In the immortal words of David Lee Roth: "Here's to your thin red line, ooooooh I'm steppin' over."
Hello reader. For a few years now I've been proclaiming the music industry to be a "level playing field" where the "great" songwriters will reign supreme. I realize I am not the only one with this sentiment. See, the internet has changed EVERYTHING --as most of us know or are quickly discovering. Big mean record labels used to be able to "tell" us what to like and force feed us their music via mainstream radio and every other form of marketing. No longer. Major labels and even Independent labels employ many of the same resources that are currently at our fingertips...just waiting to be discovered and touched by us. Now, we consumers know that we can find the music we like and easily "own" it via hundreds of online options. No longer does a band or artist need to sign any fucking sort of deal to expose their art and potentially make a living from it. If the band/artist has "the goods" (quality content, if you will) then we consumers can, and maybe will, find them. The overall entertainment industry is following suit...but this post is not about the music industry. Rather, it's about how we're crossing the "thin red line" in many other capacities in our country, and in our world. Meaning, we not only realize that we can take action, we are.
Even governments and Corporate America are not safe.
For example, President Obama set records for his campaign donations --largely credited to his consistent and widespread activity levels within his massive Social Media network, combined with this country's very real desire for change. See, they can't tell us who to vote for on TV or the newspaper anymore. WE can educate ourselves very easily. We can acquire information easily. We can further research the validity of the information quickly. We can make decisions for ourselves based on the information we've easily acquired. Major news networks --which we as citizens used to rely on for information of what is going on in the world, our country, our state and our cities/towns-- are fading fast and finding it difficult to control the "people", or the "99%", if you will. Now, ANYONE can spread an idea. ANYONE can sell music. ANYONE can start a war. Just have a message. Find like-minded people. Spread your message to them. Reap results.
In the immortal words of Seth Godin (from his blog post on Seth's Blog: "The Extraordinary revolution of media choice". If you don't know who Seth Godin is then you are just missing the boat. He's awesome!)...anyway, here's the excerpt:
"In the traditional model, you can only play one program at a time. One radio show or one movie or one show...Scarcity of spectrum has changed just about every element of our culture...BUT! And it's a big but...In a world where everything is a click away, and in a world where everyone can have their own YouTube channel, ten blogs and a thousand email accounts...the only thing that's scarce is attention.
Shelf space is worthless now. Why worry about making a particular hour of radio all encompassing and wildly popular when you are welcome to broadcast a hundred hours--and people can listen whenever they like...The idea that someone can program our consumption is becoming obsolete, and fast. The front page of the paper disappears in a digital world, where there is no front page--merely the page I got to by clicking on a link from a friend. The tenth minute of a sitcom isn't necessarily the part that comes after the ninth minute, and in fact, I might never even get to minute nine.
Fifty years ago, the remote control freaked out TV executives. Today, the exception is the linear consumer, the rare bird that sits from the beginning to the end. Weird is in, mass is fading. In a world of surfers, all you can do is work to make the best wave you can. The real revolution is that you get to make waves, not just ride them."
Nasty! Truth!
In our current times, the "99%" anywhere and everywhere has the ability to make informed choices, spread information, easily communicate ideas and information, organize like-minded people in support of their ideas, and "make waves". Buckle up!!!
Today, the news media is all over the protesting in Syria. I won't elaborate on it as you can easily inform yourself on it. My point is, the "99%" is communicating their message to one another and forcing change. No longer can the "elite" in Syria control the "99%" with fear, imprisonment, murder, torture and propaganda. They, the "99%", just come back in droves even after military force is used to stop the protesting. Even Syrian military personnel are defecting to join the protests now!
The media is also all over the "Occupy Wall Street, National Day Of Action" today. I'm really not interested in dissecting this but it REALLY validates my point about steppin' over the thin red line. Take this excerpt from Occupywallst.org for an example:
"Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. We are using the revolutionary Arab Spring tactic to achieve our ends and encourage the use of nonviolence to maximize the safety of all participants.
This #ows movement empowers real people to create real change from the bottom up. We want to see a general assembly in every backyard, on every street corner because we don't need Wall Street and we don't need politicians to build a better society.
