Interactivity on an artist's website

I will be taking a look at One Direction's official website to identify all the ways the audience can interact and buy into the brand.

As soon as you click on the website we are already faced with the opportunity to click straight through to webstores to buy their single, and to tweet the link.

The first page when you go onto the website is their music video from youtube taking up the entire page, and a small 'enter' sign in the corner, meaning your first instinct is to watch the video.

Once you actually enter the sign, there are buttons on every page enabling you to follow the band on four different websites, already making it extremely interactive and offering a way for fans to get involved.
  



On the main page we are immediately hit with advertising, encouraging users to buy into the brand, whether it's by downloading their single or ordering a personalised poster.



At the bottom of the page there are yet more links to sites like Facebook and YouTube where you can interact with and follow the band, plus a follower count to show just how popular they are! We also see a logo for SYCO, their record label.



Video messages make the band seem like they care more about their fans and offers audiences a chance to see them in video form rather than just pictures, as many websites might only offer. It is also worth noting that the band are always referred to as 'the boys', an affectionate term than their fans call them as it makes their relationship seem more personal.



There are also lots of competitons on the site, encouraging the users to actively involve themselves by entering these competitions and allowing certain lucky fans to interact with them in person!

There is constant branding throughout the website, including their red 1D logo and band name plastered across every page.

The website's scrapbook theme with scribbly writing and doodles adds to their brand image of 'young and fun', obviously appealing to kids and teens.

They are also trying to create a slightly rockier, cooler brand image by showing guitar picks and badges. This may be an attempt to target boys more, as their fanbase is so clearly female that they don't need to make the website girly.



There is an entire gallery of the band, allowing fans to look at all the different photoshoots they have been involved in and appealing to their young girl fanbase and playing up one of their biggest assets: their looks.

Users can also get involved by submitting fan art to the website, however I think this could be utilised more as so far there are only a few images.



Fans can sign up for a newsletter so they get all the latest One Direction news and competitions emailled to them regularly, an obvious chance for interactivity between fans and band and a great way to make fans feel involved and in-the-know.

Web users can also literally buy into the 1D brand through their huge webstore, featuring loads of different t-shirts, hoodies, posters and accessories (there's even a mug!). Some of the t-shirts have slogans like 'I ♥ Louis' etc. so fans can pick their favourite member and proudly wear their name across their shirt.