday Bloody Sunday, maaan, they just call it Please, maaan" -- Your nitrious oxide is in your dressing room, Mr Hopper) And maybe not tie it all in to ABC as much.

Next, do not release Staring At The Sun as the next single. If you've got interviews with Edge and Larry saying they feel something is wrong with the song, don't release it. Go with 'Do You Feel Loved'. It's radio friendly and there's just something about it. Release it with a kick-ass looking video by Nigel Dick or someone out of the usual U2 video loop. Also, forget the 73 remixes, put some decent b-sides on that bitch. If the boys were trying to compete with the likes of Oasis (who were huge at the time) then compete with them on every level. Oasis consistently releases amazing b-sides. One-up them.

The tour -- Really go with the supermarket on tour vibe. Open the show with some kind of video screen display showing off what it can do and then have a female announcer: "The Popmart is now open!" Have the guys open with Playboy Mansion totally playing off the supermarket vibe. Save the Mofo/Boxing Ring entrance for the first encore and the Lemonball entrance for the final encore.

Next, release Gone as the third single. Maybe in a stripped down (new mix) version. And have a video that shows U2 can rock with the best of them. This song deserved better.

By this time, they probably could have figured out what was wrong with Staring At The Sun and then release it, or IGWSHA.

Finally, release anything but the Mexico show. It was a good show, but the Oakland show I saw was a million times better. AND I didn't have to hear Bono say "Mexico" 267 times. Release it with extra footage, maybe the ABC special and more behind the scenes, making of the album, stuff. Put it on DVD already and make us happy.

Not that I've taken the time to think about this over the last few years or so.

As Dennis Miler says, "Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

 

[MrBrau1]

Kill the "Disco" video and you sell 500,000 to 1 million more albums. It put everyone who watched MTV off the record.

 

[womanfish]

I would have gone with Staring at the Sun as the first single. The first single was going to be big no matter what. People were turned off by Discoteque (the video) and it died, helping to kill future singles and thus, the album. People were waiting for new U2 BIGTIME and they would have jumped all over SATS on all radio formats. It also would have dispelled the rumors that it was a "techno/dance" album, and more people would have given it a fair chance instead of writing it off and not even listening to it.

I would have been a bit more serious. Even though Popmart is big and fun, the music is the core. Forget the Road to POP thing on ABC and just do a whole live concert of Popmart on MTV after a few weeks in and the bugs were worked out.

Order of singles should have been:
Staring At the Sun
IGWSHA
Discoteque
Do You Feel Loved
Please

 

[One Tree Still]

Good ideas everyone

Mistakes:

Bono's hooded sweatshirt look in the early stages

The band's overall flambouyant attire should have been limited to Disco-t. They should have gone with a more mature, understated look - still cool and "tech", but waaaay more understated. Larry had it right the whole time.

Disco-t video/single release. Should have come after 1. Gone, 2. DYFL?, 3. SATS and then been followed by 5. Please.

Tweaks:

I liked the stage set-up for the shows - I think it would have been too soon to go minimalistic after the ZOO TV success - but there was too much focus on the props and outfits.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

Good ideas everyone


Disco-t video/single release. Should have come after 1. Gone, 2. DYFL?, 3. SATS and then been followed by 5. Please.

My order would be very close to yours,

These two songs are the heartbeat of the album
1) Gone
2) Do You Feel Loved

3) Please -to slow the beat down, then
4) SATS

then maybe LNOE


By the time LNOE video came out the album was considered to be a flop by 'the industry' and i rarely saw the video stations play it.

 

[typhoon]

As Dennis Miler says, "Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

I just want to say that I thought every one of your ideas was bad (except that they should've released some decent B-sides and that Oasis' B-sides rock). Nothing personal.

I would've released "Gone" instead of "Discotheque" for the first single and maybe let the band rehearse for their tour a little.

 

[HelloAngel]

I just want to say that I thought every one of your ideas was bad (except that they should've released some decent B-sides and that Oasis' B-sides rock). Nothing personal.

Let's be courteous - there are no right/wrong or good/bad ideas here - this thread is mere conjecture and should remain as such.

 

[u2popmofo]

Pop DID infact sell a ton of records, it just didnt sell normal U2 amounts.

I personally dont really think they messed much up other than releasing the album before they were satisfied with it, and then going out on tour before they were ready.

 

[U2Kitten]

First, no Discotheque video. No Discotheque at all, unless it's an album track, but not a representation of 'hey look folks, this is U2 now!' That was the big mistake, at least among the fans I knew, and apparently we weren't alone. I think we all can agree that this did hurt the general public's perception of Pop.