The only solution is World Revolution"
So reader, if you're making music, writing a book, starting a revolution, a cult or running for office, go ahead and feel good about your chances! If you've got the quality content (i.e. "The Goods") and you're willing to actually work for it, you WILL be able to get your message heard!
Then, you may just persuade enough people to cross the thin red line and...
~ZFJ
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Letzte Nacht, Im Vergangenen Monat, Im Vergangenen Jahr
So, gestern Abend besuchte ich eine Show.
Haha friendly reader! That is indeed the German language, as you suspected! And, it is yet another ploy to make people click a ZFJ Blog link! See?? At the very least it made you curious? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows German, among many other things?? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows how to use Google searches with the best of em'??
So, last night I went to a Show. Actually, it was Friday night, and it was a hell of a time.
Also, letzten Monat gab es einige Treffen. Or, "Also, last month there were some meetings."
Last month there were some meetings involving concerned citizens about the health of the Western MA local music Scene". The fact that the subject comes up so often --and with so much vigor when it does come up-- tells me that many people in the area do in fact want more quality music, more exciting events to enjoy the music and, most importantly, to be part of something exciting. A loosely knit networking group called "A Scene United" was formed and two(?) meetings have been held so far about how to bring it "back". Shit, looking back there's been a lot of talk about "The Scene" overall in the last year or more. Craigslist (Western Mass) had a two/three week posting string with people from all angles chipping in their gripes, concerns, potential remedies and other opinions about all things "scene"...I've enjoyed a video rant or two on Facebook about the "scene" and I've been part of what seems like countless conversations --from varying perspectives-- about it.....Why, even this very blog had a post about it in the recent past! (see below)
(*Shameless plug for my own blog: In February Blog Archive, "Scene Queens and the 25 Minute Divide." Have a read, if you haven't already.)
(*A respectable plug for a fellow bloggers recent post: demetrioskanavaros.blogspot.com, "A Scene Diluted".)
Beachten Sie, wie ich bin nicht die Bereitstellung von Links?
(You guessed it! That's German for "Notice how I'm not providing links?")
I'll admit, my thoughts about the "scene" --and music in general-- have really evolved over the last year for a variety of reasons. Musically speaking, during the last year, Rob, myself and Rich have been laying low and just writing and recording our new album. We cut away most live shows, promotions and stress of promoting so we could focus on only the music of the album. It feels great....feels real. Without having to cater to the necessities of putting on a live event, it is easy to just "live" with the music you're writing and easier to identify what you have to bring out of yourself to pour into the music. We got detached from the concerns of the "Scene" along the way. But somewhere along the process of just being open, writing and allowing the music evolve the way it naturally does, I unfortunately began to arrive at the realization that I'm eventually going to have to help promote the record when it comes out. The time to "work" is coming.....but we're not quite there yet. Still, between our own music being created and the impending promotion efforts we intend to employ, hearing/reading peoples concerns over "The Scene", myself currently working with an awesome music venue for promotions and getting to know more area bands as a result, my mind was cast into an interesting thought vortex about the topic. Like, what exactly is a "Scene"?
But first, the meetings. The meetings, called "A Scene United", prompted Demetrios' aforementioned post and also caused me to think on things. They were something I thought very little of when I first heard of them although I appreciated the action being taken and the good intentions. Despite the good intentions, they seemed to project a perspective of bringing something "back" --like someone had died or moved far away?? --which I think is the wrong perspective. I didn't see what this type of meeting/group could do to build a music scene but Rich really wanted to check out the meeting to see what was going on, and I got curious to see what was going on as well. Rich, Rob and myself attended the meeting in order to get "informed" and chip in our two cents, if applicable. The meeting was hectic but simple and with good overall intentions. There were some bands represented, a couple venues represented and a recording studio. Various ideas were thrown out wildly on the topic of how to get more people out to original music shows. My contributions at the meeting were simple:
1) Bands should write "better" music --meaning, tune into what their heart is really telling them, go crazy or whatever else. Just get delusional and go "off the deep end" to create and bring forth the "quality" art inside of them. They should form a "Vision" for their music and think bigger than a particular local area. I don't care how much hype and promotion they may have going for them. If a bands music is redundant, overly "been-done", badly performed/recorded and uninspired, people just won't leave the house for it.
