We Are: The Guard Records
Tommi Aura Content Strategy & Capture
During my time with We Are: The Guard Records, I spearheaded a social media campaign for emerging artist Tommi Aura focused on building brand awareness and establishing a recognizable identity as an LGBTQIA+ artist and mental health advocate. By closely reviewing live performance footage, I identified authentic mid show moments and translated them into audience insights that informed strategic campaign messaging. These moments became opportunities to develop content that aligned with our broader positioning of Tommi as a recognizable voice within the queer and mental health communities, while remaining authentic to her identity as an artist. Below are examples of how I transformed mid show moments into campaign messaging to consistently reinforce Tommi’s brand identity, values, and connection with her community.
Insight: Leaning into wardrobe malfunction and reclaiming it as part of Blush song promo and "wild side" personality acts as a great vehicle for artist/song exposure and a potentially viral moment.
Potential campaign aligned messaging:
"I wrote a song called blush... apparently the universe wanted some extra promo"
"Me: Performing Blush. Universe: Let's make it method acting."
"Screaming pride with my full chest... literally"
"Came to pride with nothing to hide... mission accomplished"
"Only at Pride would it be on brand to have a nip slip ..." This was chosen as it was projected to get the most views because it instantly calls out the nip slip (shock value) with Blush playing as audio. Less telling, more showing with the subtle link of the song.
During one performance, Tommi invited a woman from the audience on stage and crowned her, only to learn that the show coincided with her one month anniversary of transitioning. The fan’s raw emotional reaction created a powerful, unscripted moment that authentically reflected the values at the center of Tommi’s brand. Recognizing its significance, we transformed the moment into short form social content that reinforced Tommi’s genuine connection to and advocacy for the LGBTQIA+ community. The video became a particularly strong performer in terms of views, demonstrating how authentic moments could translate into compelling content while strengthening Tommi’s positioning as both a queer artist and advocate.
To further position Tommi as an artist authentically connected to the LGBTQIA+ community, we leveraged candid crowd interactions that captured the humor, language, and shared cultural references of her queer audience. We highlighted funny phrases and unexpected comments shouted by fans during her performance, using on screen captions to translate the chaos of the crowd into a relatable, culturally specific piece of content. The strategy was to make Tommi’s audience part of the storytelling, showcasing the sense of humor and community that naturally existed at her shows rather than manufacturing messaging around her identity. By highlighting moments that queer audiences could recognize themselves in and share with others, the content reinforced Tommi’s positioning as an artist who understands, participates in, and creates space for queer culture. This helped extend the campaign messaging beyond simply stating what Tommi represents by allowing her community and the environment surrounding her shows to demonstrate it organically.
As part of the broader strategy to position Tommi as a recognizable voice within the LGBTQIA+ community, I identified the Slayyyter dance trend as an opportunity to place her within a cultural conversation already resonating with queer audiences. Given Slayyyter’s strong presence within queer pop culture and the overlap between her audience and the community we wanted Tommi to reach, participating in the trend allowed us to tap into an existing cultural moment while remaining aligned with Tommi’s developing brand identity. Rather than engaging with the trend solely for visibility, we used it as a strategic touchpoint to reinforce Tommi’s positioning as an emerging queer artist and introduce her personality to audiences within that space.