How Zomba Records uses Lyris ListHosting
to Propel a Preteen Music Movement

Company Background

Founded in 1975 by Clive Calder and Ralph Simon, the Zomba Label Group is home to a dazzling number of today's leading recording artists including Britney Spears, *NSYNC, Outkast, R. Kelly, and the Backstreet Boys.

In the 1990s, Zomba became a pioneer in the preteen music movement by breaking a string of talented new acts into the competitive pop, R&B, and hip-hop music markets. Today, Zomba's flagship label, Jive Records, maintains an artistic roster with the highest percentage of gold and platinum-level performers in the entire music industry.

Goals and Challenges

In 1998, Zomba was faced with an unforeseen legal hurdle when Congress passed the Children's Online Protection Privacy Act. Better known as "COPPA," the legislation was designed to protect children's privacy by changing the way online businesses collect and store information from children under the age of thirteen.

With a significant percentage of its fan base falling into this preteen age group, Zomba made it an immediate priority to meet and even exceed the requirements of this new privacy law.

"Some of our groups are really kid's groups," explains Jami Stigliano, Manager of New Media Marketing at Zomba. "Probably 99 percent of their fan bases are younger people. It was really important that we be able to continue to communicate with them."

The Solution

To satisfy the new legal requirement and preserve its ability to reach its core market, Zomba began exploring options for obtaining consent from the parents of its younger fans.

A thorough review of possible solutions indicated that an outsourced hosting service would best fit Zomba's needs. The email list hosting (ASP) service offered by Lyris Technologies was among the top candidates; after learning that Lyris could create a customized solution based on Zomba's unique subscription requirements, the decision was easy.

Based on Zomba's specifications, Lyris' technical team designed a modified double opt-in process that could be integrated into its existing subscription infrastructure.

In the first step, the prospective list member is required to provide his or her age along with an email address. Children under thirteen are then automatically guided to provide another, unique email address for a parent. Zomba sends the parent a copy of the company's privacy policy, as well as links that enable the parent to grant or deny consent with a simple click of the mouse.

The entire process is automated and takes place very quickly, thanks to Lyris' fast sending speeds.

The Results

Since becoming a Lyris hosting client in 1998, Zomba has cultivated an in-house marketing list of nearly three million unique email addresses. It manages 25 separate label, genre, and artist lists and sends out approximately 30,000 email messages per month using Lyris' hosting services.

Campaigns cover timely topics such as album release dates, TV appearances, and concert information, but Zomba also tries to make its email communication more than just a simple news bulletin.

"Our lists are so valuable to us," says Stigliano. "They're a way for us to speak directly and personally to the fans, so we try not to duplicate too much information from our Web sites. Instead, we put in lots of little nuggets like street team information or exclusive, email-only contests."

In addition to meeting the legal requirements of COPPA, Zomba feels it's an excellent business practice to get parents' consent before marketing to younger fans.

"Our privacy policy includes an email address that parents can use to ask questions or give us their feedback," says Stigliano. "You'd be surprised how many of them thank us for asking for their permission. I've been really impressed by how responsive they are."

Future Plans

Stigliano reports that email marketing will continue to figure heavily into Zomba's future efforts. Increased segmentation and one-to-one marketing are practices that Zomba has just begun to explore.

"We want to be able to do even more customized content for our fans," says Stigliano. "If Britney's next tour date is in Chicago, for instance, it'd be great to contact just those fans to let them know, so the message feels even more personal to them."

Lyris' content customization and segmentation features will make this easy to accomplish. List members can be separated by location, and messages can be easily customized using data from any field in Zomba's databases. In addition, dynamic message copy can be automatically generated based on recipient attributes such as gender or age group.

Going forward, Zomba plans to use such features to continue to make fans feel truly special and even more connected to their favorite artists.

"These fans ask us to send material to them," Stigliano says. "How many other forms of advertising can you say that about?"

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