*(Explanation of my opinion: No, I am not judging people's music to be of quality or lacking quality. As if I have the right to based on my own opinions, preferences and perspectives??? I am simply relaying what I personally feel about most "original" area bands music and sentiments shared with me by many people who are very relevant to local music in my geographical area. Bands tend to focus on playing in the local area, putting "asses in the seats" and promoting themselves to an extent. The creation of art seems to take back seat to this over time for most area bands and as a result, many people feel that the majority of the local music available right now does not make them want to leave the house. I know, I know...dangerous ground getting into the subject of "quality" with regards to music.)*
But If there is "great" music available in a particular local area (insert your own definition of "great" music, please), and bands are excited to share it, then the particular local area may experience a thriving "Scene" while these bands exist and work. I think that the "particular local area" factor is only of limited importance to the driven, passionate and excited artist who is busy creating "quality" music as their first priority. I also think that this factor is very important to local venues and other local thinking entities, which is very understandable. Or, "Verständlich" if you prefer to read the word "understandable" in the German language.
Aaaand onto my second point I shared at the meeting:
2) After those bands in a particular local area have written open, honest, compelling and "quality" music that they love madly and are just burning to share it with the world, they will still have to bust their asses to promote it. Yep. Meaning, Arbeit ihre Ärsche aus.
Or, "work their asses off", in English. But sadly and truly despite the best intentions, most bands just don't do the work.
(Explanation of opinion #2: This applies only to bands who have music they are hoping to expose to people. So, music is written and loved, excitement for this accomplishment is brimming, shows are booked to perform/expose said music....people are talking.....now there is actual work needing to be done to promote the music and the forthcoming show(s). Most bands could do this well but don't just do much about it. Unfortunately not many things can replace hard work when you want results --in anything you're doing. It can be uncomfortable to reach out and spread the word but when you're really excited, it gets easier. So get excited.
All that said, nothing can help an original local music "scene" like really good music from excited, hard-working people in bands.
So, Move forward.
("Vorwärts", in German.)
On Monday at The Elevens, I attended a show featuring Giraffes? Giraffes! ("Giraffen? Giraffen!"), Home Body ("Startseite Körper") and Sylphid ("Sylphide"...I'm pretty surprised that there is a German translation for "Sylphid"!). Lot's of people attended. Lot's of people had fun. The bands went well together, performed thoughtful, well-played sets of music and obviously did some work to promote the show. While each band shared commonalities in that they only have two members, and also rely on heavy doses of electronics and effects to properly perpetuate their deeply textured music, these bands did not come off as redundant from set to set. Rather they demonstrated their unique musical styles with performances that enhanced those unique styles. I enjoyed quality music this night. I got rather drunk. I got a good memory. I was part of a flourishing "scene" on this night.
Also, as I mentioned waaaaaaaay earlier, on Friday I attended another great show, also at The Elevens. The show featured Saint Accident (my guitar player, Rob, is a member of this ensemble), Easthampton Savings Band, Burial At Sea, Sometimes and Jameson Lavo (of Trials and Tribulations). The bands on the show "made sense" together, they all played convincing, moody and engaging sets of music in their differing styles, and you could tell they put work into promoting the show as the club was full from start to finish. It seemed that the show had a feeling of excitement leading up to it and that people were generally buzzing about "music" things on this night. I enjoyed fresh and compelling music. I had many positive conversations. I got really drunk. I once again found myself enjoying being part of the "Scene".
Weird??? The missing "Scene" was present, alive and kicking, captured in small doses on the past Monday and Friday nights!! It seems that a vibrant music "scene" is simply a shared mindset, caused by quality music, excitement and actions taken to share it.
I was also glad to be part of a music scene a few years ago that included bands such as: Swillmerchants (my band/shameless plug), The Room (Demetrios' former band), Under Falling Skies, American Business Machines, Yucky Octopus, GBNE, Hot Black, Danny Pease and the Regulators and many others. A few of these bands are still releasing new music and performing etc... but I mention these bands in particular because we had a blast together. And we made great memories together. We wrote and performed music we were excited about and worked creatively and diligently to put on great live events. We were excited about what we were doing, promoted it, worked together and as a result, many people enjoyed the live events, parties, relationships, conversations, friendly-competitiveness and pleasant memories gained --however "foggy" at times.
