Know why Em/Shady's marketing is terrible? The staff

[Kathy]

I'm still sick and I've been going through Shady Records employee's Facebooks and twitters, looking for Eminem news. These guys all look like bums. Hardly any college education, they dress like they are in high school.

This is the website of the company that does all of Shady's marketing, it's a joke:
http://burnitdowngroup.com/

I'm not a snob, I don't think the marketing staff needs to be a bunch of 50 year old white guys from Harvard, but Shady could CLEARLY do better. I mean, the Slaughterhouse album cover looks like a 5th grader did it in photoshop. If they had some people with good music industry degrees who handled themselves in a professional manner, they could do much better.

[AbramIsaac]

Burnitdown Group LLC is a New York based company specializing in Marketing, Events, Consulting, Management & Music company. Burnitdown Group has been a influence and employed in the marketing business since the 1998 .Being in the business for such a number of years ,we have garnered expertise from industry leaders who so graciously shared their knowledge with us as young professionals . As Burnitdown Group grew within the business, we watched our surroundings change and changed within them. Alvon Miller CEO and founder: “I’ve witnessed new marketing techniques develop, improved on them, utilized them and even generated new ideas of my own” .The Burnitdown Group handles various independent accounts along with being the national marketing company for Eminem’s Shady Records & Shady world products. we are a hard working, young spirited company with a finger on the pulse of what’s working and new.

Hmm...

That's a quote from their "About Us" page...looks like they don't know how to use the spelling/grammar/punctuation/capitalization features of their word processing program. They also seem to have forgotten the "Enter" key...no paragraphs.

Looks sloppy for a professional marketing company.

[Kathy]

Burnitdown Group LLC is a New York based company specializing in Marketing, Events, Consulting, Management & Music company. Burnitdown Group has been a influence and employed in the marketing business since the 1998 .Being in the business for such a number of years ,we have garnered expertise from industry leaders who so graciously shared their knowledge with us as young professionals . As Burnitdown Group grew within the business, we watched our surroundings change and changed within them. Alvon Miller CEO and founder: “I’ve witnessed new marketing techniques develop, improved on them, utilized them and even generated new ideas of my own” .The Burnitdown Group handles various independent accounts along with being the national marketing company for Eminem’s Shady Records & Shady world products. we are a hard working, young spirited company with a finger on the pulse of what’s working and new.

Hmm...

That's a quote from their "About Us" page...looks like they don't know how to use the spelling/grammar/punctuation/capitalization features of their word processing program. They also seem to have forgotten the "Enter" key...no paragraphs.

Looks sloppy for a professional marketing company.

Yeah it's a complete joke. There's so much more to marketing than their "grassroots" efforts. I'm in business school and their company looks pathetic, and they work for one of the biggest musicians alive.

This is their CEO:
http://instagram.com/p/UxjJDxgzyK/

Not to judge off looks, but come the fuck on. This guy is a clown, any graduate from a good marketing program with experience in the industry would be better.

[B.A.D.]

well this explains a lot.

And I cant believe trash like this gets more deals and attention than a proper marketing venture. Its not like they can not afford something professional. Many members of this forum could do wayyyy better and for free.

so yeah, I agree 100%

[SliK]

I was really starting to dislike Kathy but this is a reasonable thread.

I wonder why Eminem doesn't care that his label is so shit...

[Blu]

What do you want Em to do? Plaster Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf's names everywhere? That shit won't help. You think album sales really boost just because they're doing interviews and promoting their albums?

The PEOPLE get to CHOOSE whether they want to buy the album or not. Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf were already moderately known before they were signed, so promotion wasn't a big deal for them.

[Kathy]

What do you want Em to do? Plaster Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf's names everywhere? That shit won't help. You think album sales really boost just because they're doing interviews and promoting their albums?

The PEOPLE get to CHOOSE whether they want to buy the album or not. Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf were already moderately known before they were signed, so promotion wasn't a big deal for them.

No, any high school kid can do that. I'm talking things like SEO optimization, PPC advertising, point-of-purchase displays, monitoring ROI, etc. I'm just tossing terms out, but I'm not going to take the time to explain what it would take years at a university to even begin to understand. It doesn't matter how big you are, marketing is huge.

