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Three Reasons Why the HQ Trivia App Failed

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Tuesdays With Coleman

When the HQ Trivia app was released in the summer of 2017, it was an instant sensation. It was #1 on Time’s 10 Top Apps of 2017. Partnerships with brands including Nike, Google and Warner Brothers brought in millions in revenue. The popularity of HQ influenced internal discussions about what lessons radio shows could learn from it.

My family was so addicted to the app in the summer of 2018 that we set our alarms to 8:55 PM, giving us five minutes to prepare for the daily 9 PM start time. We even stopped what we were doing on vacation–I specifically recall playing the game on a bench at Spruce Street Harbor Park in Philadelphia, because that was the night we won. A whole two dollars and seventeen cents.

There are always behind-the-scenes and internal reasons that can contribute to a company’s failure, and this is not a referendum on that dynamic. It is, however, a first-hand observation from a regular user who stopped using the app long before its demise last week, on Valentine’s Day.

When tactical strategy overwhelms brand strategy, brand growth is stunted. Ultimately, HQ was a game built heavily on tactical content rather than brand strength. Here are three reasons why the HQ trivia app failed:

  1. THE PRIZE WAS THE REASON TO PLAY, AND THE PAYOFF WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT

I play three games on my phone: Words With Friends (my favorite), Jeopardy and Family Feud. In the case of all three of these games, I win nothing but pride. They are strongly branded apps that focus on the strategy and the joy of playing the game.

While trivia is fun, the carrot dangled by HQ was the prize, the amounts of which varied. Usually around $5,000, sometimes as high as $100,000. Unfortunately, if you actually got through all the increasingly difficult questions to win, it was a share of the jackpot (like my $2.17 windfall).

It’s hard to not be disappointed when a brand markets huge jackpots as the selling point, but you can’t actually win the whole jackpot.

  1. PLAYABILITY FRICTION

A live trivia game show played on a mobile device is an ambitious idea but a highly risky proposition. If there are no technical issues on HQ’s end and everyone is on super-fast Wi-Fi, it should be a seamless experience! Unfortunately, there were sometimes technical problems on HQ’s end that required delaying game times or interrupting within games. As for the end-user, if you had a connection dropout or the picture started pixelating, you were out of luck and unceremoniously dropped from the game. With a stronger likable brand, perhaps players may have given HQ more leeway and forgiveness. There are only so many times you’ll put up with that.

  1. HQ DIDN’T BUILD THE BRAND FIRST

Instead of focusing on making HQ a world-class trivia app, the company hitched its wagon to line extension. They launched HQ After Dark, HQ Sports, HQ Words, HQ Tunes and HQX.

More often than not, line extension is a trap.

 

While brands across industries can find takeaways from HQ’s failure, brands (including radio stations) that spend a great deal of their focus on tactical strategy like contesting should use caution to ensure this does not come at the expense of brand building.

While tactical may bring a consumer in, your brand is why they will (or will not) stay.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Start With the Customer and Work Backwards

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Tuesdays With Coleman

“Start with the customer experience and work backwards.”

That’s what Steve Jobs says 1:55 into this video from 1997 in response to an audience member who was questioning Jobs’ strategic direction.

It’s an example of Outside Thinking–seeing your product from the viewpoint of your customers.

In the video, Jobs goes on to give an example of how things should not be done at Apple. “We could sit down with the engineers, figure out what technology we have and say, ‘how will we market that?”

That’s Inside Thinking.

Contrast this with, “What incredible benefits can we give to the customer?”

That’s Outside Thinking.

If someone in your industry were to take Jobs’ advice, starting with the customer experience and working backwards, what would it look like?

Picture a whiteboard filled with all the experiences consumers have with your brand including how, where, when and why they use it.

We would consider all points of possible friction, and then determine if there are more effective ways to deliver the experience.

How would this look at your company?

Business teams are far more likely to take stock of how they deliver the customer experience and adjust it based on their experience with the product. When approached in this manner, there’s always the danger of “we’ve always done it this way” syndrome.