A music "scene" always exists but our perceptions of it will always be relative to what we want out of it and what we contribute to it....seems likes a consistent theme is developing here?
In conclusion, finally. I can't really explain why I kept on with the German translations. It started as a ploy to get you to click...really. I can however explain that pointing fingers, blaming, networking groups, negativity, frustration, poor quality music and non-existent promotional efforts will not make a "good" local music "Scene". Not even the writings of world-famous bloggers Demetrios Kanavaros and Zero Fun John could perpetuate this. Quality music, hard work and excited people will make a vibrant local music "scene" and help to satisfy our desires to be part of more favorable memories.
Thankfully, I do feel some positive rumblings on this front as of late...
Und einen Teil der günstigeren Erinnerungen.
"And to be part of more favorable memories."
That's the whole point.
~ZFJ
Haha friendly reader! That is indeed the German language, as you suspected! And, it is yet another ploy to make people click a ZFJ Blog link! See?? At the very least it made you curious? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows German, among many other things?? Maybe you realized that ZFJ knows how to use Google searches with the best of em'??
So, last night I went to a Show. Actually, it was Friday night, and it was a hell of a time.
Also, letzten Monat gab es einige Treffen. Or, "Also, last month there were some meetings."
Last month there were some meetings involving concerned citizens about the health of the Western MA local music Scene". The fact that the subject comes up so often --and with so much vigor when it does come up-- tells me that many people in the area do in fact want more quality music, more exciting events to enjoy the music and, most importantly, to be part of something exciting. A loosely knit networking group called "A Scene United" was formed and two(?) meetings have been held so far about how to bring it "back". Shit, looking back there's been a lot of talk about "The Scene" overall in the last year or more. Craigslist (Western Mass) had a two/three week posting string with people from all angles chipping in their gripes, concerns, potential remedies and other opinions about all things "scene"...I've enjoyed a video rant or two on Facebook about the "scene" and I've been part of what seems like countless conversations --from varying perspectives-- about it.....Why, even this very blog had a post about it in the recent past! (see below)
(*Shameless plug for my own blog: In February Blog Archive, "Scene Queens and the 25 Minute Divide." Have a read, if you haven't already.)
(*A respectable plug for a fellow bloggers recent post: demetrioskanavaros.blogspot.com, "A Scene Diluted".)
Beachten Sie, wie ich bin nicht die Bereitstellung von Links?
(You guessed it! That's German for "Notice how I'm not providing links?")
I'll admit, my thoughts about the "scene" --and music in general-- have really evolved over the last year for a variety of reasons. Musically speaking, during the last year, Rob, myself and Rich have been laying low and just writing and recording our new album. We cut away most live shows, promotions and stress of promoting so we could focus on only the music of the album. It feels great....feels real. Without having to cater to the necessities of putting on a live event, it is easy to just "live" with the music you're writing and easier to identify what you have to bring out of yourself to pour into the music. We got detached from the concerns of the "Scene" along the way. But somewhere along the process of just being open, writing and allowing the music evolve the way it naturally does, I unfortunately began to arrive at the realization that I'm eventually going to have to help promote the record when it comes out. The time to "work" is coming.....but we're not quite there yet. Still, between our own music being created and the impending promotion efforts we intend to employ, hearing/reading peoples concerns over "The Scene", myself currently working with an awesome music venue for promotions and getting to know more area bands as a result, my mind was cast into an interesting thought vortex about the topic. Like, what exactly is a "Scene"?
But first, the meetings. The meetings, called "A Scene United", prompted Demetrios' aforementioned post and also caused me to think on things. They were something I thought very little of when I first heard of them although I appreciated the action being taken and the good intentions. Despite the good intentions, they seemed to project a perspective of bringing something "back" --like someone had died or moved far away?? --which I think is the wrong perspective. I didn't see what this type of meeting/group could do to build a music scene but Rich really wanted to check out the meeting to see what was going on, and I got curious to see what was going on as well. Rich, Rob and myself attended the meeting in order to get "informed" and chip in our two cents, if applicable. The meeting was hectic but simple and with good overall intentions. There were some bands represented, a couple venues represented and a recording studio. Various ideas were thrown out wildly on the topic of how to get more people out to original music shows. My contributions at the meeting were simple:
1) Bands should write "better" music --meaning, tune into what their heart is really telling them, go crazy or whatever else. Just get delusional and go "off the deep end" to create and bring forth the "quality" art inside of them. They should form a "Vision" for their music and think bigger than a particular local area. I don't care how much hype and promotion they may have going for them. If a bands music is redundant, overly "been-done", badly performed/recorded and uninspired, people just won't leave the house for it.
