Warner understands the future of reaching the youth audience (see the participation audience.) They get it. You see, the definition of Mass Media is changing from Media Made FOR an Audience – to – Media Made BY the Audience. This media is social in nature and the under 24 crowd are hungry for it. Take a look at The Veronicas’ Web Site and see for yourself. The site is divided between branded content pushed down by the label and social media created by the artists and their fans. Embracing social media is an opportunity to build deeper relationships with an audience with the additional benefit of engaging customers through lifestyle marketing efforts they respond to.
The Veronicas are a set of twins from Brisbane, Australia whose first song, 4Ever, will be forever drilled into your forever grateful brain by the eternal (gotcha!) generosity of every radio and television show in the modern world. In addition to the label’s standard issue tour date info, music video, and downloads the girls are utilizing a dazzling variety of social media tools and services to reach their audience. Street teams. Open-source forums. MySpace page. A TextAmerica photoblog. A Diary. There’s more. The world has changed in other ways. The overwhelming feeling of a fan’s enthusiasm was once commonly experienced only at in-person venues such as concert, record store and mall appearances. The emergence of music videos and online interaction expanded the scope to include the home and PC. Now, the time has come for entertainment brands and artists to deliver the connection every fan is striving for to virtually anywhere & anytime – via Direct-To-Consumer mobile services. These personalized, off-portal mobile applications fuel a fresh, increased connection to the fan base, driving loyalty and interest. The audience is moving from their TV screens – to their computer screens – to their mobile phone screen. So to distribute your message you need to move to where the audience is moving.
People from Japan to Korea to Europe to the United States are engaging content on mobile devices in record numbers – 70 million 18-to-34-year-olds in the US have cell phones. Mobile subscribers are demanding the content and connections they care about to be available everywhere, all the time, and without a lot of work. Research from mobile media firm Enpocket finds that 30% of respondents age 18-24 prefer their mobile phones over TV, newspapers, the Internet, radio and magazines.
A few weeks ago Warner called in Wireless Ink to help glue together branded content, ringtone partners, and audience generated social media into a single portal and make it available to fans on their mobile phone. “Any device”, they said. “Any carrier. No multiple versions of apps to distribute, download and install.” They simply wanted to push fans to a single address – as cleanly and neatly as possible. Wireless Ink provided Warner with a platform to publish content, a layer that connects a variety of social media, and a persistent mobile space to point live-venue and SMS marketing promotions. The whole process took approximately 15 minutes. Did I mention they needed it quick?
The Official Veronicas’ Mobile Site is now in soft launch. The girls start touring this month and as the fan base grows the mobile site will grow along with them. Wireless Ink is excited to be a part of it all…
…besides I can’t get 4Ever out of my head.
Peek into the secret life of the Veronicas at the Official Veronicas Mobile Site. Simply fire up your phone mobile browser and point it to: winksite.com/veronicas
