Wow, what an exciting time it's been down here in LA this past week. I try to get down here at least once a month and even started to think about getting a second home here I like it so much. Attending the Hollywood Chamber's Annual Entertainment Luncheon yesterday only confirmed that my time here would be well served.
For awhile now, I've been touting that marketing today is all about entertainment value. It's in the hands of the consumer and if it's not fun to interact with a product, Americans just keep on surfing. We live in what I call the world of the '4 second blitz'. This means simply that if your message is not able to be absorbed within 4 seconds, you probably don't have a sale.
The world of new media marketing has made this rule even more biblical. Companies that are recognizing that their products or services are going to gain leverage in the market place when they step outside their box and design opportunities for the consumer to interact are going to blast their competition while they sleep. What does this mean for Hollywood and all the glamorous people? It's a beautiful marriage and Hollywood is starting to recognize that entertainment value comes in many shapes and forms. A town like this not only knows how to capture that value, it knows how to sell it and sell it hard. You see, consumers don't just want to watch a celebrity on the screen anymore, they want to interact with him. Celebs with entertainment agents that are also thinking outside the box on this level will offer their clients some major value over this next decade.
Here's an example. Imagine one of these little Hollywood hotties endorsing a new camera. I believe Ashton did a run with Nikon recently. Now, traditionally, a camera company like that will hire an ad agency, develop some ads with a featured celeb and blast it all over the place for a period of time. The world will see it, hear it and sure, some brand positioning takes place. Consumer retention value? Ummm, whatever comes to mind about those commercials and that product when the consumer is in the market I guess. Weak positioning in today's predictable world of social marketing. Just my opinion but I don't remember the last time I was wrong about a marketing trend.
Now, what about if Nikon would have put word out last Halloween that Ashton's going to be on Twitpic judging the best doggie costume and tweeting his favs at 5PM that Halloween eve? Here's where the real magic happens: What if throughout his tweets, he sharing about his new camera, asking his audience if they're using Nikon's new CoolPix too? What if he randomly tweets how it a cool feature it has and asks the audience to post pictures of their dogs using that setting on their Nikon CoolPix if they have one. Think a few million Gen Y folks will be all about it? Oh and how about that product envy from all the folks that aren't using a Nikon CoolPix in that moment? How much value is in their emotional loss of significance...thinking they're all "loosing points with Ashton." Talk about the power of branding in that 4 second blitz of one tweet.
That's just scratching the surface and so off the top of my head while I'm having a soy latte this afternoon. Oh, what about the whole underground world of online scavenger hunts and Geocaching?!! Tie in a few celebs into that world and you've got a product frenzy waiting to happen.
Bottom line is that it's just too easy folks. The new world of social media is the most powerful marketing that has ever existed. It's cheap compared to other forms of marketing/advertising and with a little creativity, it can catapult any unknown product/service to the head of the line overnight.
Cheers.
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