33 replies to this topic

[punkrockerjaymz]

Prior to Billie Joe going to rehab, they were promoting Uno and in such a short space of time, they did pretty much all the promotional work needed. 6 music videos, TV appearences performing multiple songs from the album, 2 main lead singles and alot of concerts around the world, so Uno got given a massive push and it debuted at #2 in most of the worldwide album charts, brilliant, everything paid off.

Dos and Tre had release dates and Billie Joe Armstrong went to rehab, yet the planned release dates we unchanged and thus the albums suffered. Dos got 1 single/music video Stray Heart and the band wasn't in the video or active to make TV appearences to promote the album and thus Dos peaked lower down the top 20 in most charts around the world.

Tre's only music video/single The Forgotten was released even before Dos and was mainly associated with the Twilight soundtrack and the promo video was stock footage of the band. Tre got Green Day's lowest chart positions of all Green Days major label albums.

Dos and Tre way underperformed, but this could have been solved this way:

If the albums were postponed and Uno was left and given it's own "era" while Billie Joe was in rehab, it'd give Warner Bros/Reprise time to calculate a plan and hopefully get the band back on track to give each album what it deserved. Green Day are due back in action by May 2013, so imagine if Dos was postponed until then. It would be a bummer to get the album later than planned, but having one album in 2012 is more than good enough, alot of bands put out 1 album every 5 years, but Green Day treated us to another just 3 years after 21st Century Breakdown.

Imagine, Dos gets the exact same treatment Uno did, 2 lead singles, 4-6 music videos, several TV appearences, alot of promotional concerts and then it gets given it's own era just as Uno did. Delaying the album could've worked out perfectly.

I suppose The Forgotten appearing on Twilight would've happened anyway, so that being the first single off Tre could work if that's seen as a single for the soundtrack rather than the album. In August, Green Day would still be active and touring the world, thus giving them a chance to promote Tre big time. It could get the same treatment, 2 lead singles, 4-6 music videos, several TV appearences and concerts.

The trilogy could have reached its maximum potential. Uno, Dos and Tre could have potentially been big hits worldwide if the band and/or record label just delayed the release due to Billie Joe being in rehab.

What do you all think? Would delaying Dos and Tre until the band is active have given them a fair chance?

Thankyou for readng.

[xXRustyJamesXx]

They should have released at least 3 singles for each album!

[Black Dynamite]

Warner should have released a non alcoholic Trilogy beer and gave a 6 pack away with every album sold. 

[drumdreez]

Of course it would have helped. If people see the band, they're more willing to buy from them. It sucks that Billie's condition stopped the promotion and probably hindered album sales but what can you do? The guy needed some time off.

 

I wish they had pushed the albums' release dates back, to be honest. For example, if Dos had been released now, it might have sold better. They're releasing the rescheduled dates which means that the band is probably getting ready to reappear into the spotlight. If they had waited and moved the albums back instead of moving Tre up, it might have gone over a little better because the band are more likely to make appearances. 

[Little Boy Named Miguel]

THEY are the band, so THEY are the only ones who know how to promote the trilogy!

 

We just have to be grateful for everything they do for us

[Céadóg]

Warner should have released a non alcoholic Trilogy beer and gave a 6 pack away with every album sold. 

 

[VIVALAWHATSHERNAME]

They should have made advertisements on porn sites. So while people are waiting for their videos to buffer there would be a picture of Billie's face with the pink Xs over the eyes on the right hand side. People would be so interested that they would click on it, then it would take them to the Oh Love music video. While watching the video people would have exclaimed "This music has good porn! This is exactly what I need!"

[drumdreez]

They should have made advertisements on porn sites. So while people are waiting for their videos to buffer there would be a picture of Billie's face with the pink Xs over the eyes on the right hand side. People would be so interested that they would click on it, then it would take them to the Oh Love music video. While watching the video people would have exclaimed "This music has good porn! This is exactly what I need!"

You're a marketing genius.

[VIVALAWHATSHERNAME]

Also, they should have had advertisements on iTunes and YouTube. You do not need the band for every single tiny little promo. It would have been extraordinary to see the album art work in an advert on iTunes. I think the trilogy would have sold better if there were some iTunes adverts. And for YouTube, there should have been stationary adverts on the side of the page and some adverts in videos before they load. Doing this would not have helped the trilogy sell millions, but it sure as hell is better than stopping all promo all together just because Billie took a personal leave. 

