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I went to see the Police reunion tour last week primarily to see the opening act, Elvis Costello. He has been a favorite of mine since the early 80's and I think one of the most influential musicians still contributing to the American songbook. Plus, he's married to lusty voiced jazz pianist Dianna Krall, and that can't be all bad. I was also a Police fan in the 70's and 80's but never really bonded with their music on a personal level like I did with Costello's.
As I watched Elvis with a $25 frosty cold one in my hand, I felt like I was watching an old friend that was vastly different from how I remember him, and not in an entirely positive way. After the concert was over, I realized what I was disappointed with was the marketing of the show and not my old pal Elvis at all. The show was billed as a reunion tour, and with that moniker comes a certain set of expectations. In this case the expectations were that all of the performers would be middle-aged, there would be lots of middle aged-men and women, like me, in the audience and the songs they performed would also would be middle-aged. The police delivered without a hitch. Andy Summers looked like my Grandpa, with giant sagging jowls, peeling off flawless recreations of blaring guitar solos from the past, Sting looked like Hemmingway's old man in the sea, although very fit, with a scruffy beard and standard issue pointy hair singing all the required favorites in the original key and Stuart Copeland looked like an old British maid in a black uniform with a lace collar (What was the deal with that shirt anyway?) laying down the rhythm track with as you would expect flawless technique. Despite their geriatric appearances they delivered big time with big crowd-pleasing hits done just the way we remembered them. The crowd ate it up and reportedly spent 1.6 trillion in $25 beers.
Elvis didn't fare as well, and I know why. He fell prey to bad marketing. Elvis isn't on a reunion tour, he is touring to support his new album "Momofuku". That's a whole different set of expectations. Older acts supporting new albums traditionally perform in smaller venues and draw more hardcore fans than old folks reminiscing their youth. It's more of a larger nightclub thing than a big arena rock thing. Being a music person, I should have figured this out before I got to the show but the marketing already had me. I was ready for a night of nostalgia, but Elvis had other ideas. He wanted to deliver new, clever takes on past hits and present his new material, hopefully so we would rush out to buy the new album. As a hard core Elvis fan I would have been up for that, if I’d had my mind right before I went in. I regularly go to shows where older established artists are hocking a new album, with an open ear looking to hear something new from and old favorite. But, my ears were already full by the time I got to the arena, from blaring "Watching the Detectives" and "Olivers Army" in my car on on the way to the show.
Marketing is simple communication. It's communicating the essential message about your product’s uniqueness. If you promote that product as anything else, even your die-hard fans will be disappointed. Why? Simply because you failed to communicate with them. I think creative directors are most often the culprits of this particular kind of sin. They take a basic consumer-driven message and, in an attempt to make it unique, different or might I even say cool, in their own minds, they dilute the core message and forget to communicate directly with the audience they are trying to attract. Clients often love campaigns like this, until they are implemented, because they are funny or cute (The campaign not the Creative Director). It's a whole different story when the ads hit the street and the sales don't follow. "My what a cute doggy. What was it they were selling again?" I'm lucky that I work with a CD that doesn't fall into that trap. He, we, are very conscious of customer expectation in the message. We want to be the old friend you remember and are hoping to reconnect with, not the new cool version you don't really know and will probably forget soon after he hits the door. Want to do great advertising? Find and promote a quality product backed by quality people, research and deliver the message the customer wants to hear in a truthful and highly communicative manner and you can't help but sell millions of whatever it is you are selling. If that happens to be $100 dollar reunion show tickets, you might also sell a few $25 beers, $15 “blinky” buttons and $75 tees as a bonus to those who came to relive a fleeting moment from their misspent youth.
Rock on!
From part time stand up comedian, to underground rave dj and dance club owner, to designer, to entrepreneur, to father, Jeff Henry has seen the world of creative from every vantage point. He is the fearless leader and beating heart of BIGSHOT. Learn more about Jeff.
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