How Aerosmith mastered branding – and you can, too

The career one of America’s most legendary rock bands is worth retailers' attention. 

The recent announcement that my favorite hometown rock band, Aerosmith, can no longer tour due to a severe vocal injury to lead singer Steven Tyler put me in a reflective state of mind. It’s hard to put into words for anyone who didn’t grow up in Boston in the 1970s and 80s just how meaningful Aerosmith was for us – their music was everywhere and their t-shirts dotted local parks, schoolyards and detention halls. 

Even beyond their local environs, the “Bad Boys from Boston” were a big deal. But they endured a lot of bumps in the road along the way, including going from filling arenas in the late 70s to disappearing from airwaves and large venues for the first half the 80s to what is still the biggest comeback in music history – a return to the charts and sold-out stadiums from the mid-80s onward. 

Let’s take a look at three ways Aerosmith built (and rebuilt) a brand that lasted more than 50 years in the notoriously fickle pop music business.

Great brands steal

Aerosmith was a lot of things, but “original” may not be the first word associated with them. They launched in the early 1970s with a sound that owed heavy debts to 1960s British Invasion bands like the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Yardbirds, who themselves essentially repackaged older American blues for a 1960s youth audience.

[READ MORE: The Rolling Stones are still relevant – is your technology?]

But Aerosmith didn’t simply copy their heroes. They added their own ingredients, such as the screaming histrionics of singer/wailer Steven Tyler, the incendiary solos of lead guitarist Joe Perry, and a heavier sound that appealed to the post-flower child listeners of the 70s. 

Don’t be afraid to use elements from other brands that have achieved success, but make sure you use them as part of a larger whole that includes your own message and style and is tailored for your intended audience.

Be open to change

As the 1980s dawned, Aerosmith’s once mighty brand was in a freefall. Their bluesy style of hard rock and 1970s "rocker" image was losing favor with listeners who were turning to performers with a slicker, more polished look and sound. 

Album sales plummeted and concert crowds thinned. Infighting and lineup changes threatened to derail the group and turn them into a dim memory of a previous decade, like bell bottoms and lava lamps.

Then the original lineup reformed and put out a new version of their song "Walk This Way" with one of the biggest rap groups of the time, Run DMC. This was in 1986, when rock and rap were distinct genres that did not mix. The result was a smash hit that reintroduced Aerosmith to a new generation.

It’s also important to note that the new "Walk This Way" was accompanied by a flashy, humorous video. Aerosmith’s first ascent had predated MTV, but the band was ready to adapt to music videos, which at that point were arguably more important to rock n roll brand recognition than radio airplay. This led to the third big lesson of the Aerosmith comeback…

Walk this way - with partners

Aerosmith-Run DMC was a great partnership that boosted the visibility of both groups and exposed each to new audiences. Even more important to the continued success of the rejuvenated Aerosmith brand from the mid-1980s onward was the band’s decision to for the first time work with outside songwriters.

They brought in successful Top 40 songwriters to help them craft songs that still retained their heavy, bluesy roots, but updated them to a catchier, more refined sound that better appealed to the ear of 1980s music fans. Two hit albums resulted.

And when music got a little rougher around the edges with the advent of grunge music in the early 1990s, Aerosmith made sure to release some songs with more of their classic edge, helping continue their reborn success. And if this really is the end of the road for them, what’s more rock n roll than having to quit because the singer screamed himself hoarse?