Warners’ largest campaign ever
Fleetwood Mac’s ‘TUSK’ LP gets big push

Warner Bros. Records is unveiling its largest promotional campaign ever to accompany the release of Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk on October 17th. The record company originally hired a New York advertising agency ‘Lord, Geller, Federico and Einstein ‘ to develop a marketing strategy, but after reviewing the plan, Warners and Fleetwood Mac decided against using it. This was the first time in its history that the company went to an outside firm for an ad campaign.

“We felt we owed it to the band to exhaust every conceivable outlet,” said Shelly Cooper, director of advertising for Warners. “We thought we might get a more creative campaign by going to an agency that has experience selling more than just records.”

But Cooper said that the band, which has been heavily involved in planning the campaign, “felt it was being oversold, so the entire campaign is now being done in-house. It’s more understated.”

Added a source close to Fleetwood Mac: “When the group saw the agency’s plan, they thought it was outrageous. They felt that they were being sold like a product ‘ like chewing gum.”

The advertising agency, which specialises in paperback books, hadn’t done any work for the record industry for about a dozen years, according to its executive vice-president, Ed Yaconetti. “We developed a campaign and now it’s in the hands of our client,” he said. “We don’t know whether they’ll use it or not.”