Second, release Gone as the first single, SATS as the second. Then Please, maybe LNOE, maybe not.

This is the big thing, and the most controversial: redo the image. Start with the Kmart thing- don't do it. Soooo lame by U2 standards. Second, the fashion choices just have to go. No skinhead Bono, no muscle shirt, no Cyborg Cowboy, no orange poptart prison jumpsuit, no surgeon mask, no spoon or banana bass. The person who designed those costumes should be strung up and soundly flogged.

The stage setup should have been severely scaled down, not so big, less bright orange and yellow neon. A bit more subdued and tasteful. No lemon- maybe hanging from the ceiling like the trabants, but the entrance, that was too much. People who remember what a joke "Pop Muzik" was in its day can recall how having to endure U2 walking into it was humiliating and cringeworthy. Now I know there are some here who love all these things and will hate me for saying this, but that's my honest advice. Now don't go hollering how much you loved it, we know, we know, but it didn't work for everyone and this is just a hypothetical question

If all these things had been different, I still think Pop would have been less successful than JT and AB, but it wouldn't have been such a joke, or an albatross that had to be overcome.

*hides*

 

[Bono's shades]

If the band had released Gone, Please or Staring at the Sun as the first single instead of Discoteque, that would have eliminated a lot of the public perception problems right off the bat. They might have been able to get away with the Kmart thing, the bizarre stage costumes and everything else if that had happened.

 

[david]

I would have had no cover artwork, just in a plain font have it say "POP" on the cover, right in dead center.. I would have Anton Corbijn photos of the band inside, but like really dark obscure pics of them..

I would have hired really good video directors have not have any band member appear in the videos...

Miami would have been released as a single too.

 

[popacrobat]

First off- I make Gone the first single. This seems to be a popular theme, but it's probably the most radio-friendly song that they could have put out at the time.

The second single? I would stick to Discotheque, but with a different video... a waaaaaaaaaay different video. Anything but the video they had released.

for a third single, I would have gone to Do You feel Loved, and then If God Would send his Angels... and then as a 5th and final single, Staring at the Sun.

Please is a great song, and I love it, but I don't think it could be marketed well.

As for the POPMART tour annoucement, I would not have it done in K-Mart in Greenwich Village. Since U2 was going for the biggest, best and most bad-assed show on the planet and playing in huge venues, why not kick it off and announce it at the same time amoungst a huge audience? I would have had the tour announcement and have the band play a mini-setlist at Times square in front of thousands of people. I would have had them play 4 songs after the announcement for good measure- Gone, Discotheque(just because it rocks so much more live), Staring at the Sun and Do You Feel Loved- the songs that could have been the most marketable IMO.


As for the tour itself, I would have added Bad to the set list, at it is almost what you could call THE live U2 song.


But hey, this idea probably sucks and that's why I'm not the marketing manager...

 

[david]

They played Bad during the Pop Mart tour at least once or twice. I have an MP3 of it, it actually sounds different from how they played it during the other tours.

 

[popacrobat]

I know, they played it a bit towards the end I think , but I would have had it in all the time

 

[Red Ships of Scalla-Festa]

First, I'd keep the Discotheque video and the KMart thing - it took people off guard, That was good. Keep the ABC special, just lose Dennis Hopper as the host ("They're still wrting Sunday Bloody Sunday, maaan, they just call it Please, maaan" -- Your nitrious oxide is in your dressing room, Mr Hopper) And maybe not tie it all in to ABC as much.

Next, do not release Staring At The Sun as the next single. If you've got interviews with Edge and Larry saying they feel something is wrong with the song, don't release it. Go with 'Do You Feel Loved'. It's radio friendly and there's just something about it. Release it with a kick-ass looking video by Nigel Dick or someone out of the usual U2 video loop. Also, forget the 73 remixes, put some decent b-sides on that bitch. If the boys were trying to compete with the likes of Oasis (who were huge at the time) then compete with them on every level. Oasis consistently releases amazing b-sides. One-up them.

The tour -- Really go with the supermarket on tour vibe. Open the show with some kind of video screen display showing off what it can do and then have a female announcer: "The Popmart is now open!" Have the guys open with Playboy Mansion totally playing off the supermarket vibe. Save the Mofo/Boxing Ring entrance for the first encore and the Lemonball entrance for the final encore.

Next, release Gone as the third single. Maybe in a stripped down (new mix) version. And have a video that shows U2 can rock with the best of them. This song deserved better.

By this time, they probably could have figured out what was wrong with Staring At The Sun and then release it, or IGWSHA.

Finally, release anything but the Mexico show. It was a good show, but the Oakland show I saw was a million times better. AND I didn't have to hear Bono say "Mexico" 267 times. Release it with extra footage, maybe the ABC special and more behind the scenes, making of the album, stuff. Put it on DVD already and make us happy.

Not that I've taken the time to think about this over the last few years or so.

As Dennis Miler says, "Of course, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong."

i really love you. and your a newbie. you deserve a thread, if only i was allowed to post in the proper forum id give you a "poster of the week award."

no seriously, i LOVE you.

 

[The_acrobat]

Great ideas, people.

I agree, "Gone" should have been the first single. Give it a good video.....a video that has a story to go along with the song, but yet still says "U2 is BACK". I also would have done a big announcement for the tour somewhere like Times Square or Central Park, front of a lot of people. The 4 song setlist with "Gone", "Discotheque", "Staring at the sun" and "Do you feel loved" would've been great. Bono's hair could've been shorter, but not too short. Kinda like how he was in the Beautiful Day video. The tour would have nothing to do with consumerism, because that concept was dumb and unfounded. I would've waited at least another month until they began the tour, to give them some rehearsal time.

"Staring at the sun" would've been the second single, to push ticket sales harder. Because the Discotheque montrosity never occured, people would still like U2, and the tour would be selling well.

The singles would've been after that
Last night on earth
Do you feel loved
If God will send his angels - City of Angels soundtrack

I haven't come up with an alternate tour concept. But the whole yellow/orange neon shit with lemons and olives isn't it. The screen is fine.

 

[pub crawler]

Well it's amazing that people pretend the ATYCLB was a better album than POP and yet POP was at least 47,234,567,119 times better than the ATYCLB album.

 

[jick]

Make Staring At The Sun the first single, but have a better video. The original and Miami versions don't quite cut it. The second single should have been Do You Feel Love, then the third If God Will Send His Angels.

And the tour shouldn't have been named Popmart. Nowhere did the concert feel like a shopping mall or supermarket, unlike Zoo TV which was marketed as a TV station and did feel like a tv station with the information overload, the Popmart tour didn't seem like any mart.

Cheers,

J

 

[wavesofregret]

Great ideas, people.

I agree, "Gone" should have been the first single. Give it a good video.....a video that has a story to go along with the song, but yet still says "U2 is BACK". I also would have done a big announcement for the tour somewhere like Times Square or Central Park, front of a lot of people. The 4 song setlist with "Gone", "Discotheque", "Staring at the sun" and "Do you feel loved" would've been great. Bono's hair could've been shorter, but not too short. Kinda like how he was in the Beautiful Day video. The tour would have nothing to do with consumerism, because that concept was dumb and unfounded. I would've waited at least another month until they began the tour, to give them some rehearsal time.

"Staring at the sun" would've been the second single, to push ticket sales harder. Because the Discotheque montrosity never occured, people would still like U2, and the tour would be selling well.

The singles would've been after that
Last night on earth
Do you feel loved
If God will send his angels - City of Angels soundtrack

I haven't come up with an alternate tour concept. But the whole yellow/orange neon shit with lemons and olives isn't it. The screen is fine.

Too bad they didn't have you around to advise them before it was too late! You have already stated most of what I was going to say. I also agree with David, Kitten and most of the others.

 

[wavesofregret]

First, I'd keep the Discotheque video and the KMart thing - it took people off guard, That was good.

But it's already been well established that it WASN'T good

 

[Red Ships of Scalla-Festa]

But it's already been well established that it WASN'T good

no, sorry, wrong!

 

[Rafiennes]

I just want to say that I thought every one of your ideas was bad (except that they should've released some decent B-sides and that Oasis' B-sides rock). Nothing personal.



But seriously...what do you think of my ideas? Don't hold back.

I'm just messing.

We can all agree to disagree and that's what makes us better than monkeys! Although they do that tree-swingin' thing which is pretty cool.

 

[MrBrau1]

Disco wasn't good as a lead single or video. It may stand fine on it's own, but not as the introductory sound/vision for a band that's been away for 4 years.

 

[Rafiennes]

i really love you. and your a newbie. you deserve a thread, if only i was allowed to post in the proper forum id give you a "poster of the week award."

no seriously, i LOVE you.

And I love you. Thanks

(can't believe I just used one of these little happy faces)

 

[zonelistener]

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)