Clap until your hands hurt

[mary]

Because I thought it might be of interest to somebody: a website analysis I had to do for my class tomorrow night, about promotional tools. I picked Fall Out Boy's site, because I roll like that.

I looked at the website for the band Fall Out Boy, located at http://www.falloutboyrock.com/. The band is well known for its engagement with social media and their website reflects this, functioning largely as a hub from which visitors can access the various blogs, message boards, facebooks and twitters of the band members, along with opportunities to buy the music and merchandise available.

The segmented layout, which resembles a grid of varyingly sized boxes, creates an effect where the free, social-media-driven content – blogs, a Q&A, a photo upload section where fans can add their own images, an online radio, text messaging service, and music videos on youtube – is mixed in with the products available for sale such as albums, t-shirts and concert tickets.

This creates a sense in the visitor that all these content elements are equal parts of the Fall Out Boy experience, which in turn makes the act of purchasing and consuming the products onsale appear to be a part of the participatory, social media culture promoted on the rest of the website.

I think the strategy is an effective one, and I have outlined two of the main campaigns present on the website below – there are numerous other, minor campaigns also running, promoting everything from iphone applications to international charities supported by the band. This multiple-message delivery makes the user feel like they are multi-tasking and flicking between a number of different addresses aimed at them, but in fact their attention is being held at the one website and is not being distracted by other websites and messages.

I do use the products promoted by these campaigns; I am a fan of the band. As cultish as it may seem when broken down into its individual, manipulative elements, I genuinely enjoy the way that the total integration strategy makes me feel like being a Fall Out Boy fan is a complete lifestyle structure available to me. I use twitter, tumblr, and the other social media avenues employed by the band, and so their use of these tools helps me feel that my identity as a fan is easily integrated into my larger sense of self.

Campaign	Tools used	Target Audience	Key Messages
‘Thnks fr th Mmrs’ – the band are on an extended hiatus, but this campaign encourages continued fan loyalty by emphasising the happy memories and vibrant online community which the band offers its fans even when no new music or concerts are planned.	Promotional posters, t-shirts, wristbands Exclusive messageboards Merchandise The website www.overcastkids.com	Long-time Fall Out Boy fans, new fans	“Thanks for the memories” “If you’ve ever thought about joining Overcast Kids or need to renew your membership, now is the time!”
“Believers Never Die” -- A Greatest Hits album now onsale.	Front page of falloutboyrock website Itunes Social media Twitter Youtube Tumblr Message Boards Television appearances Magazine appearances Radio advertising Online advertising	Fall Out Boy fans, popular music listeners, Teenagers, parents of teenagers looking to buy presents for their children,	“This album has all of Fall Out Boy’s most popular songs in one place”