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Originally Posted by ayumixfan
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I do see where you're coming from.
It's really subjective, this issue of whether or not NEXT LEVEL received enough promotion and whether or not this has significantly impacted Ayu's sales. Would NEXT LEVEL's sales have been 200k higher or something if she DID get that Shibuya 109 expensive billboard ad spot? Would it have sold much much better if Ayu did an addition of 10 performances of the songs on NEXT LEVEL? We can't test it out or anything so I don't suppose we can find out, since there are so many other non-promotional factors that can affect sales. I don't think we can isolate promotion as the only reason why NEXT LEVEL has sold less than her other albums. (For example, Ayu's albums are usually released around Christmas and December is... kind of a shopping season I suppose.)
Maybe Avex DID change around their marketing tactics for Ayu. Maybe they decided not to spam Ayu's TV performances and public billboard ads like they usually do (Ayu has often had that Shibuya 109 ad spot a week or so before her new releases! As far as I remember that has often been the case.) After all, that's expensive, right? So maybe you're right. Maybe they thought using the tour to promote NEXT LEVEL was the better option because it saves the money that should have been spent on billboards, and also kills 2 birds with 1 stone.
Overall, I don't agree that NEXT LEVEL's promotion has been good per se, but I don't exactly think it's been *bad* either. I think it could have been
muchbetter, given she had more time to go around to actually perform. The factor that had prevented further promotion by Ayu via more performances had been her busy schedule rehearsing for tours... also, Ayu doesn't strain herself as much as she used to anymore. She's bound to go at her own pace more. Then there's the budget factor. I think Ayu's budget that Avex spends on her promotion and marketing has shrunk or something... It seems to me that avex is spending more energy and money promoting newer artists rather than making Ayu release 3-5 singles a year like she used to. She's down to 2 a year now.
So despite having more tour dates, I feel like avex has slackened their grip on Ayu in the recent years. Ayu used to do loads of tours and release loads of singles at the same time as well has have her own tv show, and then loads of other magazines appearances and ads and bits and bobs everywhere. She was a
constant presence. I don't feel like she needed to do all her promotion right before her releases. She's always somewhere. It's a lot less like that now. I think that's why a lot of people here feel like Ayu's promotion for NEXT LEVEL isn't on par to what her promotion used to be.
Yes she's Ayu and yes she's always had more extravagant and spammy promotion than this more conservative promotion she has received... I wish to see more of her performances and public appearances, as well as billboard spam, but that can't be helped if avex doesn't think it's suitable. Maybe the profit that Ayu makes is higher when they promote her less. Ads are expensive after all.