Advertising Across Media Platforms

ɹǝuǝʇǝǝʍs

Sweetener is Ariana Grande's 4th studio album, which was released on August 17th, 2018. The album was a follow-up to her 3rd studio album titled Dangerous Woman. Grande released 3 singles prior to the release of her latest album to create excitement and get everyone buzzed for the album. She released No Tears Left to Cry as a lead single and it did very well. It debuted at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. the second single The Light is Coming, which features the popular female rap star Nicki Minaj, was released as a promo single and came alongside the pre-order of the album. Her third single God is a Woman was released and peaked at number 8 on the Billboard hot 100.

Following the release of her latest album, there were advertisements all over the place. Seeing how Ariana is a popular artist in 2018, this was expected. There were billboards, newspaper articles, television advertisements, social media ads, and even more.

One traditional method of advertising that she used to promote her new project were billboards. Billboards are way more effective than they seem, one reason why is because you can't escape it. AN average American spends over 15 hours in their car, that is a lot of driving time. And if you think about the big picture, you realize how many billboards they must pass every day. Billboards aren't some small, A4 sized posters, they are huge structures that will catch your eye in an instant. Billboards are considered above-the-line, A Twitter user shared this tweet announcing that they had seen a billboard for Sweetener in London.

— @gomezcommunion on Twitter

A billboard advertising Sweetener was also displayed in Times Square, New York. This is a big achievement for any artist because approximately 330,000 people walk through Times Square every day.

— @arianagrande on Instagram

Another traditional type of advertising that Grande used was broadcast television. Since the first television advertisement broadcasted approximately 80 years ago, TV has grown to become one of the most effective forms of advertisement to date, even in the age of streaming services. Television ads can reach a huge audience through a simple message, and that is amazing. The TV spot included a 10-second advertisement revealing that Sweetener was ready for pre-order, the ad featured her popular single 'God is a Woman'. A 10 second TV ad doesn't seem like much, but when you look at the stats and see that commercial TV reaches a whopping 70% of the UK population per day, you realize how many people are witnessing this TV spot. Because this reaches a huge audience, this method will be considered above=the=line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=146BXRPiXX8

One last method of advertising she used was through the radio. Radio advertising is one of the best ways you can reach a bigger audience because it targets a wide range of consumers and effectively establishes a special relationship with the consumers who listen to the radio. Radio advertising is very popular these days and most likely still will be in the years to come. Unfortunately, I do not have video/audio recording to back up my statement, but I do have screenshots of tweets that fans of Grande posted:

— @greedyyari on Twitter

— @ag_supdates on Twitter

Moving on from traditional methods of advertising and onto a much more modern approach, digital methods/internet marketing is also an amazing way of advertising in the 21st century.  For example, a great way of advertising through a digital method is Social Media.

Advertising through social media is very popular these days, it is so common that you don't even realize when it happens. Ariana also took it into her own hands when it came to social media advertising. She was posting stories on Instagram counting down the days to the release of Sweetener, posting updates on her album on Twitter, and posting snippets of songs that will be featured on the album. But sponsored advertisements were also displayed on websites such as Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, YouTube and many more.

Displaying advertisements for your project before a YouTube video is a very effective way of advertising. YouTube ads are one of the most popular ways of advertising in the world of digital media.YouTube pre-roll ads are a powerful, and very effective, way to stretch to reach a bigger audience

Snapchat and Instagram are also a great way to promote your product because it is a simple yet effective way that is guaranteed to work. Grande's fans are constantly checking her recent stories to see what she's up to and her posting subtle advertisements, such as her using a Sweetener filter on Snapchat, is a clever way to promote her album. These methods are all below-the-line.

— @arianagrande's Instagram story 

— Sweetener advertisement on YouTube

— Sweetener Snapchat filter code
(@arianagrande's story on Instagram)

Another form of digital advertising that Grande used was pop-up ads, Pop-up advertisements are a very popular way of advertising on websites. they are always there but you never realize. They are a useful way of pushing a product in the users face. Unfortunately, I do not have any examples/evidence of this. This would be seen as below-the-line advertising.

— Sweetener pop-up on Spotify

(rosegoldsallee on Twitter)

Both digital and traditional advertising methods worked together to successfully promote this album. Digital methods are usually below-the-line (BTL), while traditional are above-the-line (ATL). Digital methods are usually below-the-line because it is more one to one. It seeks to reach a single consumer instead of a large audience all at once. An example is a YouTube advertisement. Traditional advertising is considered above-the-line because it uses mass media, such as television and radio, to promote products, brands, etc, and reach out and target consumers. The main objective for this is to reach a bigger audience.  

Both of these methods worked together to successfully promote and advertise this album. Because of the successful advertising, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and it topped several international album charts, including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. These BTL and ATL methods of advertising worked together to make sure that the debut of the album didnt turn into a disaster and fail.