In the very same week up-and-coming indie rock group, Hooray for Earth, signed with Spirit — just weeks before their new LP, ‘True Loves,’ would be released in early June — the company’s creative team pitched their song “Surrounded By Your Friends” into the much anticipated season finale of MTV’s SKINS, a strategic placement that simultaneously excited the fandoms for both the controversial show and the buzzing band, lighting up the blogosphere.
Well known for their thrashing guitars, roaring synths, and epic vocals of founding member Noel Heroux, Hooray for Earth burst onto the noise pop scene in 2009 when New York indie (and Spirit partner) Dovecote Records released their EP titled ‘Momo’ and quickly built a devoted local following. In the build up to their first long player this past spring, the band was ranked on Spin.com among the “top 5 best new artists,” had their envelope-pushing videos featured on Stereogum, and were described by Pitchfork as on par with such notable bands as Passion Pit, Yeasayer, and MGMT.
Within weeks of the ‘Skins’ exposure, Spirit staffers convinced friends at ABC Television to feature Hooray for Earth music and videos in their ABC.com Music Lounge, a rapidly growing web destination for fans of the network’s shows and hip music, introducing thousands of casual visitors to Hooray for Earth and driving them to the band’s social sites and to their gigs.
Most recently, Spirit’s brand marketing group partnered with cell phone maker HTC to include the band in a New York City-based branding campaign to promote their new Sensation 4G smartphone. With the launch of the campaign in mid-June, simultaneous with Hooray for Earth’s album release, a stylized photo of the band appeared on the entrance to nearly every subway station as well as on hundreds of subway platforms throughout the city. As an added feature, passersby using compatible Droid phones could use the popular Google Goggles app to take a snapshot of the subway posters and access downloadable content from the new release.
While Noel and the members of Hooray for Earth deserve most of the credit for producing brilliant, thoroughly original music, team Spirit are pleased to be bringing their own restless creativity to stoke awareness, mapping out a steady stream of media and marketing events in keeping with the company’s fundamental mission: to let the band and its music organically reach as many fans as possible.
