This post originally appeared on BMA on February 13, 2006.  Funny how 5 years later, we are still arguing the same themes of this post.  You can read all the BMA posts here.

When I left this post last month, I did so because I thought the whole ‘A-Lister’ dust up was a temporary by-product of boredom, and that we’d all rant/laugh/ramble about the subject for a few days, realize it’s all very silly, and get back to talking about much more important things.

Alas, I was dead wrong. Instead, the ‘debate’ over the blogosphere’s version of a class system has only intensified. Now it seems some have determined that the key to blogging nirvana, which of course is 3,000 links and 10,000 visitors a day, is being held by the gatekeepers known as the ‘A-Listers’. All blogging goodness is in the hands of a select few bloggers on the mountaintop. Right idea, wrong gatekeepers. The gatekeepers aren’t A-Listers like Doc Searls and Steve Hall, they are the anonymous IPs that read your blog. They are the people that come, look around, and either decide that your blog sucks, or that it kicks ass, and then they tell ten friends.

Last week everyone was excited about Dave Sifry’s update on the state of the blogosphere. We all got excited when we heard that there is a new blog created every second of every day. But think about that for a minute….if there are that many new blogs each and every day, how many new blog READERS are there? New readers that not only have no idea who the so-called ‘A-Listers’ are, they could give a damned less. Every day. If you’re a Z-Lister, they have no idea, and again, could care less. They just care about what they read on your blog that they just found for the first time. What they read that first time could decide if there will ever be a second time. See our job isn’t to impress Steve Hall and Doc Searls the A-Listers, our job is to impress Steve Hall and Doc Searls the BLOG READERS. When we start worrying about getting the attention of a few bloggers that we perceive as being important, we risk losing the attention of our blog readers. And if we’ve lost that, we have nothing.

BMA will have been live for 5 months on the 16th. We currently have 58 links, and to the people that subscribe to the ‘A-Lister’ view of the blog world, that means we aren’t very important. On the other hand, traffic levels have never been higher than right now, we averaged 806 visitors a day last week, and at the rate traffic is increasing, we’re on pace to touch 25,000 visitors for the month. Good thing we aren’t paying attention to the people that think that a blog’s worth is defined by its number of links, but instead to the visitors that come here every day, and hopefully enjoy what they see. Because that’s the key. We have to stop this worrying about who is linking to me, and who won’t. The time we spend bitching about how ‘unfair’ it is that the haves are supposedly holding back the have-nots, is time lost that we COULD have spent producing great content on our blogs, and contributing to the community.

Stop worrying about why Scoble never reads your blog, and worry about giving the gal that’s reading your blog RIGHT NOW a reason to come back. Because your readers are the REAL A-listers. Treat them as such, or they’ll happily leave your ass to bitch about why no one comments on your blog, and your pet theory that it’s somehow gotta be Guy Kawasaki’s fault.

This post originally appeared on BMA on December 20, 2005. If you would like to read all the BMA posts, click here.

“There are amazing women musicians out there. But the industry signs acts based on marketing. It’s definitely a loop. There aren’t women out there doing well, because they haven’t been signed, so (the record) industry doesn’t sign any more, figuring they won’t do well.” – Jason Mraz

The explosion of music downloads in the late 1990s cut deeply into the cash coffers of record labels. As a result, record executives decided to cut back on promoting ‘unproven’ artists, and went from focusing on talented female artists, to looking for a marketing vehicle. Out with Lilith Fair, in with Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. So as Gen Y helps prompt a change in the country’s musical tastes, this poses a very tough question for female artists whose last name isn’t Spears or Simpson: Do they try to reinvent themselves like Jewel did, or forge forward relying on their talent to win them fans?

And this isn’t a problem reserved for undiscovered artists. Some of Jewel’s contemporaries such as Sheryl Crow and Alanis have seen their album sales slide since their Lilith days. Many of today’s labels see a woman onstage with a guitar in her hands as a ‘marketing risk’. But musicians don’t have to reinvent themselves every few years simply because tastes temporarily change.

A perfect example is Sarah McLachlan. Her music is basically the same today as it was in 1989 when she released her first album, Touch. Touch sold over 500,000 copies, while Afterglow, which is her fifth and latest album of new material, currently has over 2 million in sales.

