Posted on October 20, 2009
Personality in a Social Media Campaign: Phish 3.0
BY INGRID GETZAN
"When the size of your audience gets too big, it's very difficult to interact with them in a personal manner anymore…and it's upsetting to the band [Phish], but they all have their ways to try and stay in touch." - from the Clifford Ball DVD 
All too often we see companies 'interacting' with their customers by merely posting brief status updates with words that include 'buy now,' 'click here for 10% off,' 'NEW!' Although these call to action items may briefly increase visits to their website, and may even generate a few sales, where is the personality? What else is that company doing online? Since launching your Facebook and Twitter pages, how is customer retention and repeat business? Who are your fans and followers?
How do you keep your personality when launching a social media campaign? In this example, I use Phish (not just for my love of their music, but because they have launched an incredible social media campaign). Phish is a band that has a long history of interaction with their fans and that doesn't appear to be stopping anytime soon.
Phish hasn't ever done things the 'normal' way; they have rarely used conventional advertising, or experienced popularity on MTV or the radio, yet they consistently sell out the largest venues in the US, and have held the "largest paid concert in the world on the eve of the millennium (1999, Big Cypress, Florida) with 80,000 fans." - Rolling Stone - How? They continuously adapt with their fans and have never lost sense of their community, or their personality - even in their social media campaign.
Phish fans have always been internet savvy, from the days of tape trading and chat rooms, and the band recognizes this. In 2003, Phish launched LivePhish where fans can instantly download anything in the LivePhish catalog and stream music. Phish is on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo, and have a separate section of Phish.com: 'from the road,' where pictures and setlists from tour are posted.
Phish's social media campaign launched with the announcement of their reunion show in March at Hampton Coliseum in Virginia, via video. Hampton Coliseum has been a fan favorite for years and it is no coincidence that Phish chose this as their venue - they listen to their fans.
Since then, Phish has incorporated their unique (and strange) personality into various announcement videos such as their 2009 Summer Tour, 2009 Late Summer Tour, their shows at historic Fenway park (in baseball form, of course - see below), and the unveiling of the box set for their new album Joy.
As of a few weeks ago, their biggest social media promotion was the puzzling 'Save the Date' announcement for their Halloween festival, in which various US states would be eliminated from a map by way of darts, hot air balloons, and tug boats, just to name a few. From early July until they announced the Festival a few weeks ago, fans were fixated on the outcome, creating massive buzz. Hidden Track, voted the Best Music Blog by 2008 Weblog Awwards, received 642 comments on their continually updated post about the 'Save the Date' map.
The biggest promotion now: what album will the band cover for their Halloween show during Festival 8? In the past, Phish has preformed albums by The Beatles, The Who, Talking Heads, and Velvet Underground. They have continued to engage fans by killing-off (Halloween style) the images of possible album covers. Once again, fans are hooked on the cliffhanger waiting with baited breath for the outcome.
Phish posts about the festival on Twitter, as well as Facebook, and practice cross-promotion between their main sites and various social media sites. They continually keep their social media campaign interesting for their audience, they incorporate video that encompasses their brand's personality and most importantly, they have fun with it.
Does your social media campaign have that much personality?
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