Earlier this week rock band Kiss announced that their entire 2009 North American tour will be determined by public demand, making it the first ever fan-routed tour. The band claims “No matter where the fans say -from stadiums to cornfields -if there enough votes KISS will be there!”
By going to Kiss Online fans can “Demand” Kiss play in their town and watch the tour unfold by monitoring the updated city rankings. In order to keep things fair for smaller towns, the competition will take population size into consideration as opposed to solely going off of total votes.
The site also empowers fans to spread the word and get their friends to vote, by arming them with tools such as widgets and the ability to easily share the site on Facebook, MySpace and other online outlets. Additionally, fans are encouraged to create and post videos online in order to motivate their hometown to vote. The best of each town’s videos will be compiled and shown on the jumbo screen before each concert.
MGH’s Take
We expect a lot of acts to follow this fan-routed tour strategy in the future. Here’s why:
On the most basic level, it just makes sense: what band wouldn’t want to know exactly where their fans are? This campaign will provide KISS with the locations where they are more likely to have higher ticket sales. I think it’s safe to say that’s useful information.
Looking ahead, this campaign will provide more insight into exactly who their loyalists are, since, in order to demand KISS come to your town, you must provide your gender, year of birth, and email address. KISS already plans to re-engage fans once the tour is set by emailing them with the opportunity to purchase tickets on pre-sale, before they are offered to the general public, as a thank-you for taking the time to vote
By giving up a little bit of control, KISS is making their fans feel valued, which is building loyalty and a sense of community. What does the band get in return? Not only are their fans planning the tour, they are promoting it and creating an awful lot of buzz for free.
KISS’ fan-routed tour ideology can be applied to much more then touring North America. Can your loyalists play a more active role in any part of your brand or company? The loss of control may well be worth the pay-off.
Written by: Kim (@kimberwom)
