Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 9:05PM What Sarah Palin and the Beatles did this week that many thought unlikely: They're making money.
Against all odds.
Two big commercial ventures made surprising marketing headlines in the last two days. Today the recordings of the Beatles--for the first time ever--made their debut in the iTunes Store; two days ago--last Sunday night--the debut of "Sarah Palin's Alaska" on Discovery Communications' TLC channel was sponsored by some pretty heavy hitters, advertising-wise. Let's briefly note what so news-worthy about each story, one at a time...
Come together, right now.
It's been a remarkably long time that the world's largest retail music supplier has not carried music and videos supplied by history's most famous and arguably best selling entertainment group. In fact, the first time was today, November 16, 2010, when the deficiency got corrected. Delayed for over seven years--and that's a long time to miss out on the opportunity to sell product--Apple's iTunes and the descendants of the Beatles' Apple Corp worked out all the tortuous details stemming from their legal squabble, preparing the way for any and all who want to load up on what was once a prime commodity.
You can buy the entire collection of Beatles' work for $150, but my sense is that the zenith for the sale of Beatles' stuff has long passed with the coming and going of several generations of new performers and now old fans. Yes, there's money to be made by Sony [the copyright holder of Beatle's material], but if you asked me, both Apple and Sony are very late to the party. Nonetheless, the important point to be made is this: they're coming together to sell in the iTunes Store what has been so long in coming, in fact it wasn't really anticipated to happen ever! The big news here is that it's now finally occurred, even though it's a little passe at this point!
Who thought Sarah to have all that much juice?
If you listened to most main-stream media commentators, you'd be challenged to bet much money that Sarah Palin would attract the attention and interest of very many people who were, well, how should I put this, normal! If you were among those who didn't anticipate the success of Sarah Palin's Alaska, which airs on eight Sunday evenings on the Discovery Communication's TLC channel, you'd be very wrong. Indeed, the word success is an understatement.
Two days ago her program debuted and the program broke all kinds of viewer records, fundamentally tied for third place in the ratings for cable programs for the week of November 14; Sarah Palin's Alaska attracted 5M viewers in the process. This viewer popularity, however, was--despite political commentators' collective wisdom--anticipated by savvy marketing pros--who, apparently, didn't pay that much attention of conventional punditry; the parade of advertisers was lead by Progressive Insurance, Lowe's, J.P. Morgan Chase's Chase Bank, P&G, Sun Products, T-Mobile, LG, Hallmark Cards, and Blue Buffalo; all were primed to make serious money in the process.
So there you have it, against all odds, two events anticipated to never happen in your lifetime or mine, save for the intervention of clever marketing pros: the Beatles in the iTunes Store and Sarah Palin "bustin' through that glass ceiling" of reported public disapproval. It's amazing what can be accomplished when you understand what consumers are looking for!
AFTER NOTE: I'm posting a couple of great articles that feature the celebration surrounding the iTunes-Beatles' "marriage" on the blog's FB Page! Check them out if you're a fan of either one! KBM
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Reader Comments (1)
I was also surprised at the success of Sarah Palin's Alaska. The Palin's are definitely having a good week, since Bristol Palin is moving on to the finals of Dancing with the Stars, to the shock of many of the show's most loyal fans, including a man in Wisconsin who literally shot his television.
I think there is something to be said for Sarah Palin never making apologies for being a polarizing figure.