*(Explanation of my opinion: No, I am not judging people's music to be of quality or lacking quality. As if I have the right to based on my own opinions, preferences and perspectives??? I am simply relaying what I personally feel about most "original" area bands music and sentiments shared with me by many people who are very relevant to local music in my geographical area. Bands tend to focus on playing in the local area, putting "asses in the seats" and promoting themselves to an extent. The creation of art seems to take back seat to this over time for most area bands and as a result, many people feel that the majority of the local music available right now does not make them want to leave the house. I know, I know...dangerous ground getting into the subject of "quality" with regards to music.)*
But If there is "great" music available in a particular local area (insert your own definition of "great" music, please), and bands are excited to share it, then the particular local area may experience a thriving "Scene" while these bands exist and work. I think that the "particular local area" factor is only of limited importance to the driven, passionate and excited artist who is busy creating "quality" music as their first priority. I also think that this factor is very important to local venues and other local thinking entities, which is very understandable. Or, "Verständlich" if you prefer to read the word "understandable" in the German language.
Aaaand onto my second point I shared at the meeting:
2) After those bands in a particular local area have written open, honest, compelling and "quality" music that they love madly and are just burning to share it with the world, they will still have to bust their asses to promote it. Yep. Meaning, Arbeit ihre Ärsche aus.
Or, "work their asses off", in English. But sadly and truly despite the best intentions, most bands just don't do the work.
(Explanation of opinion #2: This applies only to bands who have music they are hoping to expose to people. So, music is written and loved, excitement for this accomplishment is brimming, shows are booked to perform/expose said music....people are talking.....now there is actual work needing to be done to promote the music and the forthcoming show(s). Most bands could do this well but don't just do much about it. Unfortunately not many things can replace hard work when you want results --in anything you're doing. It can be uncomfortable to reach out and spread the word but when you're really excited, it gets easier. So get excited.
All that said, nothing can help an original local music "scene" like really good music from excited, hard-working people in bands.
So, Move forward.
("Vorwärts", in German.)
On Monday at The Elevens, I attended a show featuring Giraffes? Giraffes! ("Giraffen? Giraffen!"), Home Body ("Startseite Körper") and Sylphid ("Sylphide"...I'm pretty surprised that there is a German translation for "Sylphid"!). Lot's of people attended. Lot's of people had fun. The bands went well together, performed thoughtful, well-played sets of music and obviously did some work to promote the show. While each band shared commonalities in that they only have two members, and also rely on heavy doses of electronics and effects to properly perpetuate their deeply textured music, these bands did not come off as redundant from set to set. Rather they demonstrated their unique musical styles with performances that enhanced those unique styles. I enjoyed quality music this night. I got rather drunk. I got a good memory. I was part of a flourishing "scene" on this night.
Also, as I mentioned waaaaaaaay earlier, on Friday I attended another great show, also at The Elevens. The show featured Saint Accident (my guitar player, Rob, is a member of this ensemble), Easthampton Savings Band, Burial At Sea, Sometimes and Jameson Lavo (of Trials and Tribulations). The bands on the show "made sense" together, they all played convincing, moody and engaging sets of music in their differing styles, and you could tell they put work into promoting the show as the club was full from start to finish. It seemed that the show had a feeling of excitement leading up to it and that people were generally buzzing about "music" things on this night. I enjoyed fresh and compelling music. I had many positive conversations. I got really drunk. I once again found myself enjoying being part of the "Scene".
Weird??? The missing "Scene" was present, alive and kicking, captured in small doses on the past Monday and Friday nights!! It seems that a vibrant music "scene" is simply a shared mindset, caused by quality music, excitement and actions taken to share it.
