Clients

The French independent CD label Naïve was founded in 1998 in Paris by Patrick Zelnik. Today, Naïve boasts some 1,500 master tapes featuring first-class international musicians, both established and rising stars. These include conductors Marc Minkowski (with Les Musiciens du Louvre-Grenoble), Rinaldo Alessandrini, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, singers Sandrine Piau, Anne-Sofie von Otter, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, Sara Mingardo, instrumentalists Sergey Khachatryan, Fazil Say, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Bertrand Chamayou, Sonia Wieder-Atherton, Lise de la Salle and David Greilsammer.

Albion Media works with Naïve to implement marketing and PR activities for their priority releases and artists including: Sonia Weider-Atherton; the Vivaldi Edition, the ‘Venice Vivaldi Versailles’ festival, Versailles being held in June/July 2011; Anne-Sofie von Otter and Sandrine Piau.

Case study:

Albion Media client for:

• Public relations
• UK online marketing

THE BRIEF TO ALBION MEDIA
Naïve is one of the labels that has come to define the classical market in France, but its potential had remained to some degree untapped in Britain. Accordingly, Albion Media was retained in July 2009 to implement PR and online marketing activities that would make a powerful impact on the UK market.

APPROACH and ACHIEVEMENTS
Albion Media prioritised CD reviews in national newspapers, supported by reviews and artist features in specialist magazines. The campaign has resulted in regular and widespread coverage in the national press, with critics showing considerable enthusiasm for featuring the CDs, and a strong and consistent presence in influential magazines such as Gramophone (including Editor’s Choice and Recommended status), BBC Music Magazine (including CD of the month), International Record Review and Classic FM Magazine, and on BBC Radio 3 CD Review (complemented by artist appearances on Radio 3 programmes such as In Tune and Iain Burnside’s Sunday morning show).

Among Naïve artists profiled and interviewed in specialist classical media have been David Greilsammer, Anna Vinnitskaya, Christophe Rousset, Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sonia Wieder-Atherton.

Online, before Albion Media’s appointment, Naïve had little presence beyond its website. Now, thanks to Albion Media’s activities, beyond featuring in Gramophone’s Listening Room and receiving reviews on sites such as Classical Source and Musical Criticism, the label has its own presence on Facebook (which has a page devoted to the Vivaldi Edition), MySpace, Twitter and Dilettante Music. It also has its own blog.