I was on MySpace.com’s home page recently and the first thing that came up was a link to MySpace Comedy “brought to you by Sierra Mist” with the lemon-lime soda’s logo prominently displayed. So that’s how News Corp. is going to cover its US$580-million investment in the world’s most popular online social network. Maybe, but according to the July issue of Wired (“His Space,” p. 144), News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch has other plans to make money from the youth-oriented MySpace’s 6.2 billion page views per month. Rather than plop down banner ads, News Corp. figures it can transform MySpace into a giant marketing machine that will wade through all that user-generated content to spot the next big hits in movies, music and such. For instance, say there’s an emerging buzz about some songs an independent musician has uploaded on his MySpace page. Why not sign him to a major record deal? And since most of the next big trends start with youth, MySpace will have the best seat in the house to find those future hits. If that doesn’t work, MySpace could quickly turn into a big miss for Murdoch.
Instant experts
Want to become a great marketer without spending years in advertising’s trenches? Now you can with The Little Blue Book of Advertising (Portfolio, $29) by Steve Lance, former creative director at NBC, and Jeff Woll, whose 23-year career at OgilvyWorldwide included time at the agency’s Montreal office. The Little Blue Book is a quick, almost homespun read with 52 tips on everything from how to hold great monthly strategy sessions (“Pizza is the most powerful management tool ever invented; use it generously and wisely”) and how to do consumer research that gets results (“Head to a small town, find the most popular breakfast place and start firing questions”), to how to make your print and TV ads stand out. Some of the ideas aren’t exactly groundbreaking but Lance and Woll are sharp, funny and give business 101-type stuff a unique marcom perspective. Like tip #12, which explains who needs to be involved in ad creative: “Great advertising is like hunting. You need a hunter, a dog and a gun,” with the marketer being the hunter, the researcher the dog and the creatives the gun. “Don’t go hunting without a dog, don’t give the gun to the dog, and don’t try to redesign the gun while it’s shooting.” The Little Blue Book could help avoid a few self-inflicted injuries in your career.