I was also glad to be part of a music scene a few years ago that included bands such as: Swillmerchants (my band/shameless plug), The Room (Demetrios' former band), Under Falling Skies, American Business Machines, Yucky Octopus, GBNE, Hot Black, Danny Pease and the Regulators and many others. A few of these bands are still releasing new music and performing etc... but I mention these bands in particular because we had a blast together. And we made great memories together. We wrote and performed music we were excited about and worked creatively and diligently to put on great live events. We were excited about what we were doing, promoted it, worked together and as a result, many people enjoyed the live events, parties, relationships, conversations, friendly-competitiveness and pleasant memories gained --however "foggy" at times.
A music "scene" always exists but our perceptions of it will always be relative to what we want out of it and what we contribute to it....seems likes a consistent theme is developing here?
In conclusion, finally. I can't really explain why I kept on with the German translations. It started as a ploy to get you to click...really. I can however explain that pointing fingers, blaming, networking groups, negativity, frustration, poor quality music and non-existent promotional efforts will not make a "good" local music "Scene". Not even the writings of world-famous bloggers Demetrios Kanavaros and Zero Fun John could perpetuate this. Quality music, hard work and excited people will make a vibrant local music "scene" and help to satisfy our desires to be part of more favorable memories.
Thankfully, I do feel some positive rumblings on this front as of late...
Und einen Teil der günstigeren Erinnerungen.
"And to be part of more favorable memories."
That's the whole point.
~ZFJ
Thursday, November 10, 2011
"These are not the Droids you are looking for"
Hi there, you cutting-edge-brilliant-person-who-decided-to-click-the-link-to-get-to-the-vital-and-possibly-life-changing-information in this here blog post! I hope you are well.
So, just to let you know, I love TV marketing, corporate "tag lines" and/or little slogans and advertising in general. I love to see who their "targets" are depending on what I'm viewing and what time I'm viewing it, and I love the absolute bullshit that most companies spew out to try and get our money. While watching Spongebob Squarepants with my sidekick (my son) a few days ago, a commercial aired for some new toy cars that light up, flip around and who knows what else. My sidekick (son) excitedly points and proclaims, "My want those!". My friend who was here chillin' with us quips, "Imagine that. Very clever how they put a commercial for a kids toy in the middle of programming that kids --and their parents-- may just be watching..." (sarcasm, in case you didn't pick up on that). That's just one fun example of TV marketing right there...well, fun for me anyway.
Ok, ok... I'll start getting to my long-winded point here. I own and operate an iphone. The iphone is one of the best devices I have acquired in my life. It's easy to use, extremely useful for many things --even phone calls. It's streamlined, cool and empowering. The marketing behind the iphone kind of reflects a sort of "I'm-intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-phone", made for and used by "intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-person"...at least that's how I feel when I see their commercials. Seems clear and consistent and I feel like I made the right move getting it. Just saying...
Last night after a mighty Swillmerchants rehearsal, I unwound and lightened up a bit with a viewing of "Saving Private Ryan". At commercial break, a marketing piece came on that threw me for a loop at first. It showed an object flying at high speeds through a city, powerfully and easily slicing through street lights, street signs and other objects throughout the metropolitan area. My first thought was, "Oh shit! Yes! It's an advertisement for yet another big budget movie where a seemingly unstoppable-alien-threat-terrorizes-a-city-and/or-the-world-killing-millions-of-humans-as-we-shrivel-away-in-horror-eventually-demonstrating-our-human-ingenuity- resilience-and-resolve-by-finding-a-way-to-end-the-planet-wide-bloodbath-thus-uniting-the-planet-complete-with-images-and-foreshadowing-of-the-entire-human-race-living-in-harmony-upon- the-realization-that-we-should-work-together-rather-than-battle-each-other-to-make-the-Earth-a great-place-to-live-once-again!!"
Wrong. It was just a commercial for the Droid "Razr" phone. (Note the edgy spelling of "Razr"!)
