Marketing Reflections: The G-Unit Collection

The Vibe announcement reminded me to check out their site where I rediscovered their smart use of a home page blog for pieces that are being posted online, including this promo bit for the G-Unit collection's new footwear. The big news is the new G-Unit B1 Boot and I wish the piece at Vibe had a larger picture of the boot because going to the Reebok site was an exercise in frustration. They feature the G-Unit collection on the home page with no direct link. Then you go to the real home page, i.e. the page with actual information, and click on the menu under Men's for G-Unit which takes you to a page that asks if you want to see the Men's, Women's or Kid's collection and so forth. I still don't know what the boot really looks like.

I bring this up because to get a promo piece like that on the website of a publication like Vibe is a great opportunity, however it came about. To then squander that opportunity due to poor site navigation is a sad state of affairs that speaks to the weird divisions that arise between duties when a web site becomes part of the mix. However, it's such a common state of affairs that I will only periodically comment when something startling catches my eye.

Actually, the most startling aspect of the G-Unit campaign is not the everyday failure of web navigation, rather, at website scale, the tagline for the main promotional image says:
THE NEW B1 - PUTTING IN WORK
Except, on the screen, it looks like THE NEW BI, as in bisexual. However, I'm sure such a sexual innuendo will go right over the heads of Reebok's target market, especially given that the constant flaming, I mean, battling over sexual identity and practice between 50 Cent and Ja Rule in past years seems to have subsided.

Vibe President Gibbs on Vibe Awards Events

Kenard Gibbs, president of Vibe magazine, has come out with a strong statement regarding events at the recent Vibe Awards taping. In the comments quoted by Billboard, Gibbs appropriately notes the connections between recent events and underlying problems of violence and male identity. And Vibe has made the right choice, and the expected one, to continue the Awards show. I think Gibbs clearly articulates the fact that this is a moment when corporate and community needs and concerns are closely aligned.

The January issue of Vibe is planned as a response to both the Vibe Awards events and deeper issues that may have contributed to the madness at the taping. I'm still holding out for a step-by-step analysis of who was invited, who made their way in and how spatial issues were handled, from seating arrangements to backstage access. And, although an earlier post suggests that I would seek to blame individuals, I am actually more interested in how such a system works because I know each individual within it, no matter how powerful, acts within a complicated web of influences.

New Zealand Hip Hop and R&B Station Blows Up

In Auckland, New Zealand, with a highly saturated radio market, the wildly popular debut of hip hop and R&B station Flava 96one has captured everyone's attention.

Sub/Urban Fashion Items

I just ran into a reprint of this still relatively recent feature on Indianapolis based clothing chain Man Alive that built its current success on bringing urban fashions to the suburbs. This longer version gives some fascinating background on what appeared to be a questionable choice to emphasize hip hop related fashions and how that's paid off for this family owned chain.

However, the Man Alive feature failed to consider that Western wear may be the next big urban trend. For my part, I'm just waiting for Kanye West inspired fashions to hit my block.

Label Authorized Filesharing Stirring Discussion

The announcement that UMG, Sony BMG and the Warner Music Group have licensed their catalogs to Wurld Media for its Peer Impact service is another major event for developers of legal P2P filesharing.  Sony BMG also recently became the first major label to work with Mashboxx, a legal P2P service created by Grokster's Wayne Rosso using Snocap technology developed by Napster's Shawn Fanning.  UMI is also reported to have licensed its catalog directly to Snocap.  Both Peer Impact and Mashboxx should launch in 2005.

Apparently Wurld Media CEO Greg Kerber hopes that the community aspects of P2P and user interface "creature comforts" will allow legal filesharing services to compete with digital download stores that currently share the same pricing, have larger catalogs and are easier to use.  Although his comparison to EBay is unconvincing, it does suggest that digital download stores might strengthen their positions by emphasizing online community.

Attorney Fred Von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation also questions the viability of these new services and suggests an emphasis on services like Weed and Altnet that use established filesharing networks to distribute authorized files.  In an especially interesting series of discussion threads at Slashdot, the value proposition for the consumer of these new initiatives is thoroughly dissected.

