Be TOM: How to Become the First Musician People Think Of

A while ago I asked my Instagram followers this:

"Without thinking, name the first musician that comes to mind when I say depressed, queer, or ginger. Reply with the first names that pop into your head."

I got dozens of answers. In a second I'll share why I asked and what the results mean for your career.

But first, let me introduce today's topic: TOM.

You might ask, who is TOM? The better question is what. TOM means Top Of Mind.

Every brand, including you, should try to get there. Top of mind means you're the first name that pops into people's heads when they watch, hear, read or even smell something.

Coca-Cola's secret survey

I was sworn to secrecy for a few years, and I believe I can share this now.

In 2022, I worked for a market research company, and I was in charge of analyzing survey results for the Coca-Cola Company.

The one thing they were obsessed with was their TOM.

Every quarter, we asked 1,000+ people a series of questions about soft drinks. One section had simple questions. Which drink pops into your head when you think of:

• Having dinner with your family
• Hanging out with friends at the beach
• Watching a movie at the cinema

There were 20+ scenarios like these.

Every three months, Coca-Cola wanted people to answer Coca-Cola for each of those scenarios. If the answers changed, they knew their marketing needed work, and exactly where. (Maybe more commercials of young people in swimsuits drinking Coca-Cola and having fun?)

How this applies to you

There are so many musicians out there, and you compete with dead ones too. Yes, someone might decide to listen to Mozart instead of your new folk song.

Coca-Cola competes with thousands of drinks, including water. In the same way, you compete for the chance that someone listens to your music instead of someone else's.

You win that with positioning, which is the first step to becoming TOM.

How to position yourself

Start with who you are. Short? Gay? Blonde? Black? Atheist? Liberal? Liverpool fan? Aussie? Furry?

Then ask how you want your music to make people feel. Happy? Depressed? Energized? Horny?

Push those things to your audience over and over, in your music, content, music videos, ads and everything else. That's how you position yourself better than others and become TOM in some areas.

What my followers answered

When I asked for a depressed musician, most people said Kurt Cobain or Billie Eilish, depending on their age and music taste.

For a queer musician, the majority said Freddie Mercury or Chappell Roan. (Look how Chappell did the unbelievable and caught up with Freddie in just 2 years!)

And for a ginger musician, there was almost no debate. It's Ed Sheeran.

None of this happens in a day. People know Billie struggled with depression from her lyrics. People knew Freddie was queer from his interviews. And people know Ed Sheeran is ginger because he doesn't wear a damn hat.

Your secret weapon

Next time you see a Coca-Cola ad, ask yourself how they're trying to position themselves this time.

And when you post your next video, ask yourself how your audience will see you. Do they know you're Muslim? Do they know you're a cancer survivor? Do they know you have 11 toes?

Find what makes you unique and shout it from the rooftops. That's your secret weapon, so use it.

If you're rethinking how you present yourself, my rebranding guide for musicians goes deeper into it.

A content idea to try: "Where are you from?"

I saw a musician post simple b-roll with one line of text asking her audience where they're from. People love talking about themselves online, and you just have to ask.

A question like this usually brings in hundreds of comments from followers who want to represent their city or country.

You can find this idea and 300+ more in the Content Vault.