MySpace: The Trendiest Marketing Medium

I receive a daily email called the AAF Smart Brief from the American Advertising Federation which features a compiled list of advertising news articles. This article came from MediaPost Publications and was about how teenagers using social software such as MySpace are promoting brands. Shawn Gold, senior vice president of marketing and content for MySpace.com explained that social networks are “about individuality and identification and connecting with others.” Teens are trendsetters and they like to be the first to know what’s in and to spread their knowledge. On MySpace, teens are incorporating brands into their pages by posting pictures of their favorite products or celebrities.

MySpace is about “empowerment of the individual,” which has become a common theme in marketing and advertising today. Consumer empowerment is a newer trend and social software has become a place for “early adopters” and word-of-mouth marketing. Many users view social software as a trusted form of media. Advertisers have to adopt the tactics of consumer empowerment in order to take advantage of it and somewhat unlearn the tactics of traditional media. For example, several upcoming movies are releasing their trailers on MySpace, and/or incorporating games or activities that empower the consumer. Universal Pictures wanted to create buzz about its upcoming movie “Slither.” They gave fans a chance to create their own 30-second spot for the film and the winning spot will run in one of their television ads. Senior vice president of new media at Universal Pictures, Doug Neil explained, “We’re empowering consumers to be part of the marketing message to spread it virally.”

Brands are beginning to catch on to the MySpace trend. Gold mentioned that Aquafina, the Beastie Boys, and Wendy’s all created accounts. Wendy’s already has 94,000 friends on MySpace and has a variety of features on its page including wallpapers, screensavers, AIM icons, audio, and video. Verizon Wireless, the Honda Element, and Toyota are also among some of the top brands that are developing MySpace pages. What advertisers have to realize is that users do not go to social networks to see advertising. Advertisers have to focus on brand programming that is designed to “catch consumers in their stride as they communicate and connect,” Gold explained. Several brands have taken the advertising route on MySpace including Best Buy, Boost Mobile, and the television show, “Family Guy.” Marketers hope that within the social network, mini social networks will be created based on common interests in brands and products.

Some other facts about MySpace include: As of Tuesday, March 27^th 2006, there were 66 million people on MySpace, with 230,000 people joining each day on average. At the end of the year, it is predicting that there will be about 98 million MySpace users. About 90 percent of MySpace users are from the United States. MySpace is the number two site on the Web behind Yahoo in content consumption. Each day, about 15 million log on to the site, 30 million songs are streamed, 11.5 million friends are added, and 15.5 million comments are left.

MySpace seems to be making the headlines of the news every week, whether positive or negative. This has definitely created a buzz about the social software. MySpace gives teens the opportunity to express and portray themselves in a creative way. MySpace and other social software networks are a great viral and word of mouth marketing tool. As the article mentioned, some brands are creating profiles to advertise to users and other brands are strictly advertising or using consumer empowerment advertising techniques. MySpace is also a great way for new bands to promote themselves and let users learn about them or even listen to their music. A band could even get discovered by a record label by having a profile on MySpace. The possibilities with social software almost seem endless. Once advertisers find the right method to use and come up with a creative idea, I predict that they will consider MySpace and other social software networks an effective medium to promote their brand and products.