When we look back at 2009 it will be remembered for a few major issues. Obama, the economic woes and Tiger Woods will dominate. But one of the major themes of the year was the media dominance of instant celebrities and fame seeking wannabes.
Fame puts you there where things are hollow
Fame, it's not your brain, it's just the flame
Fame
That burns your change to keep you insane*
Think about the names – Octomom Nadia Suliyman, Carrie Prejean, Susan Boyle, Jon & Kate Gosselin, The Heene’s /Balloon Boy and lastly the White House crashing Salahi’s among others. The amount of media attention, breaking news, scandal and speculation for these far outweighed their significance. Among this group, only Susan Boyle is a good news story and actually had something positive to contribute to mankind. The others largely were seeking their own affirmation, status or wealth. Sadly, children and families have been hurt or put in tough situations by their parents need for something they lack.
What is about our society that makes this possible? Certainly the proliferation of media outlets and channels has created a vacuum for content – good or bad – that must be fed. The challenging times have made people seek out a change of pace from the bad news on the economy or political front. And unfortunately, the same human nature that won’t allow us to look away from a car wreck is at play here too.
Many of these ’brands’ have employed, knowingly or unknowingly, many marketing disciplines and methodologies in pursuit of their objective – fame and fortune. For the most part, they have focused on the awareness building and demand generation phases, with less thought on sustaining a loyal customer base. (In most cases, they get professional help from a lawyer and PR rep to help them commercialize on their success)
So as marketers, I believe that there are some very valid lessons to learn:
2. Be certain that you truly have something to offer- a solid product, service or content is imperative for long term success.
3. The old axiom, “There is no such thing as bad publicity” doesn’t hold any longer.
4. Twitter and other social media enable you to lose control of your message very easily and quickly. Word of mouth is still the most powerful marketing force, regardless of how it is delivered.
5. Customer trial can be easy to obtain (promotion, discounting, etc.) but repeat purchase is where the real money is.
As I always advocate, all marketing activities require an objective, strategy plan and measurement system. Even if your goal is just to be on TV…
* Lyrics are from “Fame” written by John Winston Lennon, David Bowie and Carlos Alomar
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