Ledisi iPhone App

CHALLENGE:
It’s no stretch to say that for many people, life revolves around their phones. This market for promotion has scary potential that continues to grow every day. Research firm Canalys projects revenue from app stores supporting phones and tablets will top $14 billion next year, up 92% from 2011.

With so many choices available to users, the fear is losing your app in the shuffle. Universal Music wanted an iPhone app for musician Ledisi. Not an ordinary one, either.

GOAL:

To promote the release of Ledisi’s new album Pieces of Me, the idea was to throw in lots of features. Maybe everything but the kitchen sink. And then maybe the sink, too.

Beyond the photos and news updates and music standard to artist apps, this one needed a hook to make it stick with users. More than one wouldn’t hurt.

SOLUTION:
First things first — get users to the Ledisi website. HYFN built in a QR code reader to tie into the marketing campaign. Users snap a picture of these codes in various promotional hotspots and are automatically directed to a mobile website offering downloadable content, tickets to secret shows, and more.

Now for the fun stuff. Three games were integrated into the app, and they tied in nicely with the album theme.

Led Yourself allows users to treat themselves or each other to a “Ledisi makeover”. They can simply snap a picture with their iPhone or pick one from their library and then select among Ledisi’s signature red mohawks to add. Once satisfied with the makeover, they can post the new pic to their favorite social network, or save it to their photo library.

In keeping with the title of the album, the app also offers the Pieces of Ledisi game. Choose from three difficulty levels, and then put together puzzle pieces to form Ledisi’s image. Race against the timer, and see how the results stacked up against everyone else in Game Center.

The Pieces of Me game has the same function with some added user engagement. Users can make their own puzzle by taking a photo or choosing one with their iPhone. The app then breaks the picture into pieces for the user to put together on the touch screen.

The Ledisi app also includes streaming music and video, a Flickr-powered photo gallery and RSS feed hookup for news. After listening to a track or watching a video, users can post their comments to Facebook or Twitter right there on the same screen.

RESULT:
As is always the hope, the app and the album helped each other. Ledisi debuted at No. 8 on the Top 200 Billboard chart, and the app quickly broke into the Top 200 free music app chart.