Anyway, the Droid came out a few years ago (I think) and it was supposed to try and compete for market share with the iphone. Maybe the Droid line of phones is doing this? I don't really give a shit but I do hope you proceed with caution if you intend to purchase a Droid phone. Their marketing seems to suggest that this phone will be able to fly through the air and cut right through metal, bone and concrete. Very cool, if that's what you want your phone to do?? I probed further into the marketing for Droid phones and what I discovered was terrifying to say the least. A particular marketing piece showed a young executive involved in an obviously important board meeting. He spies the Droid phone on the table and decides to pick it up, no doubt thinking that the device can help with his job and/or presentation at the board meeting. Wrong!!! The joke is on him as his hands and arms began to morph into robot arms as he manipulates the device!! Wow, I guess the Droid is capable of turning every day, well-meaning humans into robotic clones??? Okaaay......
Still another marketing piece featured a young man hiding in an alleyway, covertly following a black SUV of interest. The SUV pulls up at a corner convenience store in the city and two important yet tough-looking men urgently exit the vehicle and enter the convenience store. They quickly proceed to the ATM machine and key in a secret code, which opens a secret staircase. The young man is right behind them, unseen, wide-eyed and moving fast to discover what they are doing here. He manages to make it down the secret staircase without detection and continues to trail the two men from a short distance behind. The tough-looking men continue moving through the various uber-high-tech security levels and eventually they make their way into the awaiting and futuristic complex. Inside the complex, the young man stares in awe at massive robots and various machines putting hi-tech stuff into other stuff, huge computer screens showing what resembles a nuclear combustion in progress, and many "top secret" looking people are gathered around coordinating the whole process. He turns around quickly as the steel doors to the entrance of the complex slam shut right behind his back. Undaunted, he regains focus on the overwhelming process unfolding right before his eyes and stares in awestruck horror as a huge, semi-controlled explosion occurs in the center of the complex. The explosion produces: a Droid phone. Fuck. Was I hoping for something "more" from this scenario? Possibly? He seemed happy though.
Shit.
Damn folks. I just want to make a phone call, or text someone, or play Angry Birds (lots of it) and feel like an "intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-person" while doing it. I don't want to slice through metal, bone and concrete. I don't want to develop robot arms and I surely don't want to take my chances enduring a huge explosion in the company of "top-secret" type people just to get a phone. Wow. Could be just my take on it, but I don't think Droids marketing is really appropriate for consumers other than those who have plans to take over the world, overthrow a government, become a robot or generally strike fear into the hearts of all who oppose them.
Wait....maybe I should get one?
Anyway, to finally conclude todays overly-boring post, I'd like to leave you with an example of what I feel is spot-on, easy-to-consume and to-the-point TV marketing. Not surprisingly it's for "Liftmaster" Garage Door Openers. In their marketing piece they explain how their garage door opening systems are awesome and even have battery backup for use in the event of power outages! Their tag line?
"Liftmaster. Get in your garage every time."
Real fucking simple folks. Your garage door will fucking open. Period. Every time --if you buy Liftmaster, of course.
Now that's effective TV marketing if I've ever seen it!
Until later...I surely hope you have an iphone for your phone-ing needs. But if not, and you own a Droid, I hope you're putting it to "good use". If ya know what I mean (hint hint)...
~ZFJ
So, just to let you know, I love TV marketing, corporate "tag lines" and/or little slogans and advertising in general. I love to see who their "targets" are depending on what I'm viewing and what time I'm viewing it, and I love the absolute bullshit that most companies spew out to try and get our money. While watching Spongebob Squarepants with my sidekick (my son) a few days ago, a commercial aired for some new toy cars that light up, flip around and who knows what else. My sidekick (son) excitedly points and proclaims, "My want those!". My friend who was here chillin' with us quips, "Imagine that. Very clever how they put a commercial for a kids toy in the middle of programming that kids --and their parents-- may just be watching..." (sarcasm, in case you didn't pick up on that). That's just one fun example of TV marketing right there...well, fun for me anyway.
Ok, ok... I'll start getting to my long-winded point here. I own and operate an iphone. The iphone is one of the best devices I have acquired in my life. It's easy to use, extremely useful for many things --even phone calls. It's streamlined, cool and empowering. The marketing behind the iphone kind of reflects a sort of "I'm-intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-phone", made for and used by "intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-person"...at least that's how I feel when I see their commercials. Seems clear and consistent and I feel like I made the right move getting it. Just saying...
