Case Study: Kanye West

The biggest highlight from tonight’s 2009 Video Music Awards on MTV definitely belongs to Kanye West.  Even if you didn’t watch the show, you’ve likely heard people talking about it.  Taylor Swift was awarded Best Female Video for her song “You Belong With Me.”  As she was starting her acceptance speech, Kanye crashed the stage and took the microphone from Taylor to pronounce “Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.”  Beyonce was horrified.  Taylor was shocked.  And, then he was gone.  MTV cut to commercials; so, we didn’t hear Taylor’s comments.  We could only see the hurt and stunned expression on her face.
 

This isn’t Kanye’s first controversy.  You may recall his crashed a previous award show to express his anger that he was not the winner.  During the Grammy Awards a few years ago, soon after his mother died, he chastised the show’s producers for cutting short his acceptance speech to remain on stage longer.  Of course, you’ll remember his infamous “George Bush hates Black people” comments.  And, there are countless other examples of Kanye’s arrogance during numerous interviews and blog posts.

But, we remember all of his appearances … and THAT is the lesson for all of us in the entertainment industry.  We are responsible for producing memorable content, memorable moments, reasons for the audience to come back to us for more!

Love him or hate him now, Kanye West is the biggest pop star in the country this morning.  He will be THE talk of morning radio, entertainment shows, and blogs.  He was mentioned in more than 1-MILLION tweets BEFORE the awards were over.

I’m not going to claim MTV had advance knowledge of Kanye’s interruption; but, security could have certainly stopped him before he reached the stage knowing his past outbursts.  It was also convenient to have Taylor Swift on the ready backstage when Beyonce’s award was announced.  VMA ratings have been on the downslide.  But, now thanks to Kanye, they will dominate water cooler conversation most of the week.  Taylor looks cute and professional as the “victim.”  Kanye perpetuates his role as the egotistical ass.  And, MTV owns the night and celebrity headlines all week.

We’ve had plenty of these moments on all of our stations.  For example:  the Mayor’s “controversial” endorsement of commercial free mornings on 107.9 The Track.  Or, the surprise appearance by Peyton Manning during Z99.5’s Jingle Jam two years ago.  And, numerous scoops during Abdul’s morning show on WXNT.

It’s unrealistic to try to create one of these “water cooler moments” every break or even every day.  But, they are a necessity. 

Kanye West has become a genius at hijacking other people’s “moments.”

We have the opportunity to create our own moments everyday through multiple media channels that we control – on air, on line, on stream, on site, on social networking.

How can we take ordinary content and make it extraordinary?

What can we do that will get people talking about us next?

Let’s brainstorm ways to supersize our stations.  We can do the same thing with our advertising partners.  I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

Oh, and we don’t have to be the douchebag like Kanye.  We can do it with the class of Beyonce:

MTV Shows

Milennials Preference to Loyalty Programs

5 Universal Principles of Every Great Morning Show – Randy Lane

Super-consultant Randy Lane recently presented the “5 Universal Principles of Every Great Morning Show” for The Conclave.  You can watch the replay of his session here.

Blackberry & iPhone Streaming

(Indianapolis, IN)      Entercom Indianapolis LLC today announced the immediate availability of WZPL-FM (“Z99.5“), WNTR-FM (“107.9 The Track“), and WXNT-AM (“Newstalk 1430“) live audio streaming on select mobile devices.  This innovative service is made possible through a partnership between Entercom Communications and FlyCast^TM, which began in July 2008.

FlyCast is the first content network specifically designed to deliver radio, video, and podcasts to devices such as the Apple^TM iPhone^TM, iPod Touch^TM, and Blackberry^TM smart phones.  FlyCast streaming is currently available to listeners in 130 countries worldwide and is one of the only ways for mobile listeners to take their favorite local radio stations on the go.  Listeners can also stream their favorite radio stations on desktop widgets compatible with both PC and Mac.  FlyCast recently added support for Facebook^TM Connect, allowing use of the same login and sharing on individual Facebook profiles.  FlyCast is a free application!  (Download links are provided below.)

I wrote down this quote last summer and sent to all of our air talent:

“Go back and tell your personalities – if they are not on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and writing a daily blog two years from now – at the latest – they will be irrelevant.” (Leo Laporte at the Jacobs Media Summit XIII)

With all due respect to Mr. Laporte, I don’t think irrelevance is that far away.  It’s here.  Now.  I’ll even take his assertion one step further:  talent’s new media presence must include on demand demand – especially video – which is portable and compelling enough to be viral.

It’s 2009 and time for a serious review of your talent’s commitment to your digital platform.

Bill O’Reilly is a timely case study for the subject.  O’Reilly is leaving his nationally syndicated “The Radio Factor” at the end of February.  He claims that he’s too busy on the Fox News Channel for radio.  Tom Taylor notes on Radio-Info.com that Bill’s real plans are to spend more time working on his website and premium membership.  Here’s the posting:

“Just a few of the key features we’ll be rolling out over the next few months – The Factor ‘post-game’ web show.  Immediately after The Factor has wrapped up for the night, Bill will analyze and evaluate each show exclusively for Premium members.”  That will be on-demand, for access any time.  Then there’s this:  “Expanded backstage conversation webcasts.”  Bill currently does one of these a week but will expand that to three times weekly.  That’s “three times as many opportunities to have your questions answered directly by Bill.  Remember, he answers questions only from Premium Members.”  There’s also exclusive on-demand access to the two daily “Talking Points Memo” shorts that Bill will supply to Westwood One, and a searchable archive of Radio Factor shows back to 2005.

O’Reilly is no dummy.  He has seen his reach grow online and recognizes the potential for revenue opportunities in the future.

Must Read: 3 Web 2.0 Tools EVERY Sales Force Should Activate

James Burnes, an Indianapolis web and social media guru, just blogged a few highlights from high latest new media seminar.  You’ve GOT to read it and follow his advice.

CLICK HERE

PPM Panlists Tell All (Coleman Insights, 9/08)

Radio influences online behavior.

Audio4Cast.com says radio plays a major role influencing behavior of online consumers.  A survey of 1,000 “digital influencers” by MS&L and IPSOS found traditional media like radio played a “vital role in igniting the process that leads influencers to share information online.”

84% said they go online to learn more after hearing something on the radio.

The study quantifies the connection between online and offline media.  Online marketing has become a nearly essential element of most advertisers’ marketing strategies.  Hopefully, this study will open doors to new cross-platform opportunities between digital and traditional media creating successful marketing strategies.

“This research supports the need for influencer marketing campaigns to leverage both traditional and online tools to connect with consumers,” said MS&L/NEW YORK’s RENNE WILSON.