JacoBlog - Jacobs Media's Blog

Why "Guitar Hero" Matters

It's just a game, right?  No, Guitar Hero and Rock Band are more than just games.  They capture the fantasy aspect of Rock music that we all have inside us.  From the very first dude who ever played the "air guitar," Rock music lovers have always pretended to be Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page - just as baseball fans mimicked the batting styles of Mantle, Aaron, and Big Papi.

And that's where Guitar Hero and Rock Band have filled the void.  In our newest Tech Poll, we found that nearly half of those who play video games have played either of these Rock-based games.  It's a big number, and it transcends age and gender.

But here's the kicker: Of those who have played either or both Guitar Hero or Rock Band, three in ten say they've purchased music that was featured in the games.  That's an incredible stat that says a lot about the role that "new media" plays in music sales, and about the power and influence of these participation games.

American Idol and Activision (the creators of Guitar Hero) pulled off a cool "product placement stunt" by producing a commercial that features their two finalists (the "two Davids") playing a Guitar Hero guitar in a parody spot of the Tom Cruise scene from Risky Business.  The tag line - "Unleash Your Inner Rock Star" - perfectly nails the emotion that these games bring to living rooms all over America.

These games are powerful - not just in their ability to capture the Rock 'n' Roll vibe - but also in their proven capacity to sell music.  And because they celebrate Rock music (at a time when the musical winds are often blowing the other way), we should embrace Guitar Hero and Rock Band as brand extensions that are contributing to fanning the flames of music passion.

What People Are About - Top 10 Trends For '07

Jacobs Media's Keith Cunningham talks about the biggest entertainment trends of 2007, and what they might mean for '08.

In a televised special last year, Saturday Night Live's Lorne Michaels said, “If you’re not about what people are thinking about that week, then I think you don’t have any relevance.”  Our friends at Nielsen recently released their year-end look at the top trends in the U.S., I thought I’d highlight a few to illustrate what Americans were about last year, while giving us clues to ’08 trends.  And not surprisingly, Nielsen’s findings back much of what we’ve seen in the annual Jacobs Media Tech Surveys:

VIDEO GAMES: Gamers continue to supply some incredible TSP (time-spent-playing). World of Warcraft, the most popular online game, has a mind blowing average TSP of nearly 17 hours per-week. (That’s a TSL that radio stations would kill for.) And retail darlings like Halo and Madden still look more than addictive with about 7 hours of TSP per-week, on average.

If this isn’t a reminder of the incredible pressure Radio is under to create unique and compelling content, I don’t know what is. As we all know, it’s not just TV, the Internet, or digital music that’s cutting into Radio’s usage time. Video games, in many cases, are earning more weekly attention from their consumers than Radio.

And in the interest of combating the war for usage time, you have to ask whether voicetracking and “re-expressing” assets (i.e., gutting the hallways) are really Radio’s solution to creating more compelling content so that usage time and cost-per-point will increase. Electronic Arts, Activision, and other gaming companies aren’t cutting back on content creation. Research and “programming” development are the fuel that drives their business.

ONLINE: Google and Yahoo! have a wide lead in the number of unique visitors per-month, with about 110 million each. How’s that for reach? And if you run radio stations in Austin, San Francisco, Portland or Seattle, and you’re not blogging or giving listeners the opportunity to post online or participate with programming, think again. Those cities lead the pack with adults who read or participate with blogs. While the numbers aren’t astronomical – around 15% - is there any reason to think they won’t increase quarterly in most markets around the country? This small little stat is merely the tip of a much larger “customization” iceberg. “Power to the people” is not just a cliché; it should be Radio’s mantra for the foreseeable future.

MOVIES/TV: It’s no surprise that Spider-Man 3 and Shrek were the biggest movies of the year, and that American Idol and the Super Bowl topped TV trends, but did you know that Lost and Heroes were the top “time-shifted” primetime shows? Not unlike Radio’s revenue pressures, TV execs are under the gun, as time-shifting means eyeballs on TV advertisements will continue to diminish.

Time-shifting is here to stay and it represents a severe revenue problem that’s only going to become more poignant for television. We saw this up close and personal in our trend finding – Control, Variety, Choice – in “The Bedroom Project.” Is product placement and downloadable content the solution? Some think so. Interestingly enough, American Idol, Fast Cars & Superstars, and Extreme Makeover Home Edition top Nielsen’s list for Television Product Placement Occurrences.

