Blog 4

Kapferer’s Brand Identity Prism

Link: http://server2.docfoc.com/uploads/Z2015/12/10/FTPdIALx5F/e3314538aebf2d2d5cac0502d709d67f.pdf

This article first clearly identifies the difference between brand identity and image. Identity is what is sent to the audience and image is what is received by the audience. The brand is the interpreted based on: personality, culture and self-image.

There are six aspects of brand identity prism that help to form and develop a strong brand:

1.    Physique: Identify brand name and physical features

2.    Personality: Characteristics of the brand created by by images, messages, and layout

3.    Culture: The values that a brand bases its behaviors on. (Can also determined culture based on location.)

4.    Relationship: Relationship with brand’s meaning and customers

5.    Reflection: Reflection of the consumer by identifying stereotypical users.

6.    Self-image: What is the self-image is your target group. In other words how do they perceive themselves and how do they perceive themselves in relation to your brand.

I need to identifying my brand and how my audience views themselves. How I can create a correlation between my brands audience activity. For example, Nike is associated with sports however not all users play sports. However, some consumers active or not their self-image is “Sporty” because they wear brands like Nike. I must first determine how these brands have made this association and next how to make my brands association. I will use this model to determine the strength and weaknesses of my current brand and as improving my Madalyn’s Music.

Blog 3

“The New Technology: The Consumer as Participant Rather Than Target Audience”
by R. Craig Lefebvre
Link: http://socialmarketing.blogs.com/Publications/SMQ-The_consumer_as_participant_2007.pdf

Social media is changing how we view our target audience. We are able to do things on the web that we were not able to do through mass media. Social media is now interactive it is not linear. Our target audience is now one that can participate. We not only rely on them to receive the message but to share, express their opinion, interact. These interactions are between both the deliverer of the message and the recipients and between recipients. This overall creates not an audience but a network.

The target audience for “Madalyn’s Music” is not comprised of listeners. It is focused on a network of individuals both musicians and listeners that are interacting in person and on social media. 

Web 2.0 has led to a number of improvement that will create greater exposure for businesses like “Madalyn’s Music”. Current followers are up to 5,000 on mediated sites. Views reached are about 2,000 however interaction is low, under 300. My goal is to create interactions by linking my music with online communities. I will do this in two ways one by interaction with other and two by commonality to other like groups. 

Music in the Digital Age

http://www.elon.edu/docs/e-web/academics/communications/research/vol1no2/09staffordejfall10.pdf

The music industry is rapidly changing as technology advances. These advances can benefit musicians and listeners greatly. Musicians are able to post content and promote for free through a variety of online avenues. It is easier to share your music with the masses. Where this is an advantage it is also a disadvantage. Since MP3 were created pirated music has skyrocketed. About this time is when sites like Napster also emerged. As technology continues to develop it is even easier to steal music online through sites like YouTube, and artists fail to make a commission from plays that would have otherwise been monetized. Other technology advances have changed the way labels operate. This includes artists not having to rely on labels as heavily to promote their music. Musicians can promote through social media and be in control of the image they want to portray. This benefits the artist greatly by giving them control of their music and distribution, as it cuts out the label. The development of technology has become a sort of double edged sword, making the music industry change the way it operates and continues in the future.