Brittany Nicholas
Ex: 3 Social Network Marketing- Buzz Agents
DJ Rqaway
DJ Rqaway (rock-away) is a disc jockey from New Orleans, LA. He has been in the DJ community as a Definition DJ for five years. A Definition DJ is a DJ that has built a name for his or her self in NOLA’s hiphop community. They are allowed to wear the official logo “Definition DJ” on their laptops, shirts, hats, or where ever else they want to place their badge of honor.
DJ Rqaway is a man on a mission. He is a one-man show who can somehow extend himself to not only please his audience but also the audience of his fellow artists in NOLA. Rqaway has his own nights every Friday at Handsome Willy’s on N. Robertson off of Canal St. where he DJ’s all night long playing club baggers, local hits, requests, and his own favorite mixes he has made. Another one of his jobs include guest DJing for showcases. An example is how he DJs seasonally for MashOut which a monthly showcase featuring the rising underground NOLA talent. Another gig he does is DJing for the talent in NOLA. One of his favorite groups to DJ for is DeepNSpace and what he’ll do is play the music for their set; however, many rehearsals are necessary to make the show look so effortless. He is even featured in one of their videos.
For the last year and some months, DJ Rqaway has taken a liking to photography. He realized that he has a gift for detail and he has the resources to make quality pictures. He started off going around to his friend’s events, such as a DeepNSpace show, and he took pictures of their performances. After a few months of doing that, he started getting a major buzz in the NOLA hip-hop community as a DJ to be reckoned with. He continued his efforts as a supporter for his friends, taking pictures, being a DJ, and so on but one day something clicked in his head. He realized that while he was out supporting his friends, he could be promoting his own events!
He began to make business card shaped flyers. It was very simple. It was a black card and on one side it read #(hashtag)AWAYTEAM then on the other side it read @DJRQAWAY with www.whatisawayteam.com underneath. The website is a portal that gets you totally caught up on what the AwayTeam is. Long story short, the AwayTeam is his supporters. If you go online and type #AwayTeam into a twitter search engine, tumblr search engine, instagram search engine, and so on, you will find out just who the AwayTeamers are.
Since his first flyercard, DJ Rqaway has upgraded to a new and improved flyercard. This one comes with the new scanner logos that are popping up on everything from receipts to cereal boxes. If you take your smart phone and scan the bar code then www.whoisawayteam.com automatically shows up on the screen. This time the website has a link to the tumblr where Rqaway shares all of his pictures that he takes while he is out on the #AwayTeam mission.
DJ Rqaway is turning into a marketing guru. He started a program called AwayTeam Card Members. If you are a card holding member of the AwayTeam then that means you payed thirty dollars to get into any event DJ’d by Rqaway for the year. You also have your own “#AwayTeam” shirt and you have assorted #Awayteam stickers. Rqaway sends out updates to cardholding members by having a scanner code on the member card. This scanner goes to a different website specifically for members and they receive information on pop-up shows, canceled events, and exciting/fun proposals that Rqaway comes up with to promote his AwayTeam brand.
A fan-favorite favorite that is a non-DJ related initiative Rqaway started is the Annual Tour de Crescent, which is a sign-up only bike tour around New Orleans. Anyone who signs up to ride with the group is automatically an AwayTeam member and the purpose is to raise awareness about his brand and to promote some type of exercise activity. His first time doing this was a success with about thirty people in attendance and he projects that 2013 will be even better!
DJ Rqaway is a one-man show turned marketing guru. He started off being his own street team but in 2013 it is not uncommon for one to see many of the people who plan or head events in NOLA to where an #AwayTeam shirt. Rqaway is the only person who passes out #AwayTeam cards. He says “that way you don’t waste your money by giving it to people who don’t care.”
People are motivated to support DJ Rqaway because they see the hustle and finesse he puts into his work. When people see someone hand them a card with bar code scans on it and websites and tumblr sites many people think, ”Wow! I may have to see what this guy is talking about.” Then when they actually go to one of his events they more than likely tweet #awayteam and from that point on they know where to go to have a good time.
Rqaway can track his buzz from his efforts from many measures. The first measure is seeing how many people are showing up to the weekly event at Handsome Willy’s called the Tipping Point. Another is by tracking how many people have registered to be members. The newest way is through the flyercards. Everytime a card is scanned Rqaway receives an e-mail memo to keep track of how many people scan and when they scan. He also gains hits through his websites simultaneously. The best method to know if his efforts are working is to search #AwayTeam. The more people type #awayteam, the more buzz DJ Rqaway creates.
His methods are working better than any person I have witnessed in NOLA. Everyone in my circle knows of DJ Rqaway, the AwayTeam, the Tipping Point, or one of the many shows and talent he is affiliated with. His campaigns are always ethical and somehow he almost always finds a way to lift everyone as he rises on the New Orleans scene.
The power of social networks helped this DJ get to the height he is at right now. Without it, he would not be able to get his message to across to his audience as efficiently as he does. The way he has #AwayTeam merchandise and stickers available for those who are not card members is a tactful way of creating brand ambassadors. Even with out the shirts, word-of-mouth does Rqaway and his AwayTeam plenty of justice because the crowds keep coming back!