This case study appears in Roger Darnell’s new book on communications consulting, coming in 2021.
Back in 2011, my clients at specialized creative agency Leviathan joined together with some very talented colleagues to help the pioneering electronic musician and producer Amon Tobin and his record label, Ninja Tune, promote what would become one of the decade’s biggest musical tour stories. Immediately after its premiere in Montreal, Adrian Covert of Gizmodo called it “the concert of the future, today.” In retrospect, to me, there were a few key aspects that made ISAM Live so phenomenal. First, Mr. Tobin had a 15-year history of pushing the creative boundaries in sound recording, sound design and music production as part of Ninja Tune, a London-based indie record label known for visionary innovation. With that ground situation, the expectations of anyone on the outside looking in were already very high.
The second essential ingredient is illuminated in the Beatport News interview with Mr. Tobin featured above, where a question was asked about the challenge of realizing a singular vision as a live show. Here’s his response: “It was like a solution to a problem, really… it wasn’t like I sat down and thought, oh, how can I make the biggest spectacle I can make? It was more that I had a record that couldn’t be performed by musicians, and it wasn’t a DJ orientated record so I couldn’t really take it out to clubs and do it like that either. I couldn’t have done it as a DJ set, so I had to think of a different way to do it.”
The solution resulted in two very different executions: an exquisite original art exhibition developed with artist Tessa Farmer called Control Over Nature, which appeared in London for a week after the debut of “ISAM” before travelling on to other cities like Paris and New York; and the mesmerizing “spectacle” Mr. Tobin alluded to, which set him and “ISAM Live” apart in social media feeds around the world for the next several years.
So, the multifaceted solution that Mr. Tobin dreamt up for his problem was also of critical importance in how well the project was received. Last but not least, looking back at the historic achievements of ISAM, I give great credit to Ninja Tune for its masterful integrated marketing efforts. Nominated for the Association of Independent Music’s Most Innovative Marketing Campaign of the Year (“Best Live Act,” too) in 2011, the facets of the campaign, viewed on a timeline and assessed according to every lesson covered in this book, represent a best case scenario. The content itself (ISAM, the album) was spectacular, and the artistic collaborations that introduced it to audiences matched that platinum standard in different realms of arts and entertainment, resulting in experiences that inspire rapture among audience members to this day. ISAM Live rode a “2.0” expansion all the way into 2015; to me, it was the brilliant campaign work of May, 2011 – fully leveraging the combined Tobin/label superpowers, and Mr. Tobin’s inventive approach to problem solving – that paved the way for all the commercial success.
My ISAM connection was through Leviathan, which partnered with V Squared Labs to create the original content in tandem with the groundbreaking projection mapping artistry for ISAM Live. Described as “a collaborative feat between the minds of madmen, scientists and visionaries,” Leviathan’s Matt Daly and his colleagues were widely acknowledged for their contributions, leading to many concerted marketing efforts between myself and Ninja Tune’s leaders. Through those, we were able to shine more light on the players behind the scenes, and their magic in creating the must-see event that sold out every performance.
