Branding Task

The Arctic Monkeys are an Indie rock band, formed in 2002.  They have released 7 albums, 24 music videos and 23 singles.  They released their first single “I bet you look good on the dancefloor” in 2005 which went straight to number one in the charts. They released their first album in 2006 “Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not”. They have won 7 Brit awards, the Mercury Prize, headlined at Glastonbury three times and have achieved international success.  

The Arctic Monkeys have had phenomenal success with some of their albums. This is remarkable in an era when their type of rock music doesn’t normally lead to sales and success and even more so with music free to listen to online.  Their albums “Whatever people say I am, that’s what I’m not” and “AM” have reached sales that are generally only associated with long established bands producing a “best of” compilation of their hits.  However, some albums such as Casino and The Car have been less successful. 

The band originate from Sheffield.  Three of the four band members are close friends who met at school.  The Arctic Monkeys were seen as a backlash to manufactured pop bands. They wrote songs about their own lives and what they observed and started out playing in pubs and venues around Sheffield.  They signed to Domino in 2005, the label’s owner was a genuine fan of the Arctic Monkeys and this mattered to the band. They did not select the highest paying offer, they needed to be authentic.  

The Arctic Monkeys are credited with bringing about a change in the music industry as they became successful without following the traditional route within the music industry. Without the usual huge investment and promotion of bands by the music industry.

In the early 2000’s, the Arctic Monkeys took advantage of the emergence of new technology.  They used domestic CD recording devices to burn CDs to hand out for free at their gigs.  This allowed their fans to upload and share their music online, to write about it, to create a hype around the band.  The band also made use of the newly emerged Web 2.0 which allowed ordinary users to add content online without technical knowledge. 

The band made great use of MySpace and created a huge online following.  At the start of their careers, the band were responsible for their own promotion and they proved to the music industry that it was possible to make money without using the traditional methods. They showed that the Internet could be used to get a band’s music heard without needing the music industry to promote them.  

Nearly 20 years after their debut, the band has grown to seven members and The Cars is a very different sound. However, the marketing strategy remains non traditional. The marketing of Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino released in 2018 was described as “anti marketing”, or a “no marketing, marketing” strategy.  No previews, no singles, no videos were released to build excitement around the album, just a single trailer that has been described as ambiguous.

This was the Arctic Monkeys first music video. It was a performance driven video designed to look like 1980s TV programmes such as the “Old Grey Whistle Test” or “Top of the Pops”. It has a vintage, retro feel. It was filmed using 1980s camera equipment to give it an authentic, nostalgic look. It was filmed in a warehouse like studio to give it a natural feel as if they were playing to a live audience. The band never look directly into the camera as if they are engaging with a live audience. Cables, speakers and cameramen are seen throughout the video. 

The band wear typical Northern lad uniform of jeans and tshirts. They play musical instruments, which are often shown in close ups as this fits with their brand of being genuine musicians. They appear as if they are performing for themselves, for their own enjoyment. The music video fits with the convention of Indie rock because it is simple, it looks like it has a low budget and this gives it it’s real, down to earth feel. This is part of their brand to present themselves as sincere and genuine artists creating music.

This music video is from the Arctic Monkeys fifth album AM.

It is narrative driven, a contrast to their earlier performance driven music videos. It focuses mainly on Alex, the lead singer, although all the band members feature at the beginning when they are all seen in a pub.  The pub is a very English setting and relatable for their fanbase. Showing all the band members together shows unity to their fans.  In contrast to earlier music videos, Alex has been styled with slicked back hair and leather jacket, which is less indie rock and more 1950’s Hollywood icon. 

As the video progresses, we see Alex stumbling through a town with the suggestion that he is drunk or high and receiving text messages.  It is a fairly typical English town. It features a kebab shop, a black cab, shuttered shops as it is nighttime. In the video, the group are branding themselves as British, they are trying to keep to their roots. This music video is from the AM album, one of their biggest selling albums and it would have been easy enough for the band to take a more international route, one less distinctly British.  The fact that they didn’t, shows how key being British is as part of the branding for the Arctic Monkeys.  The theme of this video fits with the lyrics in their first album around alcohol, love and relationship issues. The lyrics and theme are typical of the Arctic Monkeys and their realism, creating music about everyday situations that their fans could find themselves in.

Four out of Five is from the Arctic Monkeys sixth album, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino.

This music video is a mixture of narrative and performance.  The opening scenes are cinematic and reminiscent of a Stanley Kubrick film with orange tunnels.  We see Alex walk down a grand hallway of what looks like an opulent stately home, dressed in a suit with long hair.  Gone is the classic northern lad uniform of their earlier music videos.  This is not an everyday setting that is seen in previous music videos that would be recognised as distinctly British and nor is it realistic. It has a fantasy vibe, the grand house could be French, the subways could be American.  This is a departure from their previous very British branding.  It shows their fans that they are evolving.  However, there are references to their earlier work. The Old Grey Whistle test is referenced and part way through the music video we see the band performing and being filmed and this links back to their first ever music video.  It has a retro style that was seen in the first music video.

This music video isn’t immediately recognisable as classic Arctic Monkeys, it is artistic, it is grand, cinematic, the band members wear suits.  It shows that the Arctic Monkeys have grown up, they have a loyal fanbase and perhaps they feel they can experiment more with their brand and their music.  It does reference their older music videos with the performance element and perhaps this suggests they have not entirely committed to a new identity.