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Leveraging the tech: REM

July 29, 2008 in music business, tech by George | 4 comments

My love of REM’s music is no secret. Put simply, I feel that they are one of the most important bands of all time, and their music is sort of the soundtrack to my life.

In my teaching, I often use them as an example (I sometimes have to put a moratorium on myself because I reference them so often) of the right way to do “it.” That is, the right way to handle band dynamics (veto power, equal division of songwriting); the right way to build a career (tour, tour, and, uh, tour); the right way to build a team (long-term relationships with lawyers, managers, agents, guitar techs, producers), and the right way to matter (constant integrity and adherence to core values).

I’m delighted to add to this list: The right way to innovative/leverage technology. Have a look at the web page for their current tour.

The site is a repository for fan created content. They say it more clearly:

Welcome to R.E.M.’s Tour 2008 Site, where you can see the content other R.E.M. fans have created at shows on the 2008 world tour, as well as post your own. Just tag your Flickr photos, YouTube videos, blogs, and Tweets, and they will automatically be collected here on our site.

So…REM fans can easily upload/disseminate their photos, Twitter tweets, blog posts, etc. to the REM Tour 2008 site simply by tagging their content appropriately.

I’ve been prattling on for several years now about the need for bands to give their fans tools that allow them to not just be passive recipients of the band’s music, but rather active contributors of the creation of the content.[*]. The REM Tour 2008 site demonstrates precisely how to empower the fans using the new tech.

As far as I know the only ones who are getting this right (or even trying) are REM and Cash Music. (I’m sure there are others, and I’d be delighted to be informed of who they are.)

Jim Collins said it very accurately in his book, Good to Great, “Technology is an accelerator.” If you utilize technology in a manner that is consistent with your core values and strategic plan, it will accelerate your success. If, on the other hand, if you flail aimlessly from whatever technology is current to the next, irrespective of the tech having any connection with your goals or values (assuming you have set goals or determined values), it will accelerate your failure.

You see this flailing on a daily basis just by looking at the teeming masses who set up a MySpace/Facebook page for their music, and then wait impatiently for things to start happening. When it inevitably does not, these people (often wrongly) assume that it’s their music that is flawed. In point of fact, their music has nothing to do with it. They’ve simply not found the link between the use of technology and their goals.

The best part about this for me is that the next time I ramble on in class about this approach, I’ll be able to point to the REM Tour 2008 site as empirical evidence of the theory being put into practice. Hurrah! (…we’re all free now…what noisy cats are we…)

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[*]REM has always had a wonderful relationship with their fans; exemplified by the Christmas 7″ singles that were sent out to fan club members many moons ago.

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What happens when you exceed expectations

June 29, 2008 in Uncategorized by George | 6 comments

Of all the lectures I have the opportunity to present, one I tremendously enjoy giving is when I get to talk about the importance of exceeding expectations. It’s really fun and easy to discuss bands who either fall below, meet, or beat customers’ expectations, and the consequences that occur.

Put simply: failing to meet expectations leads to bad word of mouth; meeting expectations leads to nothing; exceeding leads to loyalty and good word of mouth. The punch line, such as it is, is that meeting expectations is not enough because nothing happens.

This expectation thang played itself out in our house recently. We needed a toaster…badly. For some reason, toasters have always sort of been a problem for me. I hate toaster ovens (they’re just so 80s), and the random Sunbeam-esque toaster you get for $12 at the hardware store offends me from aesthetic and functionality perspectives. So, much to my wife, Marci’s, frustration, we just went without – toasting via broiling in the oven (yes, many smoke alarms went off) – for a long time.

Finally, Marci (rightly) would have no more of this, and I knew the game was afoot. Somehow, I stumbled upon the Breville Toaster.

One would think that there is not much room for improvement/innovation in a toaster. One would be wrong. Every piece of functionality on this booger has been thought out: The slider for degree of toastiness is a pleasing blue LED; When you put the toast in the slots you don’t push down to engage, but instead press the glowing toast button, and – as my daughter, Annabelle, says, “like an elevator” – the toast is gently loaded; There is a “Look and See” button that elevates the toast so you can check if it’s done (Annabelle loves this); Should your toast be not quite done, there is an “A bit more” button to…well, you get it.

It’s not just the functionality. The aesthetics are amazing: Real stainless steel, aforementioned glowing LED lights, and even a plug with a convenient loop so you can easily unplug.

See what I mean. I’m rhapsodizing about a toaster….a toaster.

This is what happens when expectations are exceeded; you want to tell people. Of course, you also want to have your expectations exceeded again. To wit, I’m now investigating all the other Breville products. Got my eye on the juicer, single shot coffee maker, and many others.

A last point. This toaster ain’t cheap. That said, the price is now a distant afterthought replaced by the pleasure of the machine. This is important to remember. When expectations are wildly exceeded, the product will enjoy a very inelastic demand.

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