Signaling Theory and Brand Management. Part 1: Signaling Theory Marketing Explained for Artists

Modern Punk Loner in Burma. (Soe Than Win/AFP/Getty Images)

A high school kid once asked me how to become a punk rocker. “What’s the secret handshake?”

I replied off the hip, “Start listening to punk rock music.” My thinking was if you like the music, you’ll like the culture. If it’s a match, you’re not going to sit on the sidelines to wax philosophical about the bands. It’s much more fun to participate in the genre’s rebellious attention seeking and sometimes physically punishing aspects.



Punk rock fashion is a cultural indicator that screams, “I like punk rock!” Its visual cues are unmistakable to a huge part of the U.S. population. Punk’s socially ostracizing style creates a high level of authenticity by putting pressure on participants to conform to something more normal. This social pressure makes true fandom hard to fake, at least for very long.

In his book, “Spent: Sex, Evolution, and Consumer Behavior,” author Geoffrey Miller explains how signaling theory applies to brands.  Even though punk rock is not a brand per se, it works like one.  A product has to connect with its specific target market on another level besides the purely functional, otherwise it becomes a commodity. In order to be successful, branded products have to do two things: 1. Appeal to some aspiration in the purchaser (individuality is often cited as why people aspire to punk but since my friend asked about a secret handshake, I think it is about fitting in.) 2. Signal to the purchaser’s peer group said aspiration has been achieved (popular belief holds punkers don’t care what other people think, but I doubt that’s true.)

Most people don’t associate what artists create with products that can be branded, but one only needs to look at the pop music industry to see it. To a pop musician, persona is a branded product; at the other end of the spectrum is music without a persona, a commodity called muzak. A pop song can be described as a story, one that has only seven basic plots set to a funky beat. With so few story telling options, artists must be creative in order to connect with their target market on an aspiring level. An efficient way to do this is to identify and communicate with an existing audience by leveraging the psychological aspirations a more successful artist has already put in place. This may sound like a euphemism for pilfer your image but if an artist doesn’t have an authentic point of view, just like faking an interest in punk rock, he won’t last very long. Truly creative minds will find interesting ways for people to hear their art in the face of rip-off accusations.

The next couple of posts will explore negative and positive examples of lesser known artists who have identified and communicated with a more successful artist’s audience. Until then listen to Annie’s Greatest Hit. According to the Village Voice, the song samples from and betters the 1982 original.