Metamorphosis (Hilary Duff Album) - Marketing and Promotion

Marketing and Promotion

During the period in which Metamorphosis was released, Duff was participating in many projects in film, brand licensing, music and television; USA Today wrote in July 2003 that she was emerging as "The Next Big Thing" and "a marketing powerhouse" with nine to twelve year-olds, and Billboard magazine said that she "is looking to become more than just the nation's next teen pop princess. She wants to become a brand-name phenomenon ... is just the beginning." These projects included the high profile Hollywood films Cheaper by the Dozen (2003) and A Cinderella Story (2004), a clothing and accessories line called Stuff by Hilary Duff, a Lizzie McGuire merchandise line, and a VISA prepaid credit card for children aged six to thirteen. She also participated in a marketing campaign for the Hasbro personal video player VideoNow, for which she filmed the video A Day in the Life of Hilary Duff, which included a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the "Why Not" music video. Entertainment lawyer Larry Golring called it "a great cross-promotion" for VideoNow and Duff's music career, which he said were "two new brands that are going to be huge this time next year, and they hopefully will have helped each other get there". The Associated Press quoted Bob Cavallo, the chairman of Buena Vista Music Group, as saying that "At this point, she's obviously already a franchise".

Marketing people such as Laura Groppe, president of Girls Intelligence Agency, said that the timing of the release of Metamorphosis and other Duff-related products was right because there had been a lack of teen idols since Britney Spears, and that Duff " not too pretty. Not too thin. Not too anything ... like a little Meg Ryan." According to Marketing Evaluations/TvQ, Duff was, in July 2003, the female star most popular with kids aged between six and eleven. Amy Doyle, at MTV's vice president of music programming, said Duff was "definitely one of the hot people to watch ... She's become the fabric of pop culture with teens right now." There was concern from some, however, that Duff could become overexposed, although Duff's manager emphasised his selectiveness against "f something looks cheesy", and that Duff "doesn't want to be all over TV commercials". Others, such as Robert Thorne, the CEO of the Olsen twins' Dualstar Entertainment, said that Duff should have stayed with The Walt Disney Company — from which she separated after contract negotiations broke down — to build the Lizzie McGuire franchise and use it to help develop her career into adulthood. In spite of this split, the profile of Duff and the album was supported by the DVD release of The Lizzie McGuire Movie and reruns of Lizzie McGuire episodes on the Disney Channel for two seasons. Duff herself said that Lizzie McGuire was "a great place to begin my career", but said that "it's exciting to go out on my own" with Metamorphosis.

Before the release of the album, and beginning in July 2003, Duff and Metamorphosis were given substantial promotional support from MTV, which highlighted "So Yesterday" on Making the Video and Total Request Live; Duff co-hosted the special TRL's All-Star Backyard BBQ. "So Yesterday" was released to U.S. Top 40 radio in mid-July, after which it became the "most added" song on the format. On the internet AOL Music had a marketing relationship with Duff and Metamorphosis: it hosted the premiere of "So Yesterday" and recording a Sessions@AOL broadcast with her, among other content exclusive to AOL members. In late September The WB Television Network aired an hour-long Hilary Duff birthday special, and MTV aired an episode of the documentary series Diary that followed Duff through a day. A DVD containing music videos, performance and behind-the-scenes footage and bonus features, Hilary Duff: All Access Pass, was released in November.

Duff embarked on a four-week concert tour in the U.S. from November to early December 2003. The song "Anywhere But Here" was included on the soundtrack of the film A Cinderella Story; Duff promoted the film and Metamorphosis with a series of television appearances in July 2004, including one on ABC's Good Morning America. She performed before roughly 7,000 people, breaking a Good Morning America audience record. In the same period she embarked on a U.S. summer tour, during which she performed a one-hour set that included Metamorphosis tracks, covers of The Go-Go's' "Our Lips Are Sealed" and The Who's "My Generation", and previously unheard material from Hilary Duff. Haylie Duff was the opening act on the tour, which ran for thirty-six dates and sold well in major arenas ; Pollstar editor-in-chief said that there was "a real positive buzz about ticket sales for Hilary's show". The tour was involved with the charity Kids with a Cause, of which Duff was a charter member in 1999; it sponsored a "Food for a Friend" drive and encouraged attendees to bring canned food to each tour venue, where the cans were collected and distributed across shelters in each city through which Duff toured. By early August 2004, enough food had been amassed to feed more than 12,000 children. The success of the tour was credited with helping keep the teen pop market alive in the tour circuit, and for being one of the "bright spots" in a slow concert season.