By taking the Outside Thinking approach–starting with the customer experience and working backwards–that’s where you’ll discover the new approaches and innovations that truly create passion and loyalty.

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Disruption, Adaptation and Surrender

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Tuesdays With Coleman

In business, you are either the disrupter or the one being disrupted. It may not be happening now, but eventually, someone will try to build a better mousetrap in your industry.

At one time, Raleighwood Cinema Grill in Raleigh, North Carolina was a disrupter.

When it opened in the mid-1990s, with few exceptions, movie theaters generally looked the way they had for decades. Uncomfortable seats. Varying degrees of sound quality. Small screens. Sometimes the screen had a stain or a tear in it. Stale popcorn, Coke and Goobers at the snack bar.

Raleighwood was a revelation. The screen was huge. The seats were cushy and spread out. You had your own table, at which servers would bring you made-to-order food from the kitchen and you could even order alcohol!

But alas, on December 11, 2019, I received this email from Raleighwood Cinema Grill:

RALEIGHWOOD
Great Taste’N New Movies

Cinema Grill Newsletter

Raleighwood Goes Dark

The Writing on the Wall!

The Old Testament, Chapter 5: The Book of Daniel tells the story of the King of Babylon’s feast.

Belshazzar, the King of Babylon, held a dinner feast. During the celebration, a hand mysteriously appeared and wrote on one of the palace’s walls. None of the King’s advisors could explain the writing to him. The Queen suggested he asks Daniel, a Wiseman. Daniel told the King the message portended the end of the empire.

Raleighwood’s writing on the Wall

A 65” 4K Flat Screen HDTV for $380. With access to stream 500,000 movies and TV shows!

Raleighwood Cinema Grill is CLOSED

Attendance has steadily decreased over the past 2+ years as large flatscreen HDTVs and streaming services have changed the way people enjoy movies. A trend to releasing new movies directly onto streaming services, bypassing theaters has begun. 108-year-old Paramount Pictures Studios recently agreed to make movies for direct Netflix release. Overall, Netflix dominated the recent Golden Globe Award nominations with 17 movie nominations, more than the closest rival, Sony Pictures, which had ten.

As a small family-owned and operated independent theater we can see ‘the writing on the wall’. In the face of this decreased attendance, realizing time and technology changes the world we live in, the business decision to close was made.

The classic case – even the biggest, best run Blockbuster was overtaken by changing technology. After 26 years of operation, having hosted over 10,000 children’s birthday parties, and numerable Monday Night Football and Super Bowl games, Academy Award galas, 400+ corporate meetings and seminars, hundreds of TV series (24, Lost, Survivor, Seinfeld, The Walking Dead, etc.), hundreds of movies, two weddings and even one funeral service, it was with a heavy heart we close.

We would like to thank our friends, customers, neighbors and employees (two and three generations in some cases) for their support over these 26 years. Approaching 74 years of age, my wife and I have decided it’s time to find greener pastures and enjoy our five children and nine grandchildren.

Thanks again for your support and patronage over the last 26 years!!!

I feel bad for Raleighwood, which served its community for over two decades. But as a former customer, I’d say technology is likely not why its customer base eroded and it went out of business.

While Raleighwood’s cushy seats started to tear and lose their cushiness, new competitors installed recliners.

While Raleighwood’s food coming out of the kitchen was ok, competitors were offering chef-inspired creations that were as good as any sit-down restaurant.

When the craft beer revolution took hold, Raleighwood’s limited beer menu almost never changed while competitors added local and more interesting taps.

While competitors arrived or updated with a modern look, Raleighwood’s paint and neon looked likely very similar to when it opened in the 90s.

Raleighwood didn’t go out of business because of advancements. It went out of business because it didn’t adapt.

