Tower Records Japan Comes Up With Ingenious Way To Boost Record Sales
And that strategy, according to the Wall Street Journal, is: Slapping “limited edition” stickers on the covers of CDs, thus sending teenagers into a fad-driven buying frenzy. But wait, there’s another revenue stream that’s being exploited by this plan! Tower Records Japan’s limited-edition covers also double as Nike ads, which you may notice once you look closely at the shoe held by pop singer Shoko Nakagawa.
The Nike-branded edition of Nakagawa’s single, “Snow Tears,” has already sold out its 3,000-copy run, and Nike reports that there’s heightened interest in the shoe model that Nakagawa is clutching in the picture at left as well. Tower is in talk with other companies, “including a major drinks manufacturer,” to engage in future campaigns of this sort, and something tells me that EMI’s Guy Hands is on the phone with some Tower rep right now to talk about the nuts and bolts of the plan. Below, a YouTube of the song that caused thousands of Japanese kids to crave new kicks.
Shouko Nakagawa – snow tears [YouTube] Limited Edition! Limited Edition! Lim … [WSJ]