[InvaderPhantom]

I think it would have been better to release the trilogy over the course of one year. Three albums, 37 songs in five months is just too much for the general public to handle. Barely anyone knows iTré! exists. It would have been great to release iUno! in spring, iDos! in summer and iTré! in winter. The seasons would also kind of reflect the feel of each album.

 

Releasing an album every 4 months would have also increased the chances of giving every album real spotlight - a chance for each album to have a high rank on the Billboard, and to have three or maybe four singles for every album. The way they handled the singles was pretty bad, but it's also really hard to keep releasing singles over the course of five months.

 

Imagine four singles for every album: 12 singles in one year. That's one every month! That's definitely not too much for the general media to handle, and every single has a chance to be a hit. 

Also it would mean a whole year for Green Day to be in the attention of the media! I can't believe Warner didn't take the chance to have Green Day to be "relevant" and in the center of attention for a whole damn year! They could have had a hit single every month.

 

I think the way they handled the singles was the main reason the trilogy didn't do as well as planned. It has been said a thousand times, Oh Love and Kill the DJ as the first singles were the worst choices they could have made. Oh Love works as the album closer and Kill the DJ is a cool experimental song, but singles? Singles are supposed to represent Green Day for the general audience in the best way possible, and those songs don't do that at all. The music videos also sucked ass. iDos! and iTré! both had only one single...

 

Stay the Night should have been the lead single of Uno because unlike Oh Love, it's a fantastic song. I definitely could have seen it playing on the radio often, if they also made a great music video.

 

Lazy Bones should have been the lead single of Dos because it's also fucking fantastic. Everybody loves it, why not release it as a single?

 

The Forgotten is okay as the lead single for Tré because it would be released in winter and everybody loves a mellow ballad in winter.

 

But I'm also a fan of the sixpack idea

[inthehallwaynow]

not much we can do now

[San Miguel]

I agree the promotion has been shocking and i'm very disappointed in Warner.  You can still make quality music videos without Billie's input in my opinion, and Warner just haven't bothered.

 

The band wanted 3 albums in quick succession and given that they promised that, and people already paid for it, they had no choice but to deliver on that promise.  (or in fact beat that promise with Tre coming out early)

 

but i actually think they can still promote the albums, just a long time after they were released.  once the band is back they can re-release them as a 2013 boxset or something and put out some videos and singles...  where an album debuts does not always give an accurate description of how the total sales will go.

[Gregorovich]

I couldn't care less about promotion. Yes, Warner did an incredibly shit job. But we're the real fans; we're the ones the band make music for. As long as we keep buying the music and attending the shows, they will never die.

[inthehallwaynow]

I couldn't care less about promotion. Yes, Warner did an incredibly shit job. But we're the real fans; we're the ones the band make music for. As long as we keep buying the music and attending the shows, they will never die.

pretty positive for a grumpy cat

[BJA TC MD]

I think that even though Billie Joe has been in rehab, heaps more promotion could have been done.

Although the band couldn't have promoted them, there still should have been singles. ¡Dos! And ¡Tré! barely had singles. Songs from the album should have at least been played on the radio to have given people a chance to hear them. I have never heard a song from ¡Dos! Or ¡Tré! On the radio. Instead it's just Oh Love over and over again. Instead, stations should have played Stray Heart or something.

There should have been more ads. Throughout this whole era, I never came across an ad on TV, YouTube, or anywhere. At least where I come from, no one made a huge effort to promote the trilogy. More could have been done.

I must say however, I think all the fans should be congratulated for at least trying to promote the albums or spreading the word. This was never going to be the same as the band promoting the albums themselves, but still it was something.

[Advertising]

[JIGD13]

I don't know if this is possible but they can re-release ¡Dos! And ¡Tré! When BJ gets out of rehab

[Jean]

I watch Much Music fairly often and I never saw any commercials on there to promote the album. The only video they played was the Forgotten and that was only when the Twilight movie was coming out.

[Panic Attack!]

I agree the promotion was terrible, now looking back (well, a few months), but that was all-around. There is not much left to save.
I don't think they could've saved the situation any better than they did, else I think they would've. We don't know the nature of the events and circumstances behind the curtains, so we are not to judge or acting Captain Hindsight.
 
I always thoughts 1-2 months apart was a weird gap between the albums. If they wanted them to act as 'one', a triple album divided into different themes, then I think they would've been better off releasing them at the same time or as a bundle, which they already have now. If they really wanted them to come out in order, then 1-2 weeks would've been better. It could've combined the promotional efforts, and it wouldn't feel so unfamiliar to everyone.
 