Last night after a mighty Swillmerchants rehearsal, I unwound and lightened up a bit with a viewing of "Saving Private Ryan". At commercial break, a marketing piece came on that threw me for a loop at first. It showed an object flying at high speeds through a city, powerfully and easily slicing through street lights, street signs and other objects throughout the metropolitan area. My first thought was, "Oh shit! Yes! It's an advertisement for yet another big budget movie where a seemingly unstoppable-alien-threat-terrorizes-a-city-and/or-the-world-killing-millions-of-humans-as-we-shrivel-away-in-horror-eventually-demonstrating-our-human-ingenuity- resilience-and-resolve-by-finding-a-way-to-end-the-planet-wide-bloodbath-thus-uniting-the-planet-complete-with-images-and-foreshadowing-of-the-entire-human-race-living-in-harmony-upon- the-realization-that-we-should-work-together-rather-than-battle-each-other-to-make-the-Earth-a great-place-to-live-once-again!!"
Wrong. It was just a commercial for the Droid "Razr" phone. (Note the edgy spelling of "Razr"!)
Anyway, the Droid came out a few years ago (I think) and it was supposed to try and compete for market share with the iphone. Maybe the Droid line of phones is doing this? I don't really give a shit but I do hope you proceed with caution if you intend to purchase a Droid phone. Their marketing seems to suggest that this phone will be able to fly through the air and cut right through metal, bone and concrete. Very cool, if that's what you want your phone to do?? I probed further into the marketing for Droid phones and what I discovered was terrifying to say the least. A particular marketing piece showed a young executive involved in an obviously important board meeting. He spies the Droid phone on the table and decides to pick it up, no doubt thinking that the device can help with his job and/or presentation at the board meeting. Wrong!!! The joke is on him as his hands and arms began to morph into robot arms as he manipulates the device!! Wow, I guess the Droid is capable of turning every day, well-meaning humans into robotic clones??? Okaaay......
Still another marketing piece featured a young man hiding in an alleyway, covertly following a black SUV of interest. The SUV pulls up at a corner convenience store in the city and two important yet tough-looking men urgently exit the vehicle and enter the convenience store. They quickly proceed to the ATM machine and key in a secret code, which opens a secret staircase. The young man is right behind them, unseen, wide-eyed and moving fast to discover what they are doing here. He manages to make it down the secret staircase without detection and continues to trail the two men from a short distance behind. The tough-looking men continue moving through the various uber-high-tech security levels and eventually they make their way into the awaiting and futuristic complex. Inside the complex, the young man stares in awe at massive robots and various machines putting hi-tech stuff into other stuff, huge computer screens showing what resembles a nuclear combustion in progress, and many "top secret" looking people are gathered around coordinating the whole process. He turns around quickly as the steel doors to the entrance of the complex slam shut right behind his back. Undaunted, he regains focus on the overwhelming process unfolding right before his eyes and stares in awestruck horror as a huge, semi-controlled explosion occurs in the center of the complex. The explosion produces: a Droid phone. Fuck. Was I hoping for something "more" from this scenario? Possibly? He seemed happy though.
Shit.
Damn folks. I just want to make a phone call, or text someone, or play Angry Birds (lots of it) and feel like an "intelligent-casual-streamlined-resourceful-clever-type-of-person" while doing it. I don't want to slice through metal, bone and concrete. I don't want to develop robot arms and I surely don't want to take my chances enduring a huge explosion in the company of "top-secret" type people just to get a phone. Wow. Could be just my take on it, but I don't think Droids marketing is really appropriate for consumers other than those who have plans to take over the world, overthrow a government, become a robot or generally strike fear into the hearts of all who oppose them.
Wait....maybe I should get one?
Anyway, to finally conclude todays overly-boring post, I'd like to leave you with an example of what I feel is spot-on, easy-to-consume and to-the-point TV marketing. Not surprisingly it's for "Liftmaster" Garage Door Openers. In their marketing piece they explain how their garage door opening systems are awesome and even have battery backup for use in the event of power outages! Their tag line?
"Liftmaster. Get in your garage every time."
Real fucking simple folks. Your garage door will fucking open. Period. Every time --if you buy Liftmaster, of course.
Now that's effective TV marketing if I've ever seen it!
Until later...I surely hope you have an iphone for your phone-ing needs. But if not, and you own a Droid, I hope you're putting it to "good use". If ya know what I mean (hint hint)...
~ZFJ
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