Fred Again: A Lesson in Brand Authenticity & Energy Marketing
What brands can learn from the up-and-coming English DJ.
This weekend, I experienced a once-in-a-lifetime event: Fred Again turned the iconic Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum into a 70,000-person open-air rave. The energy was electrifying, almost rivaling a Beyoncé concert. It made me wonder—how is an artist who only shot to fame in 2021 amidst the pandemic selling out venues when more established artists are canceling tours?
(If you don’t know who Fred Again is, I’ve got some links at the end of this article that could be your gateways)
Unsurprisingly, I looked to his marketing strategy for answers. His appeal boils down to mastering two of the 4 Ps of marketing:
Product: He consistently delivers an incredible musical experience
Promotion: He understands the value of brand authenticity and energy marketing
Let’s break it down.
The Product
Fred Again is redefining his genre by mixing house, techno and pop. His albums, titled “Actual Life,” act as personal journals, mixing original beats with poignant lyrical samples and slam poetry capturing themes of love, anxiety, and vulnerability, all delivered in a timely manner during the pandemic when few of us were experiencing “actual life”. He features his friends, family and budding artists, whom he then names his songs after, making his music feel humane and relatable with a little something for everybody. That said, when the beat drops, you’ll want to pump your fists in a nightclub... but first you’ll want to call your family to say you love them. He juxtaposes his music with videos of the faces of the people he samples, making it all the more inclusive and real.
Fred is Authentic To His Brand
How has Fred achieved such success in a short period? By being truly authentic to his brand and audience.
What’s Brand Authenticity?
Think of a brand as a person—how does it sound, feel, and behave? What values does it stand for? Think of Apple, Samsung and Google and you’ll think of three distinct personalities despite all of them being tech companies. Authentic brands are consistent in their actions and deliver on their promises.
Brands can’t find stickiness without authenticity, and I will die on this hill. A brand that achieves this likely has 2-4 adjectives describing its personality. For instance, Apple’s brand could be described as “innovative,” “exclusive,” and “simple,” adjectives that also describe its products, website, price points, and marketing assets.
How Fred Defines His Brand
Fred’s team likely identified three traits guiding all his behavior: organic, innovative, and intentional. His boy-next-door persona, humble demeanor, and lo-fi visuals resonate deeply with his audience. He performs in comfy sportswear, usually Nike or Adidas (who should be courting him for a collab if they aren’t already). His Instagram for his 2.7M followers is a stream of consciousness, a welcome departure from the curated content we’ve come to expect from artists. At his LA performance, he solved the problem of audience distance by performing throughout the stadium, including from the actual stands surrounded by his fans, making him relatable and accessible.
Fred keeps his marketing understated so his product can sing (I’ll never pass up a good pun). For his Gen Z audience, the absence of theatrics feel anti-establishment and niche, adding to his appeal. More subculture artists are adopting this playbook, like Charli XCX with her Brat album campaign.
Fred Again & Energy Marketing
“Energy Marketing” uses scarcity of a product to create FOMO, making consumers feel like scoring the product will make them part of an exclusive club. It’s common practice in sneaker, streetwear, and luxury retail but is spreading to mainstream brands. Think Nike x Off-White, Jordan x Dior, the Hermès Birkin bag, or even the pink Stanley Cups that had people camping outside Target.
Energy Marketing has three defining characteristics:
1. Limited supply: This is communicated to the target audience.
2. Seeding to authenticators: Authorities within a community who validate and lend authenticity to the product, like subject matter experts. For Fred Again, it would be other DJs and music producers.
3. Shock drops & embargos: Consumers get short notice about the launch or images of the product are withheld until close to the launch date, creating urgency and anticipation.
Fred is nailing energy marketing. He’ll announce a massive show in an iconic venue with almost no notice, like the four day heads up for his LA show or the surprise same-day reveal for his Sydney Opera House performance which saw over 125,000 people vying for 3000 tickets. For his LA event, he invited 150 of his friends & family, aka authenticators (cue the FOMO), for an intimate live performance two days before the public show, where, presumably as a nod to his English roots, he served tea.
Dissecting a DJ’s marketing strategy might seem as unserious as On Running partnering with Zendaya, but Fred Again’s astute strategy sets him apart in a competitive world. If he continues to deliver great music and connect with his audience, his brand is a rocketship with unbounded potential, hopefully giving him a longer shelf life than the average DJ. As the girl behind me at the concert put it so eloquently, “Yaaas, Frederick!”
As promised, here are a few of my favorite Fred Again songs: Delilah & Kyle & Jungle.