HozierTo introduce him to online media, establishing him as a truly exceptional, global artist.

The Brief:

To introduce him to online media, establishing him as a truly exceptional, global artist.

Hozier was a relatively unknown artist in the UK when Charmfactory began working with him in January 2014.

The brief was to introduce him to online media, establishing him as a truly exceptional, global artist, before the release of his debut album in October 2014.

Our Work:

We fulfilled this brief by;

Organising well thought out and well positioned sessions, showcasing Hozier’s incredible vocal talent

Premiering the limited exclusive content we were given, on high-profile, high traffic, International sites

Using remixes to gain coverage on Hype Machine blogs, to help introduce Hozier to less mainstream areas online and make him relevant in these more tastemaker areas

Using the limited promo time with the artist carefully, and then drip-feeding features and content to the fanbase over a period of time

Organising collaborations which didn’t involve any time with the artist

Using Hozier’s success story in the US to gain awareness in the UK and to leverage coverage with UK online media

Organising features with credible news and culture sites, so Hozier could discuss the political and social issues behind the music, in particular, ‘Take Me To Church’

Sessions
The Mahogany Blog ‘Cherry Wine’
The Mahogany Blog ‘From Eden’
Gigwise ‘Take Me To Church’
Gigwise ‘The Dark End of the Street’ (cover)
Naked Noise ‘Take Me To Church’ premiering on Clash
Naked Noise ‘Sweet Thing’ (cover) premiering on Q
Transmitter ‘Sedated’ premiering on Q
Transmitter Versions ‘1 Thing’ (cover)

Exclusive Content Premieres

‘To Be Alone’ (Live in Kilkenny) premiering on Paste Magazine
‘To Be Alone’ premiering on Shortlist.com

Remix Placements

We serviced Jack Steadman’s Hallelujah Edit of ‘From Eden’ to suitable global blogs. Coverage came from several Hype Machine blogs including Popped Music, Scientists of Sound, I Heart Moosiq, MOARRR, Noonday Tune, Kick Kick Snare and All Things Go, which resulted in the track peaking at Number 2 in Hype Machine’s ‘Popular Chart’. The remix was also picked up by a whole host of other influential music sites and blogs.

Key Features

Hunger TV ‘Get To Know’
Huffington Post
BBC Arts and Entertainment
MTV.CO.UK 
Gigwise ‘The Story Behind ‘Take Me To Church’’
Clash ‘Guest Singles Reviewer’
Topshop Inside-Out Blog
com ‘Ultimate Playlist’
Q ‘Guest Column’
Scott Mills Appcast
DIY NEU
Reuters filmed interview – which was picked up by a variety of UK and US news sites including MSN, Mail Online and Washington Post

Brand Collaborations – WeTransfer

Throughout the two weeks around release, we ran a global promotion with WeTransfer to promote the album. In order for further engagement, we offered WeTransfer uses a free download of live audio for an album track.

Results/Evaluation

Charmfactory’s online PR campaign was part of the overall campaign which helped Hozier achieve a number two single with ‘Take Me To Church’, a top five album with debut album, ‘Hozier’, one Brit and one Grammy nomination.

Our Results…In Numbers

– Sessions – in total, the sessions we organised have a combined number of nearly 2 million views
– ‘From Eden’ remix – 300k plays on Soundcloud
– WeTransfer album promotion – delivered 2.5 million impressions
– Exclusive content premieres – the videos have a combined number of over 2 million views
– Gigwise ‘The Story Behind ‘Take Me To Church’’ – over 3 million views
– Over 2k pieces of online coverage across the campaign