Posts from — December 2010

Early this year, the wildly phenomenal TV program Glee featured music by Madonna. This musical comedy-drama TV show pulls together music from many different genres, from rock, pop, rap, R&B to more traditional Broadway showtunes. With over thirteen million digital single sales and five million album sales, the music on the show has become a commercial success with fans who are both young and old.

Featuring Madonna on that one episode became the most expensive Glee episode ever created. Network programs usually have a music budget between $100,000 to $200,000 and spent between $10,000 and $15,000 for the license to use a track.

Needless to say, Glee must have spent a fortune on their tribute to Madonna. Was it worth it? For both Glee and Madonna, yes, it was. The “Glee” episode — “Glee: The Power of Madonna” — and accompanying record  came out one week after Madonna’s Sticky & Sweet Tour CD and DVD hit the market. The album debuted in the Top 10, and the DVD topped the music-video charts.

In general, the “Glee” albums are doing pretty well. “Glee Volume 1,” which came out in November 2009, has sold 776,000 units between November and April 2010, and “Volume 2,” which came out in December, has sold 574,000 between December and April 2010, aside from the digital sales. The show, itself, is extremely popular. It started out with around 9 million viewers for it’s pilot episode, and rose to 11.07 million viewers for the season finale.

TV has never seen a program like this before, and it targets people of all ages. It is a unique show that resurrects old, classic rock songs (that my dad used to listen to) and reintroduces them to the younger generation (aka me). Sure, you can put a price on how much it costs to produce and create a TV show like this. However, the price to bring families together and totally create a new pop culture of Gleeks around the world? Priceless.

Ever since taking COMM 101, I’ve become more aware of marketing through social media. This past weekend, when I was up at Whistler for a “relaxing girls getaway weekend” at a bed and breakfast, we went to the Village for an afternoon and had coffee at a café called The Lift Coffee Company, an independent coffee/espresso bar that serves breakfasts, as well as paninis, sandwiches and pastries. As a small company, word-of-mouth is the best way to promote the company; and being available to consumers on the web through Facebook and Twitter (targeting younger crowds who go to Whistler to ski) should be a great marketing strategy for them.

"We are now on Facebook + Twitter. Follow, comment, give feedback, get involved!"

Unlike Shoestring’s Diner, which we wrote our group business plan on, social media marketing should work for The Lift Coffee Company. Shoestring’s, on the other hand, targets families and already has marketing programs using email and coupons.

Why is it, then, that Lift Coffee Company only has 64 fans on their Facebook page, and 29 followers on Facebook? Their Facebook page includes information about their opening hours, address, phone number, payment options, price range, specialties and services. Their last tweet was last September and mostly consist of local shout-outs.

In order to improve this marketing strategy, the company should perhaps provide more promotions as incentives for their Twitter followers and Facebook fans. Without this, there is no reason for consumers to utilize these web tools. On Twitter, each tweet should include a #whistler hashtag so that it’s more specifically targeting Twitter users who’re searching for tweets about Whistler. Their Facebook should also more actively communicate with their fans to ask for feedback or ask what the consumers want, so that they’re better able to cater to their customers.

With the holiday season coming up and with Whistler as a popular destination spot during the winter, The Lift Coffee Company should be able to draw in more customers if they implement these marketing changes quickly.