Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Tay Zonday’

Remix culture

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Chris' recent blog on Chocolate Rain reminded me of new cultural phenomenon that Larry Lessig calls the Remix Culture. You may chide Tay Zonday and Chocolate Rain for it's amateur production relative to broadcast standard, but you have to respect its 33 million views. And you also have to respect it for the remix attention it has received including John Mayer's version, Weezer's references in Pork n Beans, and one of my personal favorites, Chad Vader. Chad, as you might guess, is a remix of Darth Vader.  So, Chad Vader's version of Chocolate Rain is a double-derivative remix:

What does this mean for you and your business? People love to remix. For example, it didn't stop with Chad Vader. You may have also heard about the Cookie Monster's version from Michael Scott on 'The Office'.

Is there a way for you to allow your customers to interact with and remix your products and services? Larry Lessig might give you some ideas.

Marketing Freeconomics and The Chocolate Rainmaker

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

Don't be discouraged if your 2009 marketing budget has been cut – there's still hope! Take a look at the success of the Chocolate Rainmaker, Tay Zonday. This baritone claims no formal musical training, and uses a cheap clamp on light with a fluorescent bulb as his signature hardware for on-line video production. His YouTube video "Chocolate Rain" has been viewed 33 million times, voted one of the best according to the Washington Post, and got him multiple appearances on national television. Check out the original version below:

Don't think for a minute that the opportunities of this current on-line video age do not apply to direct marketers. The rise of direct marketing freeconomics is a maturing concept, and NextMark is embracing it. Why not you?

We're looking to enable list managers to post video content on data cards as a free service in late Q1 2009. Traffic continues to soar on free mailing list search portals now that word is out that they can be used to gather market intelligence in addition to list research. List managers can embrace direct marketing freeconomics, and become rainmakers for list and data sales, by posting quality content about their files in direct marketing forums and blogs. A simple URL applied to a data card is all you need to promote your list title no cost. Here's an example:

Check out the list popularity index (LPI) on the data card for The Swiss Colony Catalog Food and Gift Buyers mailing list. Now that's not only an impressive statistic, but valuable information for list brokers. Take a look at the hightly correlated lists section and you'll see Godiva Chocolatier. Maybe it's time to start thinking 'Outside The Box of Chocolates'?