The Rise Of Vulf
- Exestiel
- Apr 10, 2018
- 2 min read
There's no denying that minimalist funk group Vulfpeck are among many musicians making it as youtube stars. With over 54 million views they're definitely doing something right in the marketing department. However, band leader Jack Stratton's approach to marketing the Vulf brand has indeed been unique. Vulf has an identity that seems to have a history. They tap into nostalgia by way of video editing, false narratives that can be seen as some form of lore, imitating the musicianship of session players known as the Wrecking Crew, and their infatuation with working with musicians seen as legends in their field. Along with unusual marketing tactics and a quirky approach to brand identity, Vulfpeck have solidified their corner of the music industry as a contemporary independent artist with a classic feel fairly quickly.
Vulfpeck's brand began as just a funky rhythm section group from Annarbor but Jack quickly stirred the pot by alluding to being some Jewish, German, funk group from Europe. He released 2 videos on youtube. The series titled Tour Vlogs portrayed the narrative that they were touring around the world and just happened to record some sessions. The videos had a grainy vintage look as if it were shot on some really messed up super 16 camera from yesteryear leaving the viewer with the feeling that they had found some random vhs tape and that quickly became their video editing style of choice with very few exceptions.
Jack Stratton incorporated a number of marketing tactics to grow the Vulf brand to what it is today. One of Vulfpeck's first fundraising campaigns, the Funklet KickStarter Campaign, was for a stylized booklet consisting of various rhythm notations. This established Vulfpeck as a reliable source of musical knowledge.
Another one of their campaigns called "Sleepify" became notorious for exploiting Spotify's streaming revenue platform allowing them to collect revenue from a completely silent album. They became the only band to get away with it because Spotify changed their platform to avoid this issue again. They used that revenue to fund a free tour.
They became so infamous for their sleepify stunt that a news outlet asked Jack on his thoughts about Spotify's IPO.
Creatively, Vulf also released their own font, Vulf Mono. Using the font through out everything Vulf creates a distinct brand. This allows the consumers to quickly identify the Vulf brand in a sea of online brands.
In partnership with Goodhertz, Vulfpeck released their very own DAW plugin. Vulf Compressor. This garnered them more fans. Stepping into the technology world isn't easy but they did it in style and saw growth.
With 7 albums under their belt they definitely have an estabished brand. Each year their crowdfunding campaigns for each album increase immensely.
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