Marketing Pop Culture

Analog to Digital to Connected

Reaching, originally uploaded by Uh … Bob.

 

Technology will have a huge impact. . .There is really a transition that is not only analog to digital, but digital to connected.

--J Allard, Microsoft

No matter what you think about Microsoft’s entry into the portable digital music player arena you have to admit that they’re onto something. The most exciting feature of the new Zune player is its WiFi capability, which has lots of potential for viral exploitation—both the good (really effective viral campaigns) and bad (real viruses ) kind.

Marketers should begin to give some serious thought to what it will mean when we’re “always on” and connected in a way that enables file sharing. When it’s as simple as pressing a few buttons on a portable digital device, when you will be able to share files with complete strangers as Microsoft suggests, where will the bar be in terms of creative that prompts consumers to take that action? Perhaps an even higher premium will be put on having “the big idea.” That’s okay, since I believe viral done well will fulfill this need.

Other questions:

• Will music take on greater importance as a brand platform, since it's a reasonable assumption that consumers may be more likely to share music than other forms of content? 
• Could it be that music sharing trains/conditions consumers to the ease of sharing content, something that didn't really happen via mobile phones?

See the New York Times article from which this was drawn via this link.

Shout-outs: Right back atcha!

When it comes to this blogging and social media phenomenon, it’s really about being part of the conversation.  What’s great is when the bloggers you read begin giving you shout-outs.  It says that they find your content useful, engaging, maybe even compelling. 

All of which is to say that I’m very appreciative of the nods I’ve gotten recently.  These are some fine blogs and are examples of some of the great spots for marketing conversations in the blogosphere.

• Edelman’s Steve Rubel has been interested in how social media transforms marketing, media and public relations.  He gave Marketing Pop Culture a shout out via his link roll last Thursday, June 15.
• Clyde Smith covers the business of hip hop at ProHipHop.com.  He was kind enough to check me out after I commented on one of his posts. 
• Joseph Jaffe included me in his podcast.  After seeing his presentation at last week’s Association of National Advertisers conference, he encouraged audience members to leave comments on his comment line.  So I did just that and asked him to explain his assertion that consumers were not, in fact, empowered.  Check out my full question and his response here, which comes around 5 minutes into the podcast. Apparently, I was the only one in the audience who called.  A nice reward for doing so is that I get a copy of his book.  Joseph, I’ll ping you tomorrow. 

Thanks, guys.  And now back to the conversation!

Tags: social media, marketing blogs, Steve Rubel, MicroPersuasion, hip hop blogs, prohiphop.com, Joseph Jaffe, jaffe juice, marketing podcasts

"I want to be the one who's in. . .control"

Like Janet Jackson proclaiming her independence 20 years ago, brand marketers are seemingly shaking off the talent agencies and branded entertainment specialists who’ve cropped up to guide them through Hollywood over the last few years. Advertising Age (subscription required) released the results of a survey on branded entertainment it conducted among senior-level executives from blue chip companies.

Preview: The 2006 STAR POWER Conference

Time to toot my association’s horn a bit.

For the last 15 years, the Promotion Marketing Association has presented an entertainment marketing conference called STAR POWER, and it remains the only association event of its kind put on by and for marketers. As the guy responsible for the association’s content, I’d love to take all the credit for the great speakers that have been secured. But I can’t. We’ve got a sharp planning committee and two focused co-chairs, all of whom have been invaluable.

Some highlights, you ask? Here goes:

• We’ve just announced keynotes by Phil Quartararo and Rich Bilotti. Phil is the president of EMI Music Marketing and EVP of EMI Music North America. I’m looking forward to hearing him talk about how the music industry is positioning itself for growth, given the challenges it’s facing in terms of the digital landscape. Rich is a managing director at Morgan Stanley, and is an opinion-leader when it’s time for the financial community to weigh-in on the business of entertainment. We’re all expecting a highly charged “state of the industry” presentation.

Yes, there’s much more. You could read on or simply click here to the conference site.

ANA Study: Branded entertainment is overpriced. Duh!

About a week ago, the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) released the results of a survey that found that 79% of the companies surveyed felt that they were overpaying for branded entertainment.

Want to know why?  Because the majority of them are in TV, which is notoriously expensive.  After TV, the top areas for branded entertainment efforts were in ”magazines, movies, video games and Internet endeavors.”

TV will remain an expensive proposition until Madison (the advertising business) and Vine (the content business) figure out both a new economic model and a way to work together effectively.

Of course, the effect of this expense will be felt most, I think, on the agency side.  I know of at least one major media shop where a full 50% of their client roster is avoiding branded entertainment, due in large part to the fact that the shop’s expertise is in TV.  If they beefed up their capabilities in music, for example, they’d be able to offer an entertainment play that comes at a substantially lower price tag.  This seems to be a smarter way to put dollars on the agency’s bottom line.

The press release from the ANA is here.

Ad Age’s coverage is here.

A Few Questions for Scott Donaton, or Can you tell me how to get to Madison & Vine?

As exciting as I think it is, branded entertainment is still very much the “wild west” of marketing. It’s chock full of various approaches, various levels of strategic thinking and lots of snake-oil salesmen who claim to have a cure for what’s ailing many a brand marketer and his or her brand. 

So it was with great anticipation that I read Scott Donaton’s Madison & Vine: Why the Entertainment and Advertising Industries Must Converge to Survive (McGraw-Hill, 2004). Donaton, the editor of Advertising Age, has had one of the best seats in this new “house” of collaborations between these two pop culture-transforming industries. Madison & Vine is a fascinating and thoughtful exploration of the convergence of content (Holllywood) and commerce (the advertising industry and, hence, brand marketers). The book traces the history of this sometimes-uneasy collaboration, the market forces that makes such efforts necessary, examples of poor executions, as well as a look at some of the more colorful players in this every-changing space. And in an area where the rules are rewritten daily, Donaton offers some sensible guidelines for brand marketers who are giving serious consideration to committing time and marketing dollars to this new frontier.

Via e-mail, Donaton shared some additional thoughts on this ever-evolving space:

What segment of the content industry (music, film, TV, videogames, etc.) seems to be best responding to the pressure to reinvent itself?

I'd have to say the music industry, after several years of hand-wringing over illicit downloads and sliding CD sales, has gotten very proactive about dealing with its long-term issues. The answer isn't to sue your customers, even if that did have some effect. The answer is to explore new methods of distribution and marketing, and to forge alliances that help you to do that. Whether it's through deals with Apple, the film studios, burger chains, car companies or videogame creators, music labels are now aggressively doing just that.