My Reckless Experience

No, not a story of remorse and regret, but instead the story of my discovery of Reckless Records in Chicago.

How does Reckless Records remain relevant In an era of instant downloads ? 

How does it compete with virtual access to the worlds largest music libraries ?

Why is it still here when technology from brands such as Itunes, Spotify, Pandora, Amazon render this place obsolete?

I believe it's because I can:

1. Discover and explore music with (almost) all of my senses.
2. Be certain that popularity is not the only arbiter of taste.
3. Buy VHS and cassette tapes. (I didn't as I don't have anything to play them on - but was honestly surprised, that people still do !)
4. Ask the staff questions about music and musicians - which they are more than keen to answer.
5. Immerse in the feeling that I can't get this anywhere else
6. Leave with the belief that whatever I buy here is more valuable, meaningful and important than getting it from somewhere else.
7. Be certain that I will tell people about it
8. Be certain that I will go back.

This brand is not in the business of selling music. Its value comes from facilitating community via music, and an experience beyond the function of selling things.

You can call me Al

I welcomed in the new year with my wife and 4 friends at a restaurant. Music was provided by a 3 piece band.

Unfortunately a lot of the music they played wasn't to my taste and the vocalist wasn't exactly the best singer, especially during a rather painful (yet entertaining) rendition of Paul Simon's 'You can call me Al' (I have truly never heard a trumpet played that badly in my life).

Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining, because I had a great time, and I get the sense that the band did as well. They played with enthusiasm and with a feel for the crowd. They played stuff that filled the dance floor, and emptied the dance floor, stuff that people liked, and stuff that people didn't know. But they kept playing and they kept trying.

Were they remarkable ? Not necessarily in the way that will take them to the top of the Billboard 100, but enough for me to enter 2010 with joy and anticipation, because they played with passion, and that is priceless.

Billboard.com – how to refresh brand equity without alienating your consumers

As a music fan one of the sites I visit almost on a daily basis is billboard with core brand equity elements of the 'authority', and 'champion' of the music industry. It’s a great portal for sales and shipment data, charts, news, reviews and general music industry gossip. So on Saturday when I logged in – I was surprised to see a radical site redesign. Granted the old site was tired and driven by banner ad’s, but was easy to navigate and content rich.

A New Business Model

With focus on downloading music (via lala.com), I sense a change of business model – to actively generate user revenue and return visits vs. the ad driven model.

Is it the same brand?
I’m not sure that I like the new ‘MySpace’ feel which undermines the ‘authority’ brand value. The brand clearly needs to evolve and perhaps has succeeded - I have already opened a www.Lala.com account and downloaded music (by Alexi Murdoch).

Marketing works !

This could prove to be a classic marketing case study where a brand:
a) Reinvents itself by refreshing its equity - but not straying too far (simply by adding ‘first choice’) as an additional equity element
b) Ensures it understand how to engage and retain consumers
c) Drives the top and bottom line

Bravo to the marketing folks at Billboard.