Blah blah blah. List list list. 2008 2008 2008. Etc etc etc.

Many lists worth of good music was birthed over the past 12 months, but the sound of my 2008 was decidedly defined by only two young men. One a seemingly bottomless well of perfect pop blasts, the other a vanguard of bleeding edge music technology and distribution methods. Both epicly prolific in writing, recording, and performing great music. They are Jay Reatard and Bradford Cox.

Jay Reatard and Bradford Cox: cover of Matador single #4 of 6. (NSFW?)

Jay Reatard’s biography reads like rock n roll mythology: born in Memphis, he dropped out of high school at 15 to begin recording records in his bedroom. Ten years later, his back catalog alone could fill an entire record store - over 60 records through his nine separate projects! He has estimated that he writes and records one song per day on average, from which he selects a few for each release. That’s a staggering amount of even mediocre song, but his top notch canon reveals most songwriters for the poseurs they are.

Jay has been impressing punk aficionados since those early adolescent recordings with The Reatards (you didn’t think that was his real last name, did you?). However, he really came into his own (and an enormous crossover audience) with his solo debut “Blood Visions” released at the end of 2006. It took a while for some to catch on, but by Summer 2007, Reatard’s fanbase was swelling. Relentless touring paired with a strong endorsement from independent music media juggernaut Pitchfork led to a record deal with big-time-independent label Matador Records.

Matador Single #5 of 6: three different covers to drive collectors wild!

In 2008, Jay Reatard released an unprecedented six singles in six months on Matador. From a marketing and PR perspective, this was genius. He was written up all over the internet and press for at least those 6 months. Add the anticipation of those releases, the aftermath, a collaboration with Beck, all the intermittent touring, and a controversial concert incident caught on tape, and Jay Reatard probably captured more headlines than any other single person in 2008 (not running for office). His endless tour schedule shows little time to prepare his forthcoming LP slated for a 2009 release, but for all we know he recorded it in his bedroom last spring!

Then there’s Bradford Cox, the equally enigmatic and charismatic character behind Deerhunter and younger side project Atlas Sound. My favorite record store in 2008 was the Deerhunter / Atlas Sound blog site - and everything was free! Through 2008, Cox single-handedly redefined established norms for music distribution and broke down every wall separating musicians and fans.

Bradford Cox: outtake from a GAP photoshoot (just kidding).

As Deerhunter he released the exceptional 12 song “Microcastle” album this fall that included a second 13 song CD of outtakes better than most other records released this year. As Atlas Sound he wrote, recorded, and posted songs on his blog at a staggering speed and jaw-dropping rate. For a stretch of time he was posting new songs for download nearly every single day! Plus, he has posted 5-9 song EPs, has an ongoing Virtual 7″ series, and perhaps most impressive of all: he takes requests! He recorded several cover songs suggested by fans (including one song by the aforementioned Jay Reatard, and the Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody”!!). For his “Healing Music” series, fans could suggest personal themes and Mr. Cox himself would write a song for them. I hate to apply crass marketing catch phrases to the arts, but talk about “building buzz”!

The Bradford Cox model for music is particularly thought-provoking because he shows you don’t need a record label to make music or gain an audience. The old “suits” would say that without Major Label promotion money you won’t reach any sort of audience, but this philanthropic approach will always garner organic PR, and Atlas Sound was no exception. This should be a case study for SEO and Viral Marketers in years to come. For now, Wpromote has its ears to the street, to say the least!

…And for anyone who’s been living under a rock for the past 3 years, Lil Wayne took over the world of Hip Hop (and bad auto-tuned pop) with prolificacy as well. There’s something to be learned from all this…

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by Josh Tauber
Director, Viral Marketing
Wpromote, Inc.

The main purpose of viral marketing is to promote your name online.  When people know who you are, then they can develop a further interest in your product or service. Viral videos will very seldom result in direct conversions.  As a business owner, you are in all likelihood enthusiastic about what you are selling.  Sadly, nobody watching videos online is excited about you or your product.  People watch videos for entertainment.  The viral approach differs inherently from traditional TV and radio advertising, scaring off many companies looking to use viral as a new source of advertising.

What’s more, if your service is slightly more abstract or isn’t a straightforward commodity, marketing can be a challenge. Your best bet is to get large amounts of people aware of who you are and – through clever, indirect means – let them know what you are offering.

Viral presents an idea to a group of users and requests a response. This response can be laughter, excitement, intrigue, and more. At times it can even be interactive. Whatever the outcome, the goal is a connection. The desired connection is between the end user and your company or product. By entertaining or engaging a user they connect with you. “Hey we think alike” or “that company is outrageous, I like their style.”

It’s not important that the concept tie in directly with your service, because viral operates on the idea that advertising turns people off.

Here’s a quote from a marketing company that had pitched a viral campaign meant to warn Dutch consumers about fake online pharmaceuticals that the client turned down:

Since our client said: we like your idea, but we feel such a campaign is too guerrilla and rebellious for us. We said: “it’s not about you, right? It’s about what the target group will think.” - Igor Beuker, viralblog.com

A competitor later ended up launching a similar campaign in Sweden, that met with great success.

A lot of companies have heard about “viral marketing” and are eager to get involved.  Before you get started, just make sure you are aware of the unconventional nature of viral advertising; and make sure you’re willing to take some risks with your image.

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Howdy all,

Here is the first of our new weekly Thursday video blog for the office. We chose “fish” as the first topic because the sky’s the limit and we wanted to start out with something really boring. Please e-mail any ideas for future episodes and, by all means, participate in making them. I refuse to make these alone.

Amir

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It was reported earlier this week that “Kitt”, the beloved Mustang GT500KR from the new Knight Rider Television series was stolen at a promotional event in Toronto Canada. E! News seemed to have the initial scoop while YouTube users were uploading first hand accounts of the events from cellphone videos. It all seemed very suspicious. I had to further my investigation — call me the Mythbuster of Viral Marketing.

I first checked to see who uploaded the video. It was fairly suspect that the user who uploaded the video was a new member to Youtube. Although not definitive evidence that this was a “fake” viral, it didn’t help.

Next I looked at the meta tags. These tags are usually not very good if a user isn’t familiar with meta data. Check even popular videos on Youtube. They are sparse and sometimes unrelated (Hot chicks making out, boobs, etc.) The tags on this persons Youtube video were as follows:

Now lets look closer at these Meta Keywords… They did have one random keyword in there — “girls” — but the rest are too perfect. They not only used quotes for an exact match keyword, hardly common knowledge among the everyday YouTube user, they used the keyword “E!”. E! huh? Even if E! was at the event I am not sure that an everyday YouTuber would have the insight to carefully select E! as a keyword.

Today we found out it was in fact a Viral Marketing campaign.

I wanted to add another screen shot of a comment from YouTube that read “Worst Viral EVER!” but it mysteriously disappeared. While I don’t agree with that statement, I think it could have have been executed better. Even if it still did the trick. Check out their statistics:

This campaign would be considered a success. It involved the media, firsthand accounts, social interaction, and everything else that makes for a great viral. But it also provides a great lesson to those who are trying to create successful viral campaigns. Many viral marketers will agree, the best motto of any viral marketer is “Try, Try Again.” Each viral campaign is just another social test. How can I make you think something that isn’t real IS real, all while trying to sell you a product? Each successful campaign should be examined with a discerning eye. Like history they shed light on mistakes as well as successes.

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