by George Howard
When TuneCore first began, we called George: few people understand the music business as deeply. George Howard is a professor of management at Loyola University, New Orleans. He is the former president of Rykodisc, and founder of Slow River Records. He is the senior editor for Artists House Music, and a board member and advisor for a number of companies including Wolfgang's Vault and Daytrotter. He has written two books on the music business for Berklee Media. Check out his personal blog at www.9giantsteps.com.
Marketing today is a straddle between the online world and
the offline world. Only those who do the straddle right will survive. Err too
far online, you fail. Too far offline, you fail. What I think justifies this
post’s existence is that no one (that I’m aware of) is really (yet) talking
about the straddle.
Doesn’t mean people aren’t doing it.
For instance, I’ve written and blogged frequently about how
artists like REM are leveraging the tech by using wonderfully articulated
social media marketing strategies to allow their constituents to engage in
participatory marketing. However, I didn’t emphasize enough in these posts that
it was the straddle that really allows REM to leverage the tech. That is, it’s
their interplay between their offline world (touring) and their online world
that allows them to be successful.
Similarly, another person I’ve written about frequently who
is doing the straddle well is Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk. Certainly his
use of tech is about as good as it gets, but what makes it work is his
commitment to offline activities (wine tastings, appearances, etc.). It is wine
that he’s talking about, for goodness sakes; you sort of have to have an
offline presence.
Another example: I believe that the reason Facebook is just
crushing MySpace (random sample of the hundred or so students I teach: Q. How
many use Myspace? A: None; Q. How many use Facebook? A: All) is because
Facebook helps them do the straddle (sounds like a dance); while MySpace is a
closed online only experience.
Think about it: Facebook works because it allows you to
enhance and augment your offline experiences. You post photos of things you do
with your friends; you write on each others’ walls regarding offline
experiences.
MySpace is more of (and I use this word in the loosest
possible manner) a portfolio (or, what I really believe it’s become, for bands
at least: a demo). MySpace has nothing to do with your offline life; it’s only
related to your online life, and, thus, falls short.
Musicians and others too often feel that the new tech allows
them to forgo what is really important: building real connections via playing
live. I.e. they emphasize the online and forget about the offline. It makes
sense. These online tools are so easy, and they give the illusion of progress
and (sometimes) accomplishment. However, this indeed is illusory. Without
leveraging whatever you, perhaps, built online in order to grow your offline
presence (and vice versa), you will fail.
This holds true across the board. Businesses, authors…whomever…must
do the straddle. If you’re a real estate agent, why would you not be tweeting
up a storm, Facebook-ing up a storm, blogging up a storm, so that when you have
an open-house for one of your listings you can connect with your online
constituency in an offline manner. If you’re a restaurant who isn’t tweeting
out your specials (and I don’t know ONE restaurant who is), and even perhaps
creating events/menus for your online peeps so that you can then have the
offline experience with them, it seems to me you’re missing something.
How are you doing The Straddle? Let us know in comments.
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