As an Old School HipHop Head and proud ambassador of the Street Knowledge Element I was invited to present to some of Durban's finest members of the Kulture. At a great rooftop gig in July 2015 I spoke on how HipHop teaches some of the best Marketing lessons.

1. Marketing lessons from HipHop:
Design principles & Brand Development notes in Graffiti Writing
The Network
of Cultural
Exchange.

2. Contents
• HipHop, tribute to elders, ancestors & pioneers.
• Power & Reach of digital platforms.
• Problem Statements & Case study Wu & Hova.
• Graffiti styles - media platforms
• Brand Philosophy & development.
• Design & Street marketing mix.
• An idea, for Ambushing the digital platform.

3. tribute & references
For the spiritual/ mental leadership which undergirds the consciousness & the political activism that inspired
the spirit of self-empowerment in the practise of HipHop’s elements;
I salute Marcus Garvey, Minister Malcolm X, Biko, the champion of the liberation of the black nation Louis
Farrakhan, a regular guest of honour at international HipHop summit Mother Tynetta (rip), and Clarence 13x of
the 5% Nation of Gods & Earths, Angela Davis, Assatta Shakur, Winnie Madikizela..and many whose names
are forever written in our DNA
Rocksteady crew
Taki187, Gogga, MSE; Dreadr,
Tracy 168, Stay High 149 and Zephyr
GrandMaster flash & CAS & Dj Kool Herc
POC; Ready D, Shaheen, Jazz & Devious
Lovebug Starski, Scott la Rock,
KRSONE, The Zulu Nation
Blackspades

4. references
Through the principles of this Hiphop Declaration of Peace we, Hiphop
Kulture, establish a foundation of Health, Love, Awareness, Wealth, peace
and prosperity for ourselves, our children and their children's children,
forever.
1. Hiphop (Hip'Hop) is a term that describes our independent collective
consciousness. Ever growing, it is commonly expressed through such
elements as Breakin, Emceein, Graffiti Art, Deejayin, Beatboxin, Street
Fashion, Street Language, Street Knowledge and Street Entrepreneurialism.
2. Wherever and whenever these and future elements and expressions of
Hiphop Kulture manifest; this Hiphop Declaration of Peace shall advise the
use and interpretation of such elements, expressions and lifestyle.
7. The essence of Hiphop is beyond entertainment: The elements of Hiphop Kulture
may be traded for money, honor, power, respect, food, shelter, information and other
resources; however, Hiphop and its culture cannot be bought, nor is it for sale. It
cannot be transferred or exchanged by or to anyone for any compensation at any time
or at any place. Hiphop is the priceless principle of our self-empowerment. Hiphop is
not a product.

5. • Average person sees
5000 brand messages
per day - how many do
you reach?
• About 2m is exposed to a
form of HipHop every 2
minutes in a 2009 study -
How many do you reach?
• Besides Fb, Twitter,
Instagram, BandCamp,
ReverbNation e.t.c there
are places that only
Graffiti minded & guerrilla
marketing people use for
maximum exposure.
• Word of mouth still the
most popular/effective
brand | social landscape
11.8 million
6.6 million
1.1 million
7.2 million
840,000

6. brand | COMPETITOR FEILD
The nature of your competition isn’t just artists signed by the big four and their subsidiaries anymore.
With Advent of the 360 or extended rights deals labels source of profit goes beyond the music.
An artist’s Brand Image, corporate endorsements and merchandising are new assets you sign of.
This means you’re competing with Musicians, Marketing, Public Relations, Publishers, Distributors, Legal &
other bullshit positions they’ve created to cut deeper into your pocket when you DO IT YOURSELF!
“Universal Music Group (Vivendi), Sony Music
Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group
were known as the “Big 4” in the music industry. These
companies, along with their many subsidiaries,
accounted for almost 80% of the revenue generated
within the music industry in 2011 total market.”
20%
27%
30%
13%
10%
EMI Group Warner Music
Vivendi Sony Corporation
Other

7. branding| key objectives
Essentially all our brand communication
efforts share the same universal
objectives, we must factor these into all
design & content creation.
Attention/
Awareness
Interest/
Engagement
Desire/
Preference
Conversion/
Subscription
Branding for HipHop today has so much more
tools at our disposal, with the benefit of them
being more effective and less expensive than
traditional marketing media.

8. So?
Learn the secret language
of the elements, deep
relationship between
them which we can use.
Strong Brand Identity is compulsory. Without
one we only depend on our products and
services to carry our name. It’s a gamble.
Value based marketing vs specifications
selling; we either choose to relate to
fanbase, clients and people based on what
we stand for versus basing your marketing
effort to depend on how good you think
you are.
Let’s explore what value chain exists already for independent artists,
HipHop activists & social technology.

9. Yes, HipHop is enough
Part 1: We have enough tools, skills,
knowledge and resources to disrupt
the multinational corporations
dominance of our Kulture, if we unite
and use the principles correctly.
Part 2: Internet resources levels the
battlefield when used with some
offline HipHop tactics.

10. Style Wars is worth checking out, as the earliest form of battle
of independent brands that characterised the very soul of
HipHop, and then street culture in general.

