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There is a huge difference between grabbing attention, and stealing someone’s time!
I am all for taking action to stand out from the crowd, but never do so at the expense of your desired perception. Unless you want to be known as the type of individual or business who supports that kind of behavior, then I guess last night, Ms. Miley’s performance was a huge success!
Now, I have been known to skirt the edges of “acceptable,” but when it comes to marketing your business, not all publicity is, in my opinion, good publicity. Last night, during the MTV Video Music Awards (which I didn’t know MTV played music videos), Miley Cyrus, in her usual fashion, made a fool of herself. It’s undoubtedly going to be the talk of the town this Monday morning, but at whose expense?
Her publicist will be grinning from ear to ear as Miley’s Twitter status escalates to unforeseen levels, but what will happen when she outgrows this rebel child persona, and attempts to make her mark as an adult with “musical talent?”
Miley Cyrus is a business. Just like yours, there will be a youth phase along with a maturing stage. In the beginning, all of these outrageous antics will yield amazing buzz worthy results, but after a while, she will want to make a positive impact, and be respected for her ability to offer a quality product. Her product is music…sort of. Or maybe, her product is the vulgarity that continues to sell outrageously in the media. Either way, it will be insanely difficult for her to redirect her brand’s perception.
As a business owner, entertainer, actor or musician, you have to always look a few steps ahead of the present. What you do today, your advertising, marketing, social interactions will all combine to form a lasting impression.
So before I go on a rant about how Miley Cyrus gave the nation its first television induced transmission of herpes, I am going to summarize my thoughts, take a shower, and aggressively try to expel her image out of my stolen brain space.
Be smart about the actions you take to gain yourself and your business attention. Every effort should provide your audience something in return for their attention. Even the great marketer, showman, and well-known Boss of the Big Top, P.T. Barnum understood that humans, by nature, love witnessing a hoax or a confusion of reality.
But he gave them something in return for his trickery.
He gave them an experience that they would share for generations! He never wasted their time with raunchy displays of nastiness, or worthless expression of so-called talents. No, P.T. gave them something well worth their monetary investment. Even when they would find out days later that old Barnum’s display was a farce, they would return to be tricked again. And they loved him for it!
Why?
Because they lauded his efforts as a master of amazement, and they knew that their time, money and brain space would never be wasted.
I will continue to urge you to take action, and do something crazy from time to time to boost your exposure. Shout your existence from the rooftops! But in doing so, just be sure to never…
Steal my time!
Actually, I might even take two showers. Something tells me that after last night’s Miley mind rape, one shower won’t do the trick.
P.S. I will refrain from sharing a link, and I know that even authoring this post will add to the subjects popularity, but the link below will lead you to a poll on NPR’s site broadcasting the breaking down the public’s response to her performance.
I’m definitely no “stick in the mud,” but if I was Billy Ray, I’d slip those line dancing boots back on, and give Ms. Miley and Achy Breaky Ass whoopin’! ~Andy #themarketingguy