U2 and the revenge of “old media”

Have you noticed U2’s gutsy distribution strategy for the newly released No Line on the Horizon? I don’t mean the predictable release of the album on MySpace prior to its March 3 launch in stores — but rather the heavy reliance on an allegedly dead medium, the compact disc.  At Best Buy, you can find the album available in five formats:

  • Regular CD
  • Limited edition digi pak that includes CD, color booklet, poster, and exclusive downloadable film access.
  • Limited edition magazine that includes a CD, 60-page magazine, and exclusive downloadable film access.
  • Vinyl LP
  • Limited edition box set that contains a digi pak CD, DVD of an exclusive film by Anton Corbijn, a 64-page hardback book, and a fold-out poster

At a time when digital downloads have all but rendered the CD an afterthought, what gives?  Here’s what U2 is doing:

  • Leveraging the power of the brick-and-mortar retailer.   We’ve recently seen the Eagles and AC/DC successfully move CDs through Wal-Mart.  And Prince just struck a deal for Target to be the exclusive retailer for a disc set to be released March 29.  Why?  Not because the CD is obsolete — but rather the old ways of distributing content are dead.  The Best Buys, Starbucks, Wal-Marts, and Targets of the world can act as DJ, distributor, and marketer rolled into one.  During the release of Black Ice, AC/DC provided the soundtrack for the Wal-Mart shopping experience, and well-placed displays opened up the band’s back catalog  to shoppers, too.  All told, Black Ice moved 2 million units in 2008.
  • Fighting the commoditization and degradation of music.  Rock has always been as much about image as it has the music.  Sleek packaging creates an experience that helps build image and differentiate one band from another.  By contrast, digital marginalizes a band’s image and degrades the quality of its product through inferior downloads.  It’s well known that MP3 compression causes a loss of sound quality, and the slightest glitch in your broadband connection is a total buzzkill for streaming songs.  Superior packaging and well-produced sound captured on disc are two weapons in favor of a band like U2, which understands the power of image and the relationship between its image and sonic power.

U2 isn’t the only band embracing the “old.”  In 2008, David Gilmour released at least five versions of his Live in Gdansk, for instance.  Both Radiohead and Beck have released music in playful packages with stickers that consumers can use to deocorate the CD sleeves.

Soon I’m going to learn more about how artists are seizing more control of content distribution when musician and producer David A. Stewart appears at the 9th annual Razorfish Client Summit April 21-23 in Las Vegas.  (I’m putting together the agenda for my employer Razorfish.)

He’s going to discuss how artists like himself are dropping “a neutron bomb” on the current entertainment distribution model.  I can’t wait to hear him speak.  And I hope we see more bands like U2 giving us experiences we can touch and feel.

Reforming Black Friday

Shortly after I wrote a blog post about the social nature of Black Friday, I learned about the unfortunate incident at a New York Wal-Mart, when a temporary store employee, Jdimytai Damour, was trampled to death by a stampede of Black Friday shoppers. In the aftermath of this tragedy, fingers of blame are pointing in many directions, but so far I’ve heard few solutions to reforming Black Friday. So I’ll offer some of my own based on the following premise: only by understanding crowd behavior will retailers take some badly needed steps to reform Black Friday.

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Yep. This is Wal-Mart.

In Springfield, Illinois, not far from where Barack Obama introduced Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, stands an attractive, custard-colored building adorned with red brick walkways, fountains, and two colonnades with quotations from Abraham Lincoln tastefully carved into them.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library? Nope. I’m talking about a new Wal-Mart that opened in July.

The latest addition to the Wal-Mart chain takes a bold (some might say blasphemous) approach of modeling itself after the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in downtown Springfield (pictured below):

I did a double take the first time I saw the Abraham Lincoln Wal-Mart rising from the flat prairie. What is this? Here stood a large, boxy, building, yes — but one with some energy and movement in the design of its front facade, with water fountains and a pond gracing the more functional-looking backside of the store.

By making its singnage understated, Wal-Mart risks causing just a tad bit of momentary confusion (“Is this a Wal-Mart, really?”), but the building attracts your attention straight off, which is important to getting the consumer engaged, obviously.

Yes, the building cannot escape the necessity of a large, bland parking lot in front. But closer to the building, at least you can enjoy wide brick walkways clearly designed to give pedestrians breathing space. Prominent colonnades feature quotes from our 16th president, such as. “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” I’m not sure Honest Abe had Wal-Mart shoppers in mind when he uttered those words, but so be it. (Perhaps a more appropriate Lincoln quote for Wal-Mart would have been, “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.”)

The new Springfield Wal-Mart is just another sign of how marketers and retailers are responding to a cluttered world of their own making by appealing to consumers through an experience that connects with you emotionally. There are only so many ways you can make merchandise attractive. Experience-based marketing makes the shopping environment itself, whether a digital or physical store, a fun and engaging destination, which is why it appeals so much to retailers (see Nike Town and American Girl Store). And now, even Wal-Mart.

Yep. This is Wal-Mart.

In Springfield, Illinois, not far from where Barack Obama introduced Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate, stands an attractive, custard-colored building adorned with red brick walkways, fountains, and two colonnades with quotations from Abraham Lincoln tastefully carved into them.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library? Nope. I’m talking about a new Wal-Mart that opened in July.

The latest addition to the Wal-Mart chain takes a bold (some might say blasphemous) approach of modeling itself after the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in downtown Springfield (pictured below):

I did a double take the first time I saw the Abraham Lincoln Wal-Mart rising from the flat prairie. What is this? Here stood a large, boxy, building, yes — but one with some energy and movement in the design of its front facade, with water fountains and a pond gracing the more functional-looking backside of the store.

By making its singnage understated, Wal-Mart risks causing just a tad bit of momentary confusion (“Is this a Wal-Mart, really?”), but the building attracts your attention straight off, which is important to getting the consumer engaged, obviously.

Yes, the building cannot escape the necessity of a large, bland parking lot in front. But closer to the building, at least you can enjoy wide brick walkways clearly designed to give pedestrians breathing space. Prominent colonnades feature quotes from our 16th president, such as. “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” I’m not sure Honest Abe had Wal-Mart shoppers in mind when he uttered those words, but so be it. (Perhaps a more appropriate Lincoln quote for Wal-Mart would have been, “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business.”)

The new Springfield Wal-Mart is just another sign of how marketers and retailers are responding to a cluttered world of their own making by appealing to consumers through an experience that connects with you emotionally. There are only so many ways you can make merchandise attractive. Experience-based marketing makes the shopping environment itself, whether a digital or physical store, a fun and engaging destination, which is why it appeals so much to retailers (see Nike Town and American Girl Store). And now, even Wal-Mart.

Long road out of Wal-Mart

While the blogosphere was doting on Radiohead’s digital release of In Rainbows, the Eagles were making their own attempt to sidestep the recording industry with the release of Long Road out of Eden. But I’m not so sure I get the Eagles’ approach. For its first studio recording in nearly 30 years, the Eagles chose to distribute through Eaglesband.com and Wal-Mart. OK, I’m totally onboard with using the web (and plenty of other goodies are available on Eaglesband.com, too.) But Wal-Mart? First of all, Wal-Mart represents a questionable choice as a brand partner for an ornery group of hard-living guys who have cultivated an outlaw mythology. And have you actually tried to buy the recording at your nearest Wal-Mart? Continue reading

Long road out of Wal-Mart

While the blogosphere was doting on Radiohead’s digital release of In Rainbows, the Eagles were making their own attempt to sidestep the recording industry with the release of Long Road out of Eden. But I’m not so sure I get the Eagles’ approach. For its first studio recording in nearly 30 years, the Eagles chose to distribute through Eaglesband.com and Wal-Mart. OK, I’m totally onboard with using the web (and plenty of other goodies are available on Eaglesband.com, too.) But Wal-Mart? First of all, Wal-Mart represents a questionable choice as a brand partner for an ornery group of hard-living guys who have cultivated an outlaw mythology. And have you actually tried to buy the recording at your nearest Wal-Mart? Continue reading