MUSIC: The most interesting finding for music stations is that with little airplay (aside from Radio Disney, of course), High School Musical 2 topped the Top 10 albums list. Think about that for a minute and let it sink in. And remember that Gen Y drives those sales, a demo Radio has all but abandoned.

Those who think there isn’t money in Gen Y are clearly not paying close-enough attention or willing to make the commitment to go after these dollars. All of us at Jacobs Media are still waiting for, and willing to help a company develop programming strategies for Gen Y. The younger demos are literally Radio’s future, and yet PPM’s 6+ ratings are thought to be too fringe to be useful. A medium that used to appeal to everyone is limiting its own potential.

There is some good news for Rock, however, as Daughtry and Linkin Park come in at #2 and #3 on Nielsen’s list. And The Eagles and Nickelback had themselves a great year as well, ranking 6th and 8th, respectively.

If you’re a marketer, programmer, in sales, or an on-air talent or producer, Nielsen’s findings should be of interest to you. It’s like having the keys to the “House of Mass Appeal.” There’s a lot more data included in the full report – click here if you’d like to download a copy. Kudos to Nielsen for making it publicly available.

If you like this type of stuff and want to know more about what your audience is up to in 2008, we hope you’ll join us for Jacobs Media Tech Survey IV. It will uncover some important, new, actionable data for 2008. If you haven’t already RSVP’d, contact Lisa Riker at lisariker@jacobsmedia.com.

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree

Today's blog was guest written by L.A. consultant and fashion guru Dave Beasing.

It’s often said that new trends start on the coasts and move inland.  If so, you’ll be interested to know that holiday shopping here in LA has taken on a decidedly Rock 'N' Roll feel.  New stores in my mainstream, middle class neighborhood include chain outlets for Urban Outfitters and Royal Dutchess, plus boutiques carrying tight-fitting Rock & Republic and True Religion jeans, gritty Ed Hardy and Monarchy T-shirts, and blink 182 drummer Travis Barker’s Stars and Straps clothing line.  One store here even sells duplicate reprints of T-shirts worn by iconic Rock stars during their concerts in the '60s and '70s (photographic proof included with purchase).  Dr. Marten’s, the work boots of choice in Seattle during the Grunge explosion, were recently spotted on the catwalk at LA Fashion Week.

Does fashion’s Rock look mean the music is on an upswing?  Maybe, maybe not.  Consider that The Ramones have now sold more T-shirts with their name on it than records.  Arturo Vega, who designed their logo and still gets about 10 licensing requests a week, admits to an Australian newspaper that “the people buying the shirt don’t know the band.  It’s sad.”  Or, as the Stanford Daily puts it, “If you are wearing a T-shirt that says ‘rock star’ or ‘punk,’ you aren’t one.”

Whether music and fashion influence the other – a “chicken or egg” issue – is never certain.  But with Guitar Hero III and Rock Band video games flying off the shelves, plenty of pop culture trends are encouraging to Rockers.  Sure beats another Christmas of baggy jeans and bling.

Not Playing Games

In a recent CNNMoney article, Electronic Arts CEO, John Riccitello, outlined some of the lessons he's learned during the past ten years since he took over that mega-gaming empire.  If you didn't know better, you'd think he was talking about radio.

1. Embrace change even if it costs a lot.  Riccitello talks about how the big three TV networks sat back and watched cable eat their lunch.  He claims that even though gaming comprises $31 billion in annual revenue, it needs to re-evaluate its entire architecture:  "In the next five years, we're all going to have to deal with this.  In China, they're giving games away for free.  People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model, or wait for others to disrupt it."  He sounds a lot like Jason Calacanis, explaining to Summit 11 attendees in '06 that it was time for the radio business to "surrender" - and come up with a new model for revenue generation.

2. Don't let detractors define you.  In his world, it involves allowing the media to paint the picture that games are too violent.  In our world, it's the media buying XM and Sirius' PR that broadcast radio is yesterday's entertainment.  As David Rehr pointed out in his "2020" speech, radio has to re-take control of its own message.

3. Admit your mistakes.  We live in a culture where it has somehow become impossible to take credit for bad decisions, whether it was invading Iraq, or in Riccitello's case, coming up with a failed interactive thriller game back in 2001, Majestic.  He realizes that in order to grow, learn, and benefit from the process, he had "to admit my mistake and move on."