11. Graffiti Writing
key lessons for brand identity development
AND effective brand communication
Consistency
many styles, many spots, the same name
Exclusivity
Only a trained eye can decipher, access to art is
determined by the writer
Getting up
The eye for prime spot, maximum reach, high
brand impact even if time up is little.
Respect/Bombing
Demand of respect through dues paid & most
importantly quality of work, and not letting toys
disrespect the craft - exclusivity

12. The study of dimension, light & colour
Branding and Marketing platforms reimagined by Graffiti Writers:
Tag
The simplest and most basic style of graffiti, can be done by
pen, markers and spray can. This is extremely effective in
getting your signature/name everywhere. You can tag on other
artist’s pieces for ultimate disrespect.
Throw-ups
This is an effective style for bombing missions, two colours are
usually sufficient & that take lesser time the more your do it.
Bubble letters were/still the standard for most T-ups.
Stencil
Self explanatory, these blend the line between Street Art and
Graffiti. And have been used for social commentary and
promotional reasons off late.
Heaven
A piece that’s usually put up in a a dangerous
and and almost inaccessible place. Writers who
do heaven pieces often earn more respect than
everyone else.
Pieces
Very elaborate conceptual body of work, usually
involves more than 3 colours. Almost impossible
to be done illegally. Takes time and effort to put
up and often is commissioned.
Blockbuster
Banners, Top-to-Bottoms, these usually involve
rollers and two or three colours. Done with
minimum of time but cover huge amount of
space with block letters.
Stickers
Lazy tags, these are great because they can be simple and equally
complex and yet still take very little time to slap on. A way of even
getting your digital artwork to the streets.
MuralsProduction
These can involve a range of
styles by one or more artists
united by a central theme.
Normally on legal walls but not
necessary, or it could be one
style by more than one writer.
Graffiti Writing

13. TagWildstyle
Throw-ups
Bomb, Throw-up

14. Mural throw-ups
Bannners
Once a name/style is
defined, mastered it can
be applied across other
industries and places like
fashion etc

15. Cope is one of my all time favourites;
consistent and has worked with most legends
like himself and keeps it simple…key!

16. Mural
Gogga is the greatest Graffiti Writer in Africa,
and the Godfather of the art in SA. Check his
comments on the left, advertising genius is
second nature to true writers.

17. The Writer’s bench, a modern secret society. Where
the language, styles, laws and secrets of the cryptic
art are laid. Most crews now have their own
benches by default, but the tradition still goes on.
Blockbuster

18. THE MIND OPENS UP TO NEW BRANDING
POSSIBILITIES WHEN WE USE GRAFFITI BRAINS.

19. cASE STUDIES

20. Idea:
To bring the content of the book to life (brand activation)
by placing the product/brand which are the lyrics in the places
most relevant to their message
Tactic:
Get people to peace the lyric together using
pictures and Bing location software to plot the
images to the are.

21. case studies | HipHop brand
Campaigns and Brand which sourced inspiration from the principles
of HipHop culture and implemented them via the mainstream.

22. Once the people have been engaged creatively, using modern day
tactics and the mind of graffiti writers, results are endless.

23. WU TANG CLAN
Once the Brand is developed.
It’s philosophy and values will
guide all aspects of your
experience, where are are, who
you associate with and what
you do.
WU TANG CLAN
One of the most most
memorable and iconic Brands
in HipHop, it’s up there with
Nike & Addidas.

24. Once the Brand has a strong Iconic
identity it becomes easier for people to
adopt and promote.

25. Brand Development & Design Principles

26. BRAND, MAKING IT ICONIC
Brand is more than just visual icons, it’s
the collection of values, principles,
inspirations and promises of certain
qualities. Often represented by an image,
text,person or graphic.
Building a truly iconic one takes self
study, effective use of fundamental
elements and principles of design.

27. B.
R.
U.
C.
E.

28. B.
R.
U.
C.
E.

29. B
.

30. R
.

31. U
.

32. C
.
Use of juxtaposition to create composition,
opposites to emphasise a point or object.

33. E.

34. brand communications
strategy: online

35. streets | Internet STRATEGY
Website or Blog
Web PR
EMAIL
Marketing
Online
Marketing
Mobile
Marketing
Web
Analytics
Social & Viral
Media
SEO
Offline lifestyle content becomes more
useful toward improving your brand clout.
A website, blog should be the centre
of all your online activity. A place to
direct your traffic, a destination for all
your links.

36. Street Affiliates: an idea
• Social Media friends, followers become platforms and
aggregators for you project specific content.
• Body of optimised content produced is pushed through
selected accounts at “prime” times using online tactics like
hashtags to link dropping/commenting to saturate the web.
• Have central traffic destination (preferably with analytics) with
specific call to action to measure conversion.

37. resources
www.tinypng.com
designmatic.com
hiphopcongress.com
dafont.com
www.graffiti.org
internetmarketingninjas.com
www.alternativemolecule.co.za
Check the above out, for resizing you images
for online, fonts, HipHop Principles and
profiling your brand, music or event…for free.
www.camouflage-chameleon.co.za

38. P.E.A.C.E