late to the party album rollout

A self-produced, year-long brand campaign executed across social content, narrative storytelling, and live events in New York City.

CAMPAIGN SNAPSHOT

200K+ Instagram impressions

+700% TikTok followers

+170% Instagram followers

3 Sold out NYC shows with no prior NYC event experience

200+ engaged fans in artist Discord server

Through this album rollout, I developed a hands-on fluency in brand strategy. I built the brand direction from scratch, aligned every content piece to a cohesive narrative, and produced high-quality creative across channels, adjusting based on what the audience responded to. The campaign drove real-world results: sold-out live events and experiences in NYC fueled by genuine community excitement. What I walked away with most is a conviction that authentic storytelling is the strategic core of any brand that actually connects in this day and age.

AUDIENCE COHORTS

Queer and alternative young women in non-urban areas using pop rock energy as a portal out

Primary signal: highest engagement demographic across TikTok and Instagram

Who they are:

  • Ages 20-25, women, alt/queer

  • Chronically online, high Discord activity

  • Grew up on Pierce the Veil, Paramore, Big Time Rush, 5 Seconds of Summer

  • Located in small towns and cities with less physical access

  • Live primarily on Tik Tok

  • Huge on fandoms: Chase Atlantic, Dutch Melrose, WesGhost

What they care about:

  • Affirming/inclusive spaces and free gender expression

  • Artists who are honest about identity and invite fans into their fold

  • High energy, emotionally driven music and content

  • “This song got me through __” is the highest praise

Young NYC artists and creatives looking for a DIY music community worth showing up for

Primary signal: dominant demographic of live event attendees, with high repeat attendance

Who they are:

  • College aged creatives & recent grads looking for community, skews male

  • Scrappy NYC based artists, musicians, designers

  • Live on Instagram and develop trust through word of mouth

  • Overlap with indie, alt pop, DIY scene audiences

  • Art school kids (Roc Nation School of Music, Parsons)

What they care about:

  • Authentic experiences in the real world

  • Artist to fan intimacy, community relationship

  • Access to creative networks

  • Compelling brand visuals, aesthetics, and perceived motion

  • Being a part of something organic and being early to it

Pop fans looking for the nostalgic pull of early 2000s pop rock in something that feels current

Primary signal: unprompted TikTok comments drawing comparisons to formative pop rock acts

Who they are:

  • Ages 22-30, skews female

  • Live on TikTok and deep in online music communities

  • Cultural nostalgia consumers, 2000s emo & y2k

  • Grew up on Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, All American Rejects

  • Current fans of KennyHoopla, Willow, Olivia Rodrigo

What they care about:

  • Big guitars, raw emotion, y2k and emo / boy band aesthetics

  • Close knit fandom communities

  • Music as therapy, late night drive energy

  • Unfiltered artist energy, not polished PR

  • Familiarity without being too derivative

Establish the world and the character: NYC server stuck in routine, reaching for something beyond.

PHASE 1: FATE

Primary Content Piece: FATE narration Writer, Director, Producer: Aidan Fox DP, Editor: Owen Hammel

ANALYTICS

+33% retention rate +150% impressions +392% comments + shares

Analysis: relatable narrative driven content drives engagement

Action: incorporate more narrative style videos into rollout and establish long form content for each single

SOCIAL LISTENING

Supporting brand content

Brand motifs: light colors, sky, moon, dreamy, everyman working class aesthetic

ANALYTICS

+15% retention rate +60% impressions +130% comments + shares

Analysis: stats from live performance video signal demand for acoustic performances and content

Action: film higher budget acoustic series, release acoustic versions of singles, and post more short form live clips

SOCIAL LISTENING

High demand for acoustic version of “FATE” led to

  • Increase in acoustic content on TikTok and Instagram

  • Creation of higher quality live acoustic performance series

  • Creation of acoustic version of forthcoming singles and acoustic deluxe album

PHASE 2: LATE TO THE PARTY

Introduce the dream: a rockstar and community builder.

Primary Content Piece: LATE TO THE PARTY Music Video Teaser Director, Editor: Love, Kelly Writer, Producer: Aidan Fox

ANALYTICS

Analysis: collab & cross promotion with micro celebrity director, plus rallying audience to “unlock” video with comments drove record engagement

+27% retention rate +1,180% impressions +3,500% comments + shares

Action: execute more collab posts with Love, Kelly, co-brand and cross promote the release party, plus speak directly to audience in future posts and continue to rally fans

Supporting brand content

Brand motifs: boy band aesthetic, rooftop, DIY, VHS camera, bold vivid colors, highlight community

Top performing posts

ANALYTICS

+74% impressions +50% comments + shares

Analysis: content that reflects real moments and captions that invite viewers along the journey both drive engagement

+67% impressions +28% comments + shares

Action: more celebratory long form captions in future posts, continue posting social proof to build buzz

social listening

Collab Instagram post with director @lovekelly

Viral TikToks for LATE TO THE PARTY revealed a demand for a community page which led to:

