Elvis Costello and Seth Godin aren’t usually spoken of in the same sentence. Pay attention:
Last week I suggested that unless he’s a real altruist Elvis Costello is a marketing genius. Over the weekend, Seth Godin made a point that proved the likelihood of the latter.
Godin, a real marketing genius, published a piece that spoke volumes about the changes in the media business (music. movies, TV, books, magazines, newspapers …). It arranges media in a pyramid, placing what Mr. Godin refers to as “Bespoke Media” at the top of the heap.
Bespoke Media is something that people pay extra for, just because. Usually the “just because” part has to do with they payers being rich and/or fanatic about the source of the media, and the idea of bespoke media is being used more and more to cram paid content (or the ancillary things it helps sell) back down toward the bottom of the media marketing pyramid.
And it’s brilliant business change. And the more I think about it the more sure I am that bespoke media is what Elvis Costello is trying to create.
I last mentioned Seth Godin a few months ago when he commented on a couple of other musicians. Mick Jagger and the boys weren’t shooting for business change in this story, but they achieved it by turning some questions “everyone knows the answer to” on their heads.
Thanks, Elvis Costello (and you too, Seth) for reminding us what happens when media companies fail to look forward. You may continue your marketing and business change efforts … now.
