Case Study for MySpace
Encouraging MySpace denizens to attend a physical event
It will be certainly easy to say that with the wide fanbase of MySpace it will be easy to source audiences for physical events such as concerts, movie showings, or symposia. For one, MySpace’s so-called denizens are highly social. They like belonging to their groups and creating connections with others. In the case of MySpace, with its global reach, members will most likely be interested with acquaintances even from overseas as well.
Yet there are several considerations which have to be made. It should be noted that many of MySpace users, like other tech networking fans, are more comfortable socializing anonymously, meaning they are social animals only when they are not in the traditional socializing process of personal interaction. Thus, if majority of the denizens are imbibing this principle, it will certainly be hard for the members to stand from their couches or computer swivel chairs and go out to party.
Another consideration is the interest and the capability of the denizens to party or attend a physical event. Within the millions of users, it will be impossible to correlate their interests without fault. For instance, they will have hundreds of differing choices for performers, book authors, or artists. Then there are parents of the younger denizens who may not at all be open to these sorts of socialization. They may also be incapable of supporting these events if they will have to pay.
With these in mind, MySpace should consider keeping invitations hip, trendy, and group-oriented. If they have to go personalized, it will not hurt at all. It is also important to survey choices for performers, and to hold an event for several artists rather then sponsoring a single performer. Lastly, MySpace should advocate for their younger patrons the respect for limitations set upon them albeit in a creative way.
Going out of the online scene
Going offline—out of the internet and in to the mainstream media—is a challenge for MySpace. Even if people can easily identify with the brand, putting it on a record label or an event can make or break it. It can make the brand more popular and benefit the online site as well as the offline products; or it can make the brand look and feel cheap. Yet there are several strategies that can be used to answer these dilemmas.
If MySpace wants to feature online-discovered bands, it should look for a common denominator among the bands and group them together according to their similarities. This will give the label better impact, instead of an album of mixed sounds of unknown singers. It will also help if the albums can feature a band of the moment of some sort to give the initial pull of audiences. Eventually, the newbies will have their part on the industry.
Moving on to other items, it is important that MySpace keep the look and feel of their website in all the novelties that they will be coming up with. This will keep their products and features in unison. They should remember camaraderie, friendship, socialization, and fun in mind. This will ensure that the novelties will be as unique as the MySpace brand.
Of all offline features, events will be the easiest to manipulate. However, they should not revolve around meetups for their members only. They should diverge into concerts, movie showings, and symposia on topics concerning the youth. Less expected combinations such as MySpace and education drives, MySpace and sports festivities and the likes—which can also attract interesting contradictions—are good choices to begin with. At this point, the focus should be widened. The target market here is no longer the computer-bound denizens but rather the general public.