The best way for Jewel and other female rockers in her position to re-establish a strong bond with their fans could be, you guessed it, the internet. There are so many ways to reach out directly to fans. Artists can tap fan sites, mailing lists, MySpace, anything. Blogs are another obvious way for artists to reach their fans. Such viral efforts are already being used to launch the careers of female artists such as Missy Higgins, they could easily work for established stars. These moves are authetic, and fans will respond to any musician that reaches out to them in such a personal way.

While the current music climate has put a temporary crunch on some female artists, the ultimate loser here could be the record labels themselves. As the record companies make it harder and harder for emerging and existing female artists to make a name for themselves, these musicians are looking for other outlets to promote themselves. And the risk that labels run is, once these acts find a way to circumvent the current system, will they ever return?

“The major label system is broken, but I’m not crying. It couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch of people.” said Carla DiSantis, editor of the magazine ROCKRGRL.

This post originally appeared on BMA on November 30th, 2005.  If you would like to read all the posts in the BMA series, click here.

Bernie Marcus can’t stop smiling.

The Home Depot founder is beaming as he enjoys the $250 million dollar gift he’s given the city of Atlanta, the newly opened Georgia Aquarium. And he’s not the only one to have visited the world’s largest aquarium. The aquarium was expecting 10,000 visitors for its opening day last wednesday, and officials believe they beat that number. Two million people were forecast to enjoy the attraction next year, and the aquarium may revise that number upwards as well.

The aquarium is the centerpiece of the city’s plan to reinvigorate Atlanta’s tourism efforts. “Atlanta has never been a major tourist destination,” Marcus says, “because there’s never been a major draw.” Marcus feels the Georgia Aquarium could become that ‘must-see’ destination that will turn on the tourism pipeline that city officials are hoping to develop.

Many experts are betting the addition of the world’s largest aquarium will be the magic bullet that the city has been looking for. And that has Atlanta’s city leaders very happy.

But 2 hours to the north, another city and their leaders are casting a very concerned eye to the south. While Atlanta is hoping the Georgia Aquarium will boost the city’s tourism dollars, the stakes are much higher for Chattanooga, where theTennessee Aquarium has literally reinvented the city. Once labelled as ‘America’s dirtiest city’ by former CBS anchor Walter Cronkite, the aquarium began a renassiance for the city when it was opened in 1992. Since that time, over 100 shops and restaurants have sprung up surrounding the aquarium, shifting the city’s image from being dirty, to being one of the nation’s cleanest and friendliest.

And it’s that image that the Tennessee Aquarium thinks will be its best weapon against the Atlanta Aquarium. While Chattanooga can point to the clean and friendly atmosphere downtown, these are the exact qualities that many visitors say Atlanta’s downtown area lacks. And these assertions weren’t lost on Marcus, who campaigned vigorously to end ‘aggressive’ panhandling by the homeless downtown, even to the dismay of some city officials.

Of course there’s also the costs to consider. A one-day pass for a family of 4 would cost you $57.90 at the Tennessee Aquarium, and $89.50 at the Georgia Aquarium. Add parking and you approach $100 for the day.

Still, it may not matter. The city will be bringing in several high-profile events to the downtown area, such as hosting the Sugar Bowl this year, the World of Coke exhibit, and starting in 2007, the city will host the NASCAR Hall of Fame. The city is hoping that it can bring in so many popular attractions that visitors will overlook the cost and atmosphere, to experience the area.

With the Tennessee Aquarium claiming that 25% of their current visitors come from the Atlanta area, the success of the Georgia Aquarium, and Atlanta’s ability to change its downtown image, could eventually decide the fates of both cities. For now, city leaders in both areas will have to play a very nervous game of ‘wait and see’. Rick Nall, VP Marketing, Chattanooga Convention and Visitors Bureau: “I feel like, and I feel like many others in the community feel like- probably the (Georgia) aquarium will have some impact, we just don’t know what it is.”

This post originally appeared on BMA on October 30, 2005.  As a sidenote, this is probably my favorite blog post I’ve ever written.  If you would like to read all the posts in the BMA series, click here.

Paul Lauer has been down this road before.