And truth be told, it’s not easy to adapt before you’re disrupted. The email mentions two companies that took opposite paths. Blockbuster had the infrastructure to adapt to the Netflix model. But it saw itself as a video store, not an entertainment company, and was therefore disrupted. If Netflix saw itself as a DVD-by-mail service and not an entertainment company, it would have never moved into streaming as early as it did or paved the way for original content. It disrupts itself regularly, just as Amazon does (e.g., creating its own shipping infrastructure and acquiring grocery stores.)

Is your business currently being disrupted? If not, how would you do it? Can you effectively disrupt yourself to ignite growth?

Or will you find things to blame the decline on?

Disrupt and adapt now, or surrender later.

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Nobody Home on the Request Line

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Tuesdays With Coleman

I was driving my 13-year-old son Teddy to school about a month ago and listening to the morning show on one of our local radio stations. Out of nowhere, he turned to me and said, “Let’s call the station.” Turns out he was interested in requesting a song and seeing if there was a contest to play.

Radio DNA – My son Teddy trying on my Sony MDR-V600 headphones at a station remote in 2009.

This question surprised me on a number of levels.

  • Like many teenagers, he’s generally more invested in watching videos on YouTube than listening to the radio;
  • When he does listen to music, it usually involves navigating his Spotify playlist or playing records (yes, records) at home;
  • He’s never expressed interest in calling a radio station before.

He further surprised me by knowing the phone numbers of the stations by heart. He punched in the number of the one we were listening to. Knowing the possibilities on the other end of the line, I prepped him a bit. “Morning shows are really busy, so it’s possible they won’t answer.”

Ring…ring…ring…and that’s what happened with the first station. No answer, no voicemail, no nothing. Just ringing.

He mentioned another station and asked to call that show. Sure, why not.

Ring…ring…ring…no answer. No voicemail.

Rinse and repeat with a few other stations until there were no other stations the boy was interested in talking to.

In every single instance that morning, at every radio station he called, there was no response. Just ringing.

My first reaction was disappointment for him. When I was his age, I called radio stations all the time for the same reason. And usually, someone picked up the phone. I made requests on the CHR stations. Gave opinions on the sports talk station. Some of my idols were DJs. Those phone calls inspired me to want to be one of them.

So here we are in 2020, trying to figure out ways to keep radio relevant for younger generations. Meanwhile, a 13-year-old gets the urge to call a local radio station and no one picks up. Guess how many times he’s tried again since?

You know the answer.

This really struck me when I arrived at the office and discussed this with Matt Bailey of Integr8 Research, our sister company. It’s not the fact that no one was available to answer the phone that bothered us – that’s unavoidable.

It’s the fact that, despite all the tech we have available now, radio stations are just letting the phone ring when a listener is actually calling to engage!

I covered radio’s long-standing “I’ll see what I can do” attitude in a December blog post, challenging stations to do better when listeners make requests. But now I wonder, just how many opportunities to engage listeners are we leaving on the table?

What if, when a listener calls your radio station and the jock is unavailable, it goes to a recording of whoever is on-air at that time (schedule the recordings in sync with the air schedule) letting the caller know they can’t pick up the call right away but encouraging the caller to leave a message with a request? Or a question? Or feedback? Why aren’t we taking this opportunity to record testimonials for promos?

This can be customized. The jocks can toggle between being available to talk live and when they need the voicemail backup. Instead of voicemail, if it won’t be long, ask the caller to wait on hold for a minute. During that hold, the caller can listen live or listen to a promo.

Can your station app have a “Talk to Control Room” button that automatically allows for this recording if the station can’t be reached? Or one that goes to chat instead?

Keeping consumers interested in radio must involve dissecting every point of contact and removing points of possible friction. The request line is one friction point.

Hopefully, my son will get the urge to call a station again. But I guarantee if he just gets ringing, there won’t be a third time.

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Three Reasons The Kelly Clarkson Show Is a Hit

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Tuesdays With Coleman

For many personalities, features are integral elements of their shows.

