Marketing Explained: Metallica's Legendary Branding Strategy

Metallica is one of the most successful metal bands of all time, and their marketing strategy has undoubtedly contributed to their global success.

In this article, I'll dive deeper into the band's marketing approach to generate insights into how businesses create a strong brand and maintain brand equity.

What is brand equity?

David Aaker ("the father of modern branding") suggests that brand equity refers to a set of assets associated with a brand. These assets can either subtract or add value to the products and services provided by a company. In other words, brand equity is the value derived from the customer's perception; how desired and known the brand is.

Building strong brand equity requires businesses to first define their brand identity (or vision). This means thinking about the brand as a product, organization, person, and symbol, which I'll discuss further in this article.

Behind the Metallica Brand

Aaker states that brand identity consists of three parts: extended, core, and essence (Figure 2). While the extended refers to the visual aspects of a brand, the core represents a brand's key values. In the case of Metallica, the extended identity includes things like the logo, album art, and merchandise. The core, on the other hand, refers to their unique sound and style. Part of the band's brand identity has been defined by fast percussion, low-register riffs, and?shredding?leads — elements that consistently appear since the release of the debut album "Kill 'Em All", in 1983.

Aaker's branding framework emphasizes that a brand's core identity is resistant to change (see Figure 2) and any deviation from it can have a significant impact on brand equity. This principle explains why Metallica faced negative feedback from both fans and critics when they incorporated nu-metal features into their 2003 album, St. Anger. Given that the band's sound is a fundamental component of their core identity, any changes to it put the brand at risk.

Metallica as a product

Metallica's product scope expanded beyond music; the band ventured into various categories such as clothing, accessories, video games, and even alcohol. As a matter of fact, Metallica owns a whiskey brand named Blackened, which launched in 2018. The whiskey's unique taste is achieved through a sonic-enhancement process that involves playing Metallica's music to the aging barrels. The packaging and design of the bottles feature the band's iconic logo and song lyrics, signaling trust and quality.

The band creates a unique set of perceptions through quality-driven products and services that offer functional and emotional benefits — important attributes to building a strong brand. For example, fans can connect with the band on an emotional level when listening to their songs, watching a concert on DVD, or experiencing a concert live. Another product that also offers such benefits is the different enhanced experience concert ticket packages, where fans can get limited-edition merch, the opportunity to watch the concert in the front row or even the chance to meet band members.

Metallica as an organization

When analyzing Metallica as an organization through Aaker's branding framework, several attributes come to mind. In terms of innovation, Metallica's unique sound helped set them apart in the metal scene, and their various ventures (e.g. vinyl factory, whiskey label, live-cinema streams, orchestra albums, etc) showcase a constant desire to innovate and create.

As for consumer concern, Metallica has been known to interact with fans and prioritize their needs by releasing live performances for free online (as the "Metallica Mondays" campaign which helped to fight the Covid pandemic), engaging in direct conversations with fans on Reddit, and sharing exclusive content on the Fifth Member Club — a space where fans can connect, consume Metallica-related content, participate of contests, and get exclusive discounts on merch.

When it comes to culture and programs, Metallica has established their own nonprofit organization called the All Within My Hands Foundation, which focuses on supporting workforce education, the fight against hunger, and other social causes. This serves to show the band's commitment to giving back and making a positive impact on society — an organizational attribute that helps to create brand equity through trust and loyalty building.

Metallica is a global brand with a massive fan base all over the world — having been the only band to perform in Antarctica. Their brand has become synonymous with heavy metal (see Figure 2) and their influence can still be seen in newcomers to the metal music scene.

Despite the global reach, Metallica has maintained a strong connection to their local roots. The band often references San Francisco, California, in promotional materials, interviews, and online content. They also have been involved in several other local projects and activities, such as gathering donations, working with local artists, performing in support of sports teams like San Jose Sharks and San Francisco Giants, and even releasing the S&M albums (a collaboration project with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra).

Metallica as a person

Metallica can be characterized as tough, daring, and successful, according to the five dimensions of brand personality described by Jenny Aaker. The band's aggressive sound, skull-featuring designs, and intense stage presence exude a sense of toughness, competence, and ruggedness.

Additionally, the band has always maintained a close relationship with their fans online, promoting new music, sharing pictures with fans, and creating informative and engaging videos. For instance, last year Metallica shared a video of a jam session between Joseph Quinn (the actor that plays "Eddie" from Stranger Things) and the band; which led them to a merch collaboration with the series (see Figure 5), helping them to promote the band to a younger audience and generate conversations online.

Metallica as a symbol

The last element of brand identity in Aaker's model is the symbols related to a brand — this includes logo, audio, and history. These symbols can reinforce the brand's identity, creating a sense of structure.

Metallica's logo is instantly recognizable worldwide, featuring long and pointed letters "M" and "A" that symbolize flashlights and sharpness. Although the logo has undergone changes throughout the years, the band ultimately settled on a design similar to the original logo from 1983, which was created by the band's frontman, James Hetfield (see Figure 6).

The current Metallica logo represents not only the band's longstanding history but also their fast and aggressive. Having been a part of their brand identity for over a decade, the logo serves as a visual representation of the band's music and attitude.

Conclusion

What we see here is how Metallica transformed from a band to a global and famous band. They started as angst teenagers wanting to play music, and 40 years later, their brand is now worth over a billion USD altogether. This wouldn't have been possible without brand building.

Despite the ups and downs throughout their career, Metallica managed to stay relevant through the power of branding. They are heavy on advertisements, they often appear on magazine covers, they are interviewed on talk shows, they are strong on social media, and they are tackling different businesses apart from music.

Metallica has created a global community around the music and activities they perform - people that share the same taste for music and connect together to watch a concert live. The "Metallica family" has been through thick and thin with the band, which serves to show the strong link the band has to its fan base (Figure 7).

The band's last album recent release — 72 Seasons — is another great example of how well Metallica used marketing to reinforce their brand equity. The band has introduced a 2-day concert tour, pop-up stores for exclusive merch and contests, broadcasted the songs before the release on the cinema, and are planning to broadcast live a concert from the latest tour on the cinema worldwide.

Following Aaker's brand equity and identity frameworks, we can now understand how building a strong brand can be important to generate profits and building long-lasting customer loyalty.