Creating a Following -- Chris Isaak's New Album 'Mr. Lucky'

I am a big Chris Isaak fan.  I have loved his music since the early 90's.  One of my top 10 albums of all time would have to include his album 'Forever Blue.'  After a 7 year wait between studio albums (he released a greatest hits a couple of years ago with two new songs) he has finally released his new album 'Mr. Lucky.'  I am enjoying the album as I am typing this blog and it is quite good.  If you like Chris Isaak's music, you should check it out.

What does this have to do with communication you may ask?  Its all about creating a following.  We are all trying to do this.  Whatever business you are involved in, each one of us is trying to be a rock-star -- we want people to come back to our products or services whenever we have something new to offer.  This is what musicians do, what artists do and what successful businesses do.  So are you creating a following, or are you just making noise?  

Sometimes it takes some changes to get that following.  Most people know who Chris Isaak is from his video 'Wicked Game.'  In the video, he is on a island with Helena Christiansen, who is dressed rather suggestively, and they are kissing and running around on the island.  Needless to say, the video was successful.  What a lot of people don't know is that there was another video for Wicked Game before they produced the one everyone knows.  The video and song was not doing well and the CD was not selling.  They knew that the song was good and could be popular, they just needed an effective way to sell it.

Now, I am not saying that you need to add sex appeal to your products.  What I am saying is that if you are struggling with getting your name out there or getting a new product launched, take a step back and see if the problem is the message.  Are you conveying it in a way that is building a following?  Is there something different that you can do?  Just by changing something, you can create a long-term success instead of dragging your feet and constantley struggling.  This is what Chris Isaak was able to do.  He knew that he could be successful, and with a change in his advertising, he was able to develop a large following.

Travis

Comments

[hay]

Very few companies actually have "a message".
For those that do, their message is usually about themselves. If they made their message about the customer, they would get that following.