In radio, think “Phone Taps”. “War of the Roses”. “Second Date Update”.

The right features can turn your radio show into appointment listening and come with PPM benefits, but there are perceptual benefits as well. Features can be used as a way to accelerate brand growth. Features can be buzzworthy, generating the kind of virality necessary in today’s media landscape.

That’s exactly what’s propelling the growth of Kelly Clarkson’s new television talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.

Clarkson begins every show with a feature called “Kellyoke”. Most songs are requested by a member of the studio audience. She covers songs that span just about every genre. And sometimes she has her guests join in the fun.

When Garth Brooks sat in with Clarkson a couple of weeks ago, he busted out the guitar for a slew of covers, including “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” by Otis Redding and “Night Moves” by Bob Seger. He showed how “The River” was inspired by “Fire and Rain” by James Taylor. Then, after she requested “To Make You Feel My Love” and Brooks delivered a quiet, beautiful rendition, Clarkson got emotional, wiping away tears and saying, “If you would have told me as a kid that moment would have happened…I just can’t believe my life sometimes. You’re just sitting here serenading.”

After only a month, The Kelly Clarkson Show averaged 1.9 million viewers per episode, a pretty stout number for daytime TV. She’s beating Maury, Dr. Oz and Rachael Ray, all of which have been around much longer.

Clarkson isn’t the first singer to launch a daytime talk show, but you may not have lasting memories of shows hosted by Harry Connick, Jr., Queen Latifah and Carnie Wilson. John McEnroe, Tony Danza, Wayne Brady and Anderson Cooper could all share stories of how challenging daytime TV is.

So why is Kelly Clarkson’s new show a hit?

  1. She is totally on-brand.

Kelly Clarkson has never been anything but her true, authentic self. She’s wildly enthusiastic, is someone you’d love to be besties with, is a cheerleader for others (see: Kelly as a judge on The Voice) and wears her emotions on her sleeve.

If The Kelly Clarkson Show was a straightforward monologue and interview show, would it experience the same success? Or does it work because the show is designed to play to her strengths?

  1. She starts with her best material.

If you’ve ever worked with personality coach Steve Reynolds, you may be familiar with his Wheel of Fortune story. Once upon a time, the show began with introductions of each of the contestants before getting to the first puzzle. Eventually, producers learned to hook you in with a puzzle before getting to the boring stuff. Jeopardy! follows the same formula, with Alex Trebek waiting until well into the first round to meet the players.

So if “Kellyoke” is the show’s best feature, why not put it at the top? The thought that viewers will wait through the show to get to the good stuff is old school thinking that isn’t adapted to today’s viewing habits.

  1. “Kellyoke” is something new.

Trying to come up with a memorable feature for your show? You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. You also don’t have to do your own version of a feature that already exists, perhaps in another market or on another platform.

Kelly Clarkson singing covers isn’t a revolutionary idea. But it’s fun, it plays to her strengths and has a catchy name. It’s designed to go viral, as it did with Garth Brooks.

Personality and feature research continues to be a very important component of many of our studies.

By measuring the perceptions of your personalities, you can better understand which types of features may be an excellent brand fit (like “Kellyoke” for Clarkson). Understanding how your audience emotionally connects and responds to your features can provide essential guidance to brand building and long-term measurable success.

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Confessions of “I’ll See What I Can Do”

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Tuesdays With Coleman

I’m conflicted.

On the one hand, the version of a meme that popped up on my Facebook feed over the weekend is easily my favorite, which says about a song request, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Unsurprisingly, many of my radio friends liked the post because, like me, they’ve lived the post.

I can’t possibly tell you how many times I’ve had this exchange with a listener on the request line over the years. The exact verbiage, of course, may differ. I might have said:

“I’ll try and get that on for you.”

“It might be coming up in the next hour.”

“I’ll give it my best shot.”

Little did the listener know I had a music log in front of me and I was well aware of whether or not it was coming up. And, if I used one of those responses, you can be assured it was