His company, Motive Marketing, has been tabbed to organize and execute a faith-based marketing intiative for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. He performed a similar role for Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ, orchestrating a church-based marketing campaign that helped make The Passion one of the highest grossing movies of all time.

For Narnia, he will perform a similar role, again reaching out to churches and designing ways for pastors to incorporate the Christian themes of Narnia into their teachings. Embracing churches was so successful for The Passion that many pastors actively encouraged their churches to see the movie as soon as it came out, creating enormous pre-release hype for the film. Disney hopes for a similar buzz leading up to the release of Narnia.

Lauer’s job should be even easier for Narnia, since the story behind C.S. Lewis’ classic is geared more toward children, meaning it will appeal to the entire family. But while Lauer’s task should be easier, the line between too much and not enough emphasis on Narnia’s Christian themes will be harder to navigate for Disney when marketing the film to the public.

With The Passion, the religious meanings were obvious. However, Narnia can either be presented as a straightforward fairy tale, or as a story inspired by the teachings of the Bible. “Many people put churchgoers and Hollywood on the opposite sides of the equation,” said Lauer. “But churchgoers are hungry for movies reflecting strong values — like ‘Narnia.”

Churchgoers, however, won’t be the only people seeing Narnia. And the question for Disney is will they risk alienating churchgoers by not emphasizing the Christian themes of Narnia, or would they offend the public by embracing the Christian symbolism of the story?

And it’s a huge gamble for Disney, as they have so much riding on the success of Narnia. With the studio in desperate need of a hit release, a solid showing for Narnia would also open the doors for a movie franchise that could rival that of the Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter. It’s an opportunity that Disney is fully aware of.

“Everyone has his own take on the book, to which the movie is faithful,” said Disney’s VP of Publicity, Dennis Rice. “Rather than embracing any interpretation, we’re remaining neutral, adopting the Switzerland approach.”

Disney has also enlisted the aid of Lewis’ stepson Douglas Gresham, to make sure the film is faithful to his stepfather’s vision of Narnia.

“We never set out to make a ‘Christian’ movie,” said Gresham. “The book taps different veins in different people. If we overstressed what little symbolism there is, we would have thrown away the project.”

Which seems to be the correct path for Disney to take in promoting The Chronicles of Narnia. In writing The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis’(a devout Christian) was wise enough to put the spiritual undertones of the story in plain sight, yet never forced them on the reader. Wisely, Disney seems to be taking the same approach in bringing Aslan and the White Witch to the big screen.

“This is a huge roll of the dice … ,” said “Narnia” producer Mark Johnson. “But the payoff could be enormous.”

From 2005-2007, I wrote for an advertising group blog called Beyond Madison Avenue.  The blog is still around, but over the years it has been redesigned several times and somehow in all the shuffling, it seems that all the posts written from those early years were lost.  I did some digging and found a few of  them, so what I wanted to do is share a new one of them with you each Saturday here over the next few weeks.  I honestly (sadly?) think these posts are better than most of the ones I write now, and on top of that, I think they are an interesting commentary on a space that’s gone through a ton of change in just a few short years.  I hope you enjoy these, and we’ll start with the very first blog post I ever wrote, from September 20th, 2005.

What a Hurricane Can Teach Us About Marketing

1 billion and counting.

That’s the current amount of donations received for victims of Hurricane Katrina, according to an article in yesterday’s Washington Post. That total doesn’t include donations from last night’s episode of Monday Night Football, during which current and former NFL players took donations for the relief effort. Some estimates have the final total approaching 2 billion. Granted, roughly half of the donations thus far are from corporations.

Still, that means over 500 million has been donated from everyday Americans in the three weeks since Katrina made landfall in Gulfport, Mississippi. When’s the last time a company released a new product to the market that had similar sales, with NO advertising?

Then again, this is a rare case where little advertising is necessary. The appeal is easy to understand: Compassion for our fellow man. The benefit of the donations is obvious: Helping fellow Americans rebuild their communities, homes, and lives.  Marketing professionals everywhere can learn much from the massive giving that’s coming in response to Katrina. If you have a product that people want, that they can clearly see the benefits of, and that fulfills a basic human need, it will sell itself.

What ‘product’ is being sold here? Hope. We all need some of that.