Home / The Unwanted Gift: How U2 and Apple Hugely Misread Their Audience
It’s almost a decade since one of the biggest blunders in music release history. During their 2014 September keynote in which they announced the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch, tech giant Apple and legacy pop rock band U2 conspired to create an album rollout like no other, and what was intended to be a flex of the band’s popularity turned out to irritate users.
That day, Apple CEO Tim Cook invited U2 on stage to give away their new album Songs of Innocence, which made its way into people’s iTunes libraries for free – whether they liked it or not.
The “surprise album” had become a fearsome strategy for music’s elite to get people talking about their album – Beyonce’s self-titled album from 2013 was the major kickstarter of this trend. But where Beyonce created a commotion by plastering it across news outlets all of a sudden, U2 caused confusion as people looked into their library to find an unwelcome guest.
There are lessons to be learned from this fiasco even ten years on, especially when it comes to eCommerce marketing. In learning from the mistakes of Apple and U2, here are some marketing principles that ensure you don’t have a Songs of Innocence on your hands.
It was clear that U2 and Apple thought of this move as an act of sublime generosity. Placing the albums in iTunes libraries across the world, it was pitched with the wonderment of Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. From Apple’s perspective, it was almost a precursor to the subscription era of Netflix and Disney Plus, where platform holders buy the rights to stream a movie on their platform and add it to the mammoth library. Lead vocalist and sunglasses enthusiast Bono echoes this sentiment in a story from Bono’s memoir Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story.
It wasn’t such a beautiful day for the average iTunes customer, as they launched the app to find the album surreptitiously put into their libraries; some were even automatically downloaded to their device. The difference that was lost on Apple was that iTunes is a personal library of the user’s music, not the platform holder’s library. Almost as quickly as they launched it, Apple and U2 discovered they hadn’t found the success they were looking for.
The Songs of Innocence campaign didn’t just offer something for free – it gave it to people without them opting in first. This was the key error in their ways, as this damages the bond your customers have with your brand. Instead, focus on marketing strategies that give easy access to your product, be it a free trial to a service or exclusive content. Above all, do it without forcing your offering upon customers.
This line of thought can also be applied to aspects of your website, such as cookies. Give users the option to opt out with clear pop-up banners to build trust in your business. You may not be able to track those who do reject cookies, but your customers may be more inclined to convert if they feel they are respected as internet users.
Over 20 years before U2 united with Apple for this campaign, the band’s album Achtung Baby sold 18 million copies worldwide. Now they were invading people’s iTunes libraries, and in a way, it showed how out-of-touch with mainstream pop culture they were at this point. The solution to this issue for U2 was to hone in on a niche, rather than being invasive to those who aren’t interested. This highlights a truism that applies to eCommerce: a one-size-fits-all approach rarely resonates.
Audience segmentation is where you can greatly improve your marketing efforts. By dividing up your audience into smaller groups based on shared characteristics such as demographics, interests and buying behaviour, you can tailor your campaigns to deliver more personalised experiences. For example, a skincare business could segment its audience by skin type to offer personalised recommendations and product suggestions in their email. With segmentation, you can create targeted messages that hit the mark.
Songs of Innocence was met with critical mauling. Its most prominent review was a paltry 4.6 out of 10 from Pitchfork, but however good the music was, it was grossly overshadowed by its marketing. Today, its title is barely remembered amongst music fans, as they know it by a different name: “the album U2 put in everyone’s iTunes library”.
Remember that the best marketing is focused on the product’s value, rather than bombarding customers with brand messages. Look at creating compelling product descriptions, and high-quality visuals and maintaining great customer reviews across your website – let the product speak for itself first.
A section of the album’s Pitchfork review provides a potent example of the reaction to the rollout: “Regardless, U2 have already squandered any remaining integrity to invent this needy, invasive breed of the Big Event Album, an Album that lacks any kind of artistic statement to deter from the overwhelming Brandiness. Where Beyoncé used her iTunes sneak attack late last year to make a bold pop proclamation of sexuality and feminism, U2 have used an even more audacious release platform to wave their arms and simply say, ‘Hey! Everybody! We’re still here!’”
Though there was a hint of cleverness in how they predicted the future dominance of music streaming in Spotify and Apple Music – where music was accessed through a gargantuan library – the Songs of Innocence debacle was one the band, and artists at large, learned from. In his memoir, Beno said this about the album release: “On 9 September 2014, we didn’t just put our bottle of milk at the door but in every fridge in every house in town. In some cases, we poured it onto the good people’s cornflakes. And some people like to pour their own milk. And others are lactose intolerant.”
For more advice on how to start getting to know your audience, check out our blog on why brand personalisation matters.
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