Drake's 100 Gigs is a Masterclass in Content Marketing

A few weeks ago, Drake mysteriously posted a link to a finsta account with the username @plottttwistttttt.

Fans discovered upon visiting the finsta a series of videos dating back months ago, with a header that said “100 Gigs for Yo Headtop” along with a link to a website 100gigs.org

Upon clicking on the link, fans were taken to a site where they immediately saw folders on folders containing a treasure trove of unreleased Drake footage, along with a folder entitled “New” which contain 3 new songs.

Since then, Drake has uploaded 3 new songs to 100gigs.org, adding to the 100 gigs of content he’s put out.

When combined with the video footage he’s released, Drake has effectively been able to shift the narrative back in favor following (round 1) of his battle with Kendrick Lamar.

If you’ve seen how social media is reacting to the footage, if nothing else it should prove that Drake’s most recent move is a masterclass in content marketing.

There’s a ton to learn from what he’s doing, whether you’re a marketer, creative, or anything in between.

Here are a few things I think you should consider when looking at Drake’s most recent effort.

I. Nostalgia & Newstalgia

100 gigs wasn’t just random footage from the past year or so. It was also footage of Drake working on projects like Take Care, and Views — these sessions are effectively 10 years old, but they were received with great reception.

Why?

Well, there’s a few reasons.

Consider the massive audience that Drake has amassed over the years — it can almost be split into two generations: Millennial fans & Gen Z fans.

For Drake’s Millennial audience, the 100 Gigs of content is a callback to their youth and the songs that defined their childhood.

It triggers the nostalgia they feel for the the time they spent in high school/college listening to Take Care. When Marvin’s Room guided them through a breakup, or when they were running through 6 with their woes.

You know how that shit goes.

It was a time when Drake was the undisputed king of Hip-hop, and the bops just kept dropping. The feature run was insane. It was a moment in time.

For Drake’s Gen Z audience, this footage is a classic dose of newstalgia.

This is a generation of Gen Z’ers who might’ve only been kids when Drake’s most classic material dropped. The only version of Drake they know is Her Loss/For All The Dogs Drake. They might’ve heard about the impact of his most classic albums but without being around for it, they can’t fully understand how important it was.

They may be too young to know how massive of a song Hotline Bling was, but now they can see exactly how it came to life (peep below, for reference).

100 Gigs gives them a glimpse into a time they were too early for, in a way that’s compatible with how they consume content: immediate, and with an overwhelming amount to consume — perfect to keep one's attention for weeks to come; even if your attention span is short.

It mixes the new Drake that they love, with the old Drake that they only heard about from Millennials.

II. “Old” Content is Still Good Content

Let’s be blunt: creators get in their heads about releasing content because of fear.

Fear of looking wack.

Fear of the pushback.

Fear. Fear. Fear.

In cases like 100 gigs, the average artist probably won’t ever put out that much content because they’re afraid of referencing their past, thinking it might muddle their future.

References to their old days might make it look like they haven’t grown, or worse, it’ll remind the audience that they’ve strayed too far from their past glory.

Believe it or not, brands are the same way.

They have archival footage they don’t touch, old taglines they won’t use again, and callbacks that their audiences practically have to beg them to acknowledge… Yet they won’t do it.

The stakes may seem different, but when you consider what the average brand faces vs. what Drake’s brand faced this year, 100 Gigs proves false any notion that reaching for the old is a bad move.

Immediately, when these “old” clips hit the timeline creative minds felt inspired. Even more so, fans who just assumed that Drake was a Milli-Vanilli-like artist who recites words given to him saw the countless hours he spent working on his craft.

And just like that, another damaging claim to his career was suddenly extinguished. Yea, he’s worked with writers before. But CLEARLY, he’s capable of writing for himself as he chooses.

III. Shortform > Longform Content

Rates of consumption are so high and so fast that even the newest long-form documentaries or projects from superstars have a staying power of a week or two at best.

The genius of 100 Gigs is that the trove of content consists of so many short-form pieces that it can extend the staying power of the project.

Consider this…

If 100 Gigs had been a 2hr documentary of assorted Drake moments hosted on a single platform, then at best you’d get 10 min clips floating around YouTube that are subject to copyright strikes and ultimately not that effective.

However…

By putting out 100 gigabytes of video out in the form of bite-sized 1-minute clips fans can add multiple moments to their phones, upload them across platforms, and do all of it with ease. Not having to leave X or TikTok to share it or consume it (and the recent songs) has kept the superstar top of mind in multitude of ways.

IV. Catalog is King

Last but not least, when it comes to content marketing it helps to have an expansive library of content to choose from when promoting your brand.

One lesson that you’ll hear from seasoned creators and musicians like Russ (who we’ll talk about in-depth at another time) is that it's important to have a catalog.

The reason?

It goes back to the last point about consumption habits.

When someone finally decides that they want to engage with your work, what are they gonna see?

If you only have a few pieces of content out there it might not be enough to push them down the funnel of becoming a fan — you’ve effectively missed your shot with the consumer (at least for the foreseeable future)

Another byproduct of 100 gigs is that there’s so much content to consume, and appearing on the timeline so frequently that even those who aren’t fans of Drake are being exposed enough to where they might consider checking out a song or album for the first time.

The same logic applies to indy creators and brands too.

In marketing (specifically in comms), we generally spend time considering the first touchpoint the consumer experiences on their journey, and how our work can create awareness or push the consumer down the funnel.

For marketers, content is a: 30 or :60. It’s a digital activation possibly paired with a QR code or a giveaway designed to capture data and begin a relationship with consumers.

For Drake, it’s been a mixture of all of these things. And I’d venture to say, that if it’s working for him it might be worth brands taking note of.

WHAT NOW?

Only time will tell how 100 Gigs ages. But with so much of the content still needing to be combed through, fans are still finding new moments to analyze — from early versions of iconic songs to scrapped collabs, and even chance meetings between Drake and his former collaborators.

He just released another 3 pack last week that has the internet buzzing, and there are rumors that more is to come.

In the meantime, if you’re a creator looking for inspiration, check out some of the clips. You’ll see just how much work goes into the craft. Just how much work goes into Hip-hop.

One.