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Issue 1, vol. 2 - February 2006
This space is MySpace, this space is your space… all around the world, individuals, music and video entertainment artists, publishers, non-profit organizations and corporations are devoting hours of time each week to work on their MySpace.com pages. Why these diverse groups join is not that different – it’s all in the name of shameless self-promotion.
It’s no wonder that corporations are flocking to the site – with its 47 million users worldwide (after only two years) and a reported growth rate of four to five million users per month, it seems like a goldmine! Data from our Fall 2005 Ping survey places MySpace.com as the top 18th website overall for youth aged 14 to 29 – and no doubt, this position has climbed significantly since.
Marketing opportunities on this site run the gamut
The most obvious opportunity posed on MySpace ties into music – a MySpace page is a must for music artists, from mega-superstars to local garage bands. Fans can listen to songs and watch videos on artists’ sites; beyond that, they can even stream those artists’ songs and videos on their own page. Word of mouth is the modus operandi here.
However, some companies outside of music acts have managed to create MySpace pages that leverage the right level of humour and self-reverential attitude to address this young audience. Wendy’s has the right idea – their page at myspace.com/wendysquare focuses on the square shape of their hamburger patty, but it doesn’t feel like a corporate page that tries too hard to win appeal.
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The page appears to belong to a square cartoon character, called Smart. He’s 28-years-old, lives in New York City, cites fave movies such as Union Square, North Square, Square Dance and The Children of Times Square and hopes to meet Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. To date, Smart has 101,862 friends who leave thousands of comments like, “today after snow shredding i ate 5 jbcs [Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers] and they were so good” and “Ur big round eyes, ur squareness, i cant take it i want U!!!!!!” and “Its hip to be a square! ♥”. It is exactly this level of interaction and fun that draws people to this page to request to be added to Smart’s friend space.
Is MySpace right for my brand?
There are definitely risks that come along with creating a branded corporate MySpace page. First off, there’s no control over the comments users leave on your page, aside from deleting the comment entirely. Corporations that join should expect to see profanity, nudity and all around vulgarity. If your brand is sensitive to this and isn’t comfortable with these associations, then MySpace might not be for you.
Secondly, the creative bar needs to be raised in this environment – where the audience is discerning and less conventional tactics need to be employed to attain reach.
In addition, social networking sites come and go with the swiftness of highly volatile fashion trends, so who is to say that MySpace will have more longevity than Friendster or LiveJournal or Xanga – especially when communities such as the photo-blogging site, Flickr, or the student-oriented site, Facebook, are the newer hot sites on the horizon?
For now, MySpace can be a good place to reach and get feedback from young and passionate influencers.
Young people are far less likely to describe television as their "primary source of entertainment" than the general population. In fact, 19-24-year-olds cumulatively spend about 14 hours per week on the Internet for entertainment or communication versus an average nine hours of TV watching. It is important to note that young people are participating in more than one activity online at a time and this figure doesn’t even include hours spent online for work or research. While TV still plays a key role as an effective and necessary advertising medium for large-scale brands, it's not hard to see why many marketers are going online to reach young people.
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