That could've been a solution, but what I think would've been even better, is to have gone all the way in seperating the albums from one another. Kind of as you said, different eras. Give them 4 months between each, nothing more, nothing less. It's still as impressive, daring and groundbreaking as 2 months, but it would've given each album a time to breath and sink in and give an impression on its own.
 
To be honest, the idea of the trilogy not being a big commercial success like AI and questionably 21CB, is rather pleasing to me, it's not something made for a new popularity boost, but rather to futher establish a classic band's career. What bothers me though, is that the reasons why it's not going well seem to deprave us of some of the essensial content and memorable events of a typical album era. As big as Warner's efforts were in the beginning, and in some way still is, it's all just empty promotion. I feel we are gonna miss out on major TV-appearances, interesting interviews, classic music videos and fun and memorable moments. Luckily it does not look like we will miss out on the most important thing, the live shows. But either way, I feel we're losing the chance of the trilogy being an era in which we as fans can be proud to have been there, as good as the music may be. But I give the whole thing the benefit of a doubt, I surely won't like the band any less by any chance.

[WhiteTim]

Just out of curiousity how much do yall think it costs to promote a album?

[blitzkriegdeb]

It's hard to promote an album(s) when you don't have a band available to promote it.

Yeah, maybe the promotion was a bit shit, but honestly, they were all released under a weird time period. They (the band) obviously weren't around to do videos & interviews and whatnot, on top of the fact that there weren't any stand-out singles and thus little-to-no radio/TV play. (Hell, 21stCB had 21 Guns and Know Your Enemy)

So yeah, I don't know. It's weird to think of a "proper" way of promoting them. I mean, I guess iTunes banners and maybe commercials or something, but at the end of the day, the albums were just realized at a weird time, and it seems like it was (understandabley) a bit of a clusterfuck.

[Dalya]

There are lots of ways to promote the albums... commercials, tv shows, more singles, and great quality videos... We didn't see any of these, except one good video, Stray Heart. 

[WhiteTim]

There are lots of ways to promote the albums... commercials, tv shows, more singles, and great quality videos... We didn't see any of these, except one good video, Stray Heart. 

Ummm Oh Love has a video Kill The Dj has a video

Even tho its not a Green Day single The Forgotten has a video

[Dalya]

Ummm Oh Love has a video Kill The Dj has a video

Even tho its not a Green Day single The Forgotten has a video

Well, none of these were good enough.

[WhiteTim]

Well, none of these were good enough.

Well they were videos so cant say there wasnt any

[Cat C]

The thing is, the promotion for the trilogy had been planned since the damn songs were written, so to think we know better as fans is stupid. And, to make judgements about what they should have done as though there's no hope left is silly. They've got an entire tour in front of them. For example, why do you think they're spending a year in Europe doing the festival circuit in 2013? To gain interest from those people who aren't already going to buy Green Day tickets if they come out with a stadium tour. They're spending a YEAR doing that shit. There's a lot of content in these albums, it takes a while to digest. They're gonna be slow burners... THAT'S the marketing plan.

 

An album's success doesn't entirely revolve around the release. Clearly they're getting that out of the way this year to start fresh next year. People are gonna be like, what's all this music? It sounds great, when did it come out? Oh... It already has, I'll go ahead and download it. It'll work. We don't know better than a multi-million dollar production team.

Well, none of these were good enough.

 

What? What a shit reason to discount a video.

[Dalya]

What? What a shit reason to discount a video.

 

 

There are lots of ways to promote the albums... commercials, tv shows, more singles, and great quality videos... We didn't see any of these, except one good video, Stray Heart. 

I didn't discount the videos, I just pointed out a great video which is way better than Oh Love and Kill the DJ.

[WhiteTim]

 
 
I didn't discount the videos, I just pointed out a great video which is way better than Oh Love and Kill the DJ.

But just cause YOU didnt care for those videos dont mean there werent great QUALITY videos made

[JorickF]

Compared to 21stCB, Warner did a great job.

We got a bunch of awesome studio updates! I even saw an ad for ¡Tré! on YouTube.

 

Don't forget, their entire marketing plan was based on 'key television appearances'. Obviously, this plan failed due to recent events. It's not Warner's fault, and we'll never know if their marketing would have been good or bad.

[DirtyRottenBastard32]

One Fucking Minute...Blame for Everything  

[Platypus2000]

They only got one thing right about promotion/marketing, and that was releasing Kill The DJ on August 14th. I would give my contribution to how it should have been promoted but that means TV apperances, interviews etc. I only have an idea on how they should've released the singles.