In 2007, the movie Catacombs was released, along with its soundtrack, which was produced by YOSHIKI from X Japan, who also wrote the theme song with his project Violet UK. Also featured were established U.S. artists, Avenged Sevenfold, Atreyu, Skinny Puppy, Ministry, and more.

The soundtrack was unique, as it featured the first-ever released music for the highly anticipated Violet UK project YOSHIKI had been working on for 7 years. Fans across the United States and all around the world were excited to know that they would finally get to hear Violet UK for the first time. As YOSHIKI had just performed in the United States with his super band project, S.K.I.N. (featuring GACKT, SUGIZO, and Miyavi), there was considerable hype around his name and brand.

In September 2007, the team at Jrock Revolution was brought on for a micro campaign to promote the official soundtrack for Catacombs.

Because we had limited time to promote the release, we decided to focus on a content-driven marketing strategy.

Starting by stripping the Jrock Revolution site’s front page, we performed a full site takeover of Jrock Revolution, and also created a dedicated microsite. Our content strategy was anchored by YOSHIKI’s participation in the project, and we leveraged upon his popularity to reach his entire fanbase in the United States and around the world.

We produced full-length editorials dedicated to the soundtrack’s release, wrote press releases, and serviced a select number of press targeted at our niche market. To further raise excitement and anticipation, we also sent out an email blast to over 7,000 Jrock fans, ran contests and promotions, and designed digital banners ahead of a pre-sale that we planned to run on the site.

Being that the world premiere of the movie was set in Tokyo, and YOSHIKI planned to be in attendance, we flew out to cover the red carpet premiere and create editorial content for fans, keeping them updated about the event through the community forums and social media. We also pushed more content out to our network of press partners, who wrote editorials of their own, ran ads, and helped to promote the soundtrack.

Our micro campaign reached thousands of fans, who blogged, tweeted, and talked about the soundtrack, well ahead of the pre-sale.