[Tash8]

No, any high school kid can do that. I'm talking things like SEO optimization, PPC advertising, point-of-purchase displays, monitoring ROI, etc. I'm just tossing terms out, but I'm not going to take the time to explain what it would take years at a university to even begin to understand. It doesn't matter how big you are, marketing is huge.

So you spent "years at a university" learning all this advertising BS? Eminem spent 0 years, 0 days and 0 seconds being institutionally educated about advertising and has made millions off his products.

What does that say about the value of your education in advertising?

Says absolutely nothing and that's an awful comparison. Eminem made millions of his great music because of his controversy and mainly white-teen appeal. marketing music is a much different task than making it. It's about appealing to a target audience, finding that audience, and exposing the album to them. Obviously, it's much more complicated than that, but Eminem needs a real advertising machine for his label. Not necessarily for himself...but for Yelawolf? Slaughterhouse? Yeah they definitely needed it.

[CanadaPure]

Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf would have sold more if their respective albums weren't completely average/meh. Nothing special, so they didn't get special sales.

[UofLCard]

In terms of Eminem, Shady Records knows exactly what they're doing.

[Kathy]

No, any high school kid can do that. I'm talking things like SEO optimization, PPC advertising, point-of-purchase displays, monitoring ROI, etc. I'm just tossing terms out, but I'm not going to take the time to explain what it would take years at a university to even begin to understand. It doesn't matter how big you are, marketing is huge.

So you spent "years at a university" learning all this advertising BS? Eminem spent 0 years, 0 days and 0 seconds learning about advertising and has made millions off his products.

What does that say about the value of your education in advertising?

I'm not trying to be snobby or offensive, and I by no means think I know it all. Advertising/marketing was key in building the Eminem brand. I'm not gonna debate this with someone who evidently doesn't know what they're talking about.

Eminem is so established now, he'll sell big numbers if he drops an album out of the blue with 0 promotion at all. It's about maximizing those numbers while minimizing costs.

And I'd say my education is valuable, as is marketing/advertising. I've read and worked on multiple case studies showing the effect on sales of many different products from effective/efficient marketing campaigns. If you think it's BS, that's OK. The VP of Marketing for XL Recordings who guest lectured in my media strategy class disagrees. I'll go with him, no offense. And I have no doubt Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf would fare much better under an effective, intelligent marketing team.

[SliK]

Outside of North America nobody knows who the fuck Yelawolf or SH are.

Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf would have sold more if their respective albums weren't completely average/meh. Nothing special, so they didn't get special sales.

I totally agree and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this in other threads. Their albums simply didn't deserve to do big numbers.

[Kathy]

I don't even live in the US and everyone in my tiny city loves and knows Yela and Slaughterhouse, there is no way they lack promotion. Especially with the internet, you practically don't even need top quality advertising these days, every single person goes on the internet and searches artists. It is really simple both albums were below average and that's why they did not sell.

Kathy - sorry but you don't need education to sell.

I don't wanna sound like a bitch, but do you remotely know what you are talking about? Not from an intuitive/personal perspective, but actually KNOW based on hard facts and numbers?

Why do you think companies like Apple advertise? EVERYONE knows them, they probably have a higher brand recognition than Em. And no one is going to make a computer purchase based off a comercial, they'll research reviews. Apple gets all the free publicity they want yet they still advertise.

I know what I'm talking about (relative to the average person). I don't think just going to college makes you smart, but when you look at actual cases and white papers instead of saying "everyone in my little city knows Yela", you open your eyes. I also interned at Ogilvy for 2 years, look it up.

[CanadaPure]

Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf probably could have done a little bit better had they been advertised more, that's a given. However, you can advertise an average product 24/7 and it still wont sell if the quality isn't there.

I liked both Radioactive and WT:OH, but they were mediocre albums. They sold appropriately for what they were.

[SliK]

Slaughterhouse and Yelawolf probably could have done a little bit better had they been advertised more, that's a given. However, you can advertise an average product 24/7 and it still wont sell if the quality isn't there.

I liked both Radioactive and WT:OH, but they were mediocre albums. They sold appropriately for what they were.

Not true, look at C4 lol. YMCMB know how to move a product.