Marketing Debacles in Sports and Hip Hop

An attempt by Florida Atlantic University to meet NCAA attendance requirements by having the Ying Yang Twins perform at a football game has been stopped short by closer study of the act's lyrical history. This situation is strongly illustrative of the difficulties of using hip hop when marketing to youth and young adults and suggests that closer study of past marketing victories featuring controversial rock artists might be in order.

In news of related failures in the nexus of sports, music and marketing, Ron Artest's new label's first release by R&B group Allure has been a nonstarter. Some news outlets are even reporting that Artest has released a rap album that did poorly and, as it turns out, when everybody was getting upset with Ron for wanting some time off to promote his new album, he meant the R&B release.

However, before sports reporters begin turning their keen powers of social analysis on brawlers like Bobby Brown or running corrections that simply replace "rap" with "r'n'b", I want to be the first to report the, largely unverifiable outside of this office, rumor that Artest was observed furtively ditching the packaging for the recently released deluxe collector's edition Black Sabbath boxed set. You know, the one that comes with a jewel-encrusted spinning dove's head.

P. Diddy Hit With Another Lawsuit

P. Diddy has apparently been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly participating in the beat down of a former intern. However, for some reason, this item is receiving little coverage at the moment.

Talking With the Author of They Made America

NPR's Tavis Smiley and They Made America author Sir Harold Evans discuss the book on which the television series was based.  Russell Simmons is featured in They Made America along with other "inventors and innovators".

MP3 Cell Phones

The whole concept of MP3 cell phones really seems like a fruitful direction for mobile music.

Pimp My Ride News

I'm not sure if this Fool.com report on Autozone is simply using "Pimp Your Own Ride" as a metaphor or if there has been a visible effect on car parts and accessories sales due to the popularity of the MTV series hosted by Xzibit.  But it's certainly an interesting place to start when considering hip hop's entry into the automotive sector.

An idiosyncratic take on the popular show reminds us that one of the coolest things about Pimp My Ride is seeing poor and working class folks getting hooked up with rides that are otherwise out of their reach.  Total fairy tale action and so much more kindhearted than concepts like the "weakest link" or punchlines like "you're fired."

In related PMR news, West Coast Customs, who've become famous as the setting and crew for the television show that started it all, will be appearing at the, sometimes controversial, Modified Madness show at Penn State in May.  The new venue sounds like a good fit for such a popular and dynamic auto show.

Sony to Release Chappelle Special on DVD

Last week it was reported that Dave Chappelle's Showtime Special would be released in June by Sony. Chappelle's high status and wide following within the ranks of hip hop fans is undeniable. Hopefully this release will be a bright spot for Sony, an influential company with streaks of brilliance, whose S&P credit rating was recently lowered for the first time in a decade.

SIRIUS Reaches 800k Subscribers

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced yesterday that it passed the 800k subscriber mark with a million possible before the New Year. Although this does seem more attributable to Howard Stern than to Eminem, one wonders at the possibilities of truly uncensored hip hop radio, especially considering the strength of car culture among hip hop fans.

Lil Jon at the Yahoo! Buzz Index

Over at the Yahoo! Buzz Index, Tuesday's featured search story is Lil' Jon and the East Side Boyz whose release Crunk Juice inspired a mad number of searches. The entry includes the "five most crunked-out metros" with the San Francisco Bay area at no. 2. Because I haven't been keeping up with the crunk diaspora, I can't evaluate that ranking. But I do wonder if they are lumping "hyphy" and crunk together.

Hip Hop Related Games at 1 and 2 in the UK

GamesIndustry.biz reports that GTA: San Andreas and Need for Speed Underground 2 are at first and second place in the UK Charts. GTA: San Andreas has regained no. 1 while Need for Speed Underground 2 debut sales beat out Half-Life 2. However, they point out that Half-Life 2's direct download sales via Valve's new Steam download service are not included in the figures.

In related news, Valve has disabled over 20k Steam accounts due to attempts to download Half-Life 2 without paying.

College Radio Station Starts Label

Although the only direct connection to hip hop seems to be the headline, this article on college radio station WMUC 88.1 FM's founding of a record label also discusses their gradual move from a nonprofit to a self-funded project. WMUC is based at the University of Maryland.