![](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/en\/thumb\/c\/c4\/Kiss_Logo.svg\/170px-Kiss_Logo.svg.png\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0I grew up with KISS and their marketing has clearly been a influence on me and business growth. I often tell people I went to the Gene Simmons School of Marketing.<\/p>\n
In 1998 I landed a dream job for a KISS fan, I was personally recruited by Gene Simmons to build and manage the band\u2019s new website, www.Kissonline.com. I spent the next seven years working inside the KISS world. I was associated with much of their merchandising, including helping guide and develop items such as Kissoploy and the $1000 a ticket Platinum VIP Meet and Greet packages. I was there during the 3D Psycho Circus Tour, the Farewell Tour, the rotating replacement of Peter Criss and Ace Frehley.<\/p>\n
I received RIAA Gold album plaques for my involvement in the release of the Psycho Circus album, The Box Set album and the DVD release of KISS Symphony.<\/p>\n
Love them or hate them, there is absolutely no denying the influence that KISS has had on the music industry. KISS in the course of their 36 year career have sold over 100 million albums, has over 2,500 product licenses (coffins, condoms and credit cards), Gene reportedly earns $100,000 for a speaking engagement and don\u2019t forget the longest celebrity reality series on TV, Gene Simmons Family Jewels. Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley get it when it comes to business.<\/p>\n
Here are 10 Lessons I Learned from KISS at their School of Marketing: Got a content idea for your website, try it. If your fans don\u2019t get excited by it move onto something else. That last contest didn\u2019t work, try a different contest.<\/p>\n I actually used this lesson the very first time I worked for Gene. He had hired me to manage the online marketing efforts for the book Kisstory II. I had negotiated my pay and then said to myself, I want a leather KISS Army jacket. So I asked, and Gene said yes. I know in the scope of things the cost of the jacket was nothing to Gene and KISS. He was not offering the jacket to me, I had to ask. Ask for what you want.<\/p>\n Here is one bonus lesson\u2026<\/p>\n They Aren\u2019t Afraid to Change Their Minds.<\/strong> \u2013 In the pursuit of business KISS is not afraid to change their minds and do something that years ago they claimed to be against. Example, marketing to kids. In the late 70s around the Dynasty tour KISS had become \u201cDisney\u201d with colorful costumes, toys, etc. In a TV program they even said they had become something they weren\u2019t. They were a rock n roll band, but they were seeing young children at their shows. Today the band is directly marketing to and encouraging young kids to become fans. They have realized that if they can grab the kids today they have a new generation of fans growing up with them. On their last tour of the US they offered free tickets to kids, they now have merchandise for kids and even babies. I remember a number of years ago when I pushed for the very first KISS baby bottle and bib to be sold, it was a hit. The fans of the 70s have no grown up and have their own kids who are now growing up with KISS in their family.<\/p>\n My takeaway from KISS was don\u2019t get caught up in everyone\u2019s else opinions and advice\u2026 everyone has them and often they aren\u2019t really qualified. Stick to your guns and do what you believe in. And, it is called the music \u201cbusiness.\u201d<\/p>\n Source: Music Tank<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0I am a KISS fan, going back to 1976 when my mom first bought me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-biz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/skylight.gr\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n
1. All press is good press<\/strong>. \u2013 Going back to the very beginnings of the band they were trashed by the press. Check out this quote, \u201cI HOPE THE FOUR GUYS WHO MAKE UP THE GROUP, WHOSE NAMES DON\u2019T MATTER, ARE PUTTING MONEY FOR THE FUTURE, BECAUSE KISS WON\u2019T BE AROUND LONG.\u201d \u2013 SEATTLE DAILY TIMES, MAY 27, 1974. If you believe in what you are doing, in your music\u2026 don\u2019t worry about the press. Everybody is a critic, everybody has an opinion.<\/p>\n
2. Love me or hate me just spell my name right.<\/strong> \u2013 This lesson is closely associated to lesson #1. Make sure they spell your name right, even in bad press. Today you want to make sure they have your URL correct.<\/p>\n
3. Wait for the right time.<\/strong> \u2013 Don\u2019t rush things. When the time is right for something\u2026 a song, a tour, a album, a interview, it will happen. KISS waited for their reunion tour and the results were stellar, selling out nearly 40,000 tickets in 47 minutes to the first show on the tour. The tour lasted for 192 shows over eleven months and earned $43.6 million, making Kiss the top-drawing concert act of 1996.<\/p>\n
4. It\u2019s all branding.<\/strong> \u2013 Gene Simmons this and Gene Simmons that. \u2013 Even I have at times had issues with how KISS has become more of a brand than a band, but that brand is what it is all about. And Gene Simmons knows that. Ask Gene Simmons about his TV show, Family Jewels and he will act like he has never heard of it, replying \u201cyou mean Gene Simmons Family Jewels.\u201d Gene Simmons and KISS are associated with everything they do. Make sure you are always thinking about how your band is represented, as a brand. Make sure you are referred to by your band name.<\/p>\n
5. Everything you do will not succeed.<\/strong> \u2013 Gene Simmons understands that everything he does will not succeed, that does not stop him. He keeps putting out business ventures, KISS product, tours, and albums. He knows that over time some of these will succeed and they will be remembered. Our attention spans are so short today that we will quickly forget the failures. Don\u2019t stress them, learn what you can and move onto the next idea.<\/p>\n
6. Treat the media with respect.<\/strong> \u2013 You need to love the media! Radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, websites, bloggers, photographers\u2026. all of them! They can make you look like kings or they can make you look like has beens. At every single show KISS performs they give the photographers pose after pose for perfect photos, so they look great in the paper the next day. I have seen them stop and give a reporter or photographer backstage a extra two minutes of undivided attention so they get the cover. Treat the media like the gatekeepers, because they are!
7. The fan is the most important thing, listen to them you work for them.<\/strong> \u2013 Never forget who you work for, the fans! You are doing this for them. Everyone would kill to have a Army of devoted, sometimes blindly, fans. Listen to what the fans want, not what the critics want. Critics don\u2019t buy your music your tickets, they often get it for free. Those with the wallet speak the loudest.<\/p>\n
8. The secret to success is offend the greatest number of people.<\/strong> \u2013 I love this saying. Think about it, if you have a ton of people who are offended by what you are doing you are doing something right to get attention. In the 70s KISS offended many parents, looking like demons, spitting blood and breathing fire. Alice Cooper before KISS was doing the same. KISS were never the darlings of reviewers, and the critics. That didn\u2019t stop them, they believed in what they were doing. Don\u2019t be afraid to offend someone with your passion. Just make sure you believe in what you are doing.<\/p>\n
9. If you don\u2019t ask for it, you won\u2019t get it.<\/strong> \u2013 If you don\u2019t ask to be on the cover, it is not going to be given to you. If you don\u2019t ask for the headliner slot, it won\u2019t just be volunteered to you. Somebody else will ask for it. If you don\u2019t ask for $1000 a show, it is not just going to be freely offered. If you want your fans to repost something on their Facebook wall, ask them to do it. Ask and you shall receive.<\/p>\n
10. Separate business and pleasure.<\/strong> \u2013 This means you do business with someone that you might not like personally. And just the opposite, don\u2019t do business with someone just because they are a friend. It is all about the deal. If it is a great deal don\u2019t sweat it that the person doesn\u2019t like the same things you do, or that they don\u2019t even really like your music.<\/p>\n