4. Put your trust in visionary people.  In spite of Majestic failing, Riccitello hung with creator Neil Young, and it paid off brilliantly when the latter put together EA's Lord of the Rings deal.  He puts faith in game developers (that is, programmers) because he realizes the importance of creative content in the gaming biz.

There's a great deal we can learn from successful people in the media/entertainment space, and Riccitello clearly is someone who truly "gets" it.

Rock 'N Roll Hall of Lame

Madonna and the Dave Clark Five are among the 2008 inductees in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Do you think perhaps the concept is getting somewhat watered down?  In another year or so, I may finally get over the fact they're located in Cleveland and not here in the real rock capital, Detroit.

Who's next?  Men At Work?  Donna Summer?  Orleans?

Is Black Friday Really Black?

Jacobs Media's Dave Beasing pulls back the curtain on myths of "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday."

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday” because – as the busiest shopping day of the year – that’s when retailers finally “get into the black,” show a profit.  Right?  Wrong.  Last year, Black Friday only ranked 9th in sales, far surpassed by the two weekends just before Christmas.

The Monday after Thanksgiving is called “Cyber Monday,” because – when consumers get back to work in front of their computers – that’s the busiest online shopping day of the year.  Right?  Wrong.  “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation.  In reality, Cyber Monday isn’t even among the Top 10, with more online purchases reported during several days in December.

Both events exist for one simple reason:  Marketers created them.  Give them credit for…

• Declaring an exciting “opening” to the season, rather than a “soft launch”
• Creating urgency
• Setting annual appointments with consumers
• Using a credible storyline to garner media coverage and buzz

That’s not just smart retailing.  That’s show biz.  P.T. Barnum would be proud.

Peaceful Profitable Feeling

The new Eagles album, Long Road Out Of Eden, vaults to the top of the album sales charts, trouncing Britney Spears' new release.  All told, the Eagles' new effort sold 711,000 copies, outdoing Britney by more than 400,000.   This event absolutely shatters more of the recording industry's conventional wisdom.

First, there's no record label to share the profits with.  (Of course, that also means no promo people, no radio tie-ins, and no contesting - all the trappings that seemingly drove airplay and ostensibly, sales.)

Second, there's only one retailer - Wal-Mart.  And given these monster sales, the nation's largest retailer is sharing its Nielsen Soundscan with Billboard, thus generating rank positions.

Third, there's been minimal airplay for the single in Rock, but tons of spins in Country radio.  It's interesting that less than 7% of the airplay to date (33,000+ spins for "How Long") has come from Rock/Classic Rock stations.  But a decent percentage of sales of Eden are probably attributable to factors beyond traditional radio airplay.  Irving Azoff, mastermind of this marketing effort, knows only too well the power of "Mt. Rushmore" artists.  The Eagles have a massive fan base, cultivated over the past three decades, and these consumers will trek to Wal-Mart, as well as pay $100+ for concert tickets when the band performs live.

Fourth, the band is moving away from those convenient format boxes that we in radio love so much (see #3). While some in the Rock community think the single/album is "too Country" (weren't "Take It Easy" and "Desperado" and all those '70s hits Country Rock songs in the first place?), it's noteworthy that the band could obviously care less about its prior images.  The Eagles performed at The Country Music Association's award show last week for the first time.

So, once again, the old models and "givens" are eroding.  Classic bands and classic brands don't need the traditional tools to expose and market their efforts.  They are finding new ways to reach fans that provide them with more control and more revenue.

Radio has to figure out these new realities, and build creative partnerships that play a major role in new releases, ticket sales and artist marketing.  If radio wants to get something from music, radio must also commit resources and talent.  The free lunches and swag days are long gone.  It's time to go to work.

I'll show you a great new example in tomorrow's blog.

Thinking Big

One of the areas where stations often miss the boat is playing up great on-air content on their websites.  Too often, the site lags behind.  Or worse, underplays something buzzworthy the station or morning show pulled off.  Too often, web visitors have to hunt and peck in order to find great content they've heard about on the air.

Not so at KIIS-FM.  When Ryan Seacrest interviewed Britney Spears, it's anything but underplayed.  Not only was the Britney story front and center on their homepage, but check out how they've laid out this page.  It may strike you as over the top or even National Enquirer-like, but why not trumpet your homeruns?

Think about how your station presents those big/viral moments on your site?  KIIS-FM most definitely "gets" the showbiz aspects of radio, something that's too frequently missing from station sites.

Mark Cuban: The Brand

Everyone knows Mark Cuban, right?  He's the media maven who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo! and forever became a media/entertainment icon.  Cuban is also the outspoken owner of the Dallas Mavericks, and is the most recent phenomenon on ABC-TV's hit show, "Dancing With The Stars."

But those are just items on his resume, because Mark Cuban is much more than just a list of accomplishments.  He is a well-marketed strategic brand.  Cuban "gets" branding, perhaps more than anyone else, and continually fine-tunes, builds, and hones his image.

As the owner of the Mavs, Cuban has become the best known mogul in the NBA.  He has brought Hi-Tech to the NBA, and actively returns fan emails.  Cuban has marketed his name as being especially responsive to his legions of Mavs loyalists.  Win or lose, this is a massively successful franchise that isn't afraid to try anything new.  And its owner is more famous than its best player.

Cuban, the brand, isn't afraid to take risks and shake it up with a little controversy.  His tirades against the refs resonate with NBA fans, and while Commish David Stern may find Cuban a pain to work with, the latter has elevated the buzz in the league.  When you're up against the NFL and Major League Baseball, you need all the headlines you can get.

Now, Cuban is taking his branding efforts to television.  It is noteworthy that Cuban isn't afraid to fail.  His "The Benefactor" series may have stiffed in '04, but he's right back on the horse with "Dancing."  And his spin this time is brilliant, melding the wild success and exposure of this ABC-TV hit show with his personal rehabilitation from hip-replacement surgery.  Not only is he competing hard on "Dancing," but he is becoming a mascot for surgery rehabbers everywhere.

And as always, Cuban is playing it brilliantly, casting himself as the underdog up against all the star athletes, movie idols, and "pretty boys."  Don't count him out to win the whole thing, but whether he pulls that off or not, he has already elevated his brand equity.

There's a great deal that DJs and personalities can learn from Cuban's brand-building endeavors.  A calculated risk, a little controversy, and some sound strategy can go a long way toward strengthening a brand.  And not being afraid to take a chance - and fail - is part of the formula, too.

Cuban realizes that as his own personal stock rises, all of his business "boats" rise, too.  The better known and loved he is as a person, the stronger the fan base grows for the Mavs and his other endeavors.  As icons like Donald Trump, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Warren Buffett well know, branding and marketing go well beyond P&L sheets.  In this world, the guy behind the company can shape its brand equity all the way to the bank.

"Love" Is All You Need

When the Beatles' Love CD came out, we highly recommended it to Classic Rock radio as another "current classic" milestone that could liven up a tired playlist.  This past weekend, I finally saw the Cirque du Soleil show, Love, in person at the Mirage in Las Vegas.

I cannot tell you how totally incredible this production truly is.  If you've seen a Cirque du Soleil show before, you know how spectacular these shows are, combining gymnastics, ballet, theatre, costumes, light, sound, and special effects.  And set this to a soundtrack of Beatles' mashups, Love is over the top, and unlike anything you've ever witnessed before in a theater.  I would love to put every Classic Rock programmer, GM, and sales rep on a plane to Vegas to see this tribute to the Fab Four.

As we head into first quarter '08, radio will once again face the annual challenge of keeping sales healthy at a notoriously slow time of the year.  This is why many stations continue to offer attractive sales trips to clients who commit serious dollars during the slow season.  Often, these vacations are in the Caribbean, but some venture off to more faraway locales from Italy to China.

While these types of trips are often exotic, they make absolutely no statement about a station and its audience.  So if you're running a Classic Rock station - and sales trips are part of your regimen - consider Vegas and Love.  Aside from the fact that Las Vegas is a great destination for all the reasons you know about, 90 minutes at Love will win your advertisers over, and make a lasting impression about the power of Classic Rock as a contemporary attraction.

Cirque du Soleil has not chosen Kelly Clarkson, 50 Cent, or Toby Keith for their centerpiece production, so take advantage of the moment.  This is truly another unforgettable showcase for The Beatles and Classic Rock lovers everywhere.  I cannot wait to see it again.