"The Tortured Poets Department" Has Dropped

Edition 17 - And I'd steer clear of the Tums guy. It's not gonna end well.

Apr 21, 2024

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Brands Tell ‘Value Exchange’ to “Go to Hell!”

This Edition has nothing to do with creative technologies of any kind (I did slip one in at the bottom). I included this main story for a number of reasons.

It is relevant pop culture news. And a surprise double-album. Remember getting two vinyl LP’s with all of the album artwork? Never mind.
This artist will probably eclipse P&G one day by way of her talent and smarts.
According to Alexa, the average age of a Swiftie is 24. Which brings me to my next point …
The thought of these big brands (who might be smaller than her) dispatching their Swiftie-laden social teams scrambling for any kind of earned media (free advertising) seems desperate.
1. This affected “perceived relevance” by inserting brands into social discourse while avoiding spending official endorsement-sized money paints a picture of desperation and pathos. A squirrelly move of sorts. And no value is passed on to the consumer other than an attempted “Look at us. We are a brand of the times.”
2. So yes - no real value is exchanged for parking their brand in your feed. But because they participated, they just know all of the “Swifties” will buy their sh*t because THEY are a cool brand.
  Damn. This one got by me. I’ll just park this right here while I eat crow. Lyft did it right. Lyft responded to a request and conversed in an authentic way. The thread is a great example of effectively grabbing attention by giving something back (discount code).
  THIS, is social engagement.
  Also, Lyft sounds like they are fans too. Like they want to be there versus doing a job. And they’re directing people to Tik-Tok for more codes. A scavenger hunt. Seems more fun than posting a pic of a distended guy about to cut loose. Just sayin.’
  Much of all of the other crap brands post are one-way conversations within their corporate echo chambers. If you’re going to invest in social, why not engage in brand conversations? C’mon people. You know this.
Finally, (sticking my neck out here) the first cut on ‘The Tortured Poets Department” featuring Post Malone I found to be a surprisingly great song. However, halfway through the second cut my daughter asked me to stop playing Spotify in the car.