  • Creation of Discord server with 200+ engaged fans

  • Weekly Discord programming (live song breakdowns, game nights, music listening streams)

  • Formation of moderator council and weekly check-in calls to discuss strategy for keeping members engaged

  • Secondary instagram account for party photos of the people attending events @late2thepxrty

LIVE EVENT SYNOPSIS

For the single release party, I strategically leveraged my partnership with the director Love, Kelly who is a micro celebrity in NYC and deeply in tune with Gen Z audiences to drive more brand awareness. I marketed the event as both a release party and an exclusive music video premiere; that way Kelly promotes the event to his audience as a premiere for his work, driving more ticket sales. I strategically booked a buzzing DIY music rooftop venue in Williamsburg @sunsetsabovetheceiling to align myself with the spirit of DIY nightlife, hitting on Cohort 2 and driving further cross promotion. I hired 3 different DJ’s that hit on all 3 of my audience cohorts to create the widest appeal. The result: 150 tickets sold (capacity). Not bad for my first event in NYC.

Introduce irony and humor: how the world sees the character: delusional, arrogant, unproven.

PHASE 3: BANK ACCOUNT

Primary Content Piece: BANK ACCOUNT Single Teaser DP, Director, Editor: Simon Reed Writer, Producer: Aidan Fox Actors: Katherine Libenson, Aidan Fox

ANALYTICS

Analysis: showing new sides of character (humor) drives engagement, self deprecation is effective in earning trust

+22% retention rate +125% impressions +358% comments + shares

Action: cut shorter clips for Reels & Tik Tok to increase virality odds, lean into humor and irony in future content

Supporting brand content

Brand motifs: double life, red/gold/b&w, rockstar aesthetic, working class reality, bold typography, digital camera + VHS aesthetic

Top performing post

Analysis: Realism of double life branding drives engagement, humility wins

+47% impressions +48% comments + shares

ANALYTICS

Action: build out double life content through proper branding materials and short form Tik Toks

social listening

Signals of engagement with restaurant content led to:

  • Increase in content shot at workplace on Tik Tok and Instagram

  • Social media strategy brief for double life concept on Tik Tok

  • Proof that fans crave raw and authentic stories

  • Proof that target demographic wants to feel close to me as a person and to relate on a human level

  • Three of my fans who became friends through my Discord server traveling to NYC to meet me at my restaurant :)

LIVE EVENT SYNOPSIS

For my second release party, I leveraged the mailing list I developed from my first show to generate repeat attendees. I switched up the venue style, booking a downstairs club in the Lower East Side. I brought a drummer into the club which created an iconic NYC-coded experience that was very brand fitting (downtown lore, boy band aesthetic, NYC club energy). I made the event free to maximize awareness and co-promoted the event with strategically chosen DJ’s that appealed to my demographic. I also branded it as a “party” rather than a concert to broaden interest. The turnout was a whopping 270.

Articulate the philosophy behind the project and converge every thread into a single statement and visual aesthetic

PHASE 4: album release

Primary Content Piece: Album Trailer Director, Editor: Simon Reed Writer, Producer: Aidan Fox

ANALYTICS

Analysis: overused narrative content slowed brand momentum previously built on high energy content, leading to decrease in overall engagement

-14% retention rate -10% impressions +30% comments + shares

Action: shift back to live event & party branded content

Supporting brand content

Brand motifs: emo y2k boyband aesthetic, shaggy hair, moon pendant, red/gold/b&w, bold typography and contrasts, feature guitar heavily

Top performing post

ANALYTICS

Analysis: encouraging shares via instagram stories boosts algorithm, bold branding stands out and stops scrollers

+150% impressions +188% comments + shares

Action: rally audience for shares + comments on future posts, continue to commit to bold visual representation in branding materials

social listening

Comparisons to Emo Pop artists and culture led to:

  • Leaning more into darker emo visual aesthetic for album branding

  • Conducting research into the brands of the artists my fans listen to and mimicking some short form content

  • Tweaking language in Tik Tok captions to be more culturally relevant and reflective of fans’ taste in artists and culture

LIVE EVENT SYNOPSIS

For the album release party, I returned to rooftop, which had become a key indicator of the 2LATE brand. I leveraged my extensive mailing list from the previous two events to generate repeat attendees. I hired a full band and a cast of DJ’s and promoted it as a party like the previous two events. Turnout was high, selling out at 200. I could have opted for a bigger venue but intimate community oriented shows had become my brand.

CAMPAIGN REFLECTION

Strategic Takeaways

  • Highest performing content documents real life moments; shared community experience and fomo drives engagement 

  • Longer form narrative content performs well with pre existing audience and establishes brand credibility but doesn’t trigger broader algorithm, use short form content to supplement it

  • Email lists, personal messages, replying to comments builds strong bonds with fans

  • Live events are key for social proof, proof of concept, and community building and they lead to great brand content

  • Framing content as a journey for fans to join and contribute to drives engagement and support

  • Authentic storytelling versus posturing always wins out, especially for a newer or smaller brand