BLOG
An open letter to April Fools' Day
Today is my least favorite marketing holiday, April Fools' Day.
One of the first references of April fools is in 1392 in Chauncer’s Canterbury Tales when the Nun’s Priest’s tale is set Syn March bigan thritty dayes and two there are some arguments that it might have been transcribed wrong and should be May second but the origin points to the understanding that it might be March 32nd, which would be April first.
I don’t hate jokes, I don’t even hate them being played on me, what I hate are brands that don’t understand what is at stake today (or every day) and are willing to throw away all of the clout + trust they have gathered for a media soundbyte or a bunch of pageviews.
Look at it this way, your customer trusts you and they understand that when they come into your place of business or watch your show, or download your podcast or follow you on Snapchat – they know what they are getting. But let’s say they wake up today and their favorite podcast says that Justin Timberlake and Taylor Swift died last night. The hosts will say they did it in order to get attention and then when they take the heat they say…it was an April Fools' prank.
The problem is that the joke is not worth the expense. If the people listening to the podcast or the radio show, as I just merged two radio April fools stories into one, are affected by the story – you just ruined their day on purpose which is both terrible branding and terrible joke telling.
We are in a connection economy and every time we do something that violates that connection or trust it costs us. Every time we raise the price, shorten the hours, fire someone they love, change the color, drop a menu item all of it ends up on a trust balance sheet and if you get in the negative, you close your doors.
So why on earth would you spend a nickel of that currency on a single day lazy joke a thon? Especially if you are a mass medium where people are running from you at a pretty healthy clip. I just read an article on the all new Redef.com which is amazing by the way and it talked about how HBO Now and Netflix are going to increase the pressure to lower cable packages and open the door for better streaming deals or services. Should DirectTV have an April Fools prank today? Absolutely not, if anything take the day to do something amazing. Call or email your best customers and give them April free for HBO to enjoy Game of Thrones – build equity today don’t waste it.
You want to play an April Fools prank – cool, go for it. But if you are a brand or doing it on behalf of a brand – think about the cost of it, then count to ten, then think about the cost again and then decide against it and play that prank on your friend. The game has changed and the costs are real. Don’t waste your customers loyalty on anything as dumb as today.
Have a killer Wednesday. Go do something amazing
Amazon testing drones and listeners aren't testing streaming services
The guardian reported yesterday that Amazon is currently testing the drone delivery at their version of a “black site” that is just 2000 feet from the United States border in Canada. This comes off the other Amazon announcement yesterday that they will be competing with the likes of Angie’s list by providing plumbers, electricians, and even goat herders –who knew? What is interesting about this story is not that Amazon wants to do this, which we have talked about. What is interesting is they are testing right now because the last time they were dealing with the FAA the certification took so long that the drone Amazon wanted to use was obsolete and using a new version didn’t comply with the certification.
I am not sure your thoughts on drones but I honestly feel that there isn’t any stopping drones and drone technology becoming as common as smartphones. What is up for debate is if the government is going to work with the technology or fight it until the innovation out guns legislation. Drones are coming and Amazon is the company who will get it done, even if the flights need to originate out of Canada which is not the way this should work out.
The iHeart Radio music awards were live Sunday night so it feels right to talk about a panel discussion that looked at consumption of streaming music services. The panel happened in New York between the crew at Pandora, Spotify, and Trition Digital and some of the insight that came from the panel was super interesting. First there are 4 million people streaming digital audio right now, as in right this very second. All things considered that number isn’t that great, however that number jumped from 3 million to 4 million in less than 12 months showing the growth of what is happening.
Nearly 70% of the 12-24 demographic listen to what they define as “online radio” which includes things like Pandora and Spotify where most of those listeners gravitate and the rest stick with my theory that talk will have a place as ESPN ranks high in the research.
The other interesting tid bit is that the average listener consums only 1.6 services a week showing that there is very little if any overlap so if you are an iHeart fan you stay there, a Beats fan, Spotify fan, or Pandora fan you are likely not to roam which when you pair that with the growth could be a great play for advertisers.
Here is where you need to be careful. Just like when I say pageviews or likes are really weak metrics when it comes to audio click thru rates aren’t the metric because most start the audio and place the thing in a pocket, even impressions aren’t as robust on the streaming services as they are everywhere else. Music provides a deep connection with a user, these services need to figure out a metric to measure that level of engagement. So the app that can curate better than the rest and measure the engagement is going to be the one that wins.
Could the Apple/beats platform be the one? Beats left a lot to be desired so we shall see. Have a great Tuesday and let me know if I can do anything for you eric@mlive.com or on twitter @polymathandvine.
Need a Zombie Fix?
Last night was the season finale for The Walking Dead which leaves fans of the zombie genre without much to do until “Fear the Walking Dead” arrives this summer. So what can you pick up in the meantime?
John Cambell’s Omega Days is fantastic. If you like the way that Kirkman and crew write either the Walking Dead comics or the show, I think you will really like this trillogy. In the first book there is a couple chapters in the middle that made me fall in love with a story I was already a fan of.
Maybe you want something that is a bit more of a “slow burn” and if that is the case I cannot recommend enough “The Girl With All the Gifts” which might be the creepiest book I have read in a long time. The story takes place 10 years after a zombie outbreak and the main character is a girl who is very special. This is a hard book to write about without spoilers so PLEASE pick it up.
If you are a video game fan there is plenty to keep you busy from the Call of Duty zombie add-ons, to the Dead Rising franchise, and my new favorite Dying Light. What I love about this game is that the gameplay between night and day is different and terrifying enough to keep me playing longer than most of the hunt and fight games tend to.
Then this summer we get the next series in the Walking Dead franchise that takes place in LA. What is interesting about this is that we might get to see more of the early stages of the outbreak instead of what we are used to with Rick and the gang. I am excited about a new take and optimistic about how well they have handled the comic book canon and adjusting it enough to keep the show interesting for the comic book fans.
Halo 5 Guardian #Huntthetruth
We have to wait all the way until October to find out more of what is happening here but I am excited about the direction that Halo 5 is going in.
Who is right? Master Chief or Locke?
A talk with Josh Linkner
I had a chance to sit down with Josh and talk about his new book, what you should do in 2015, and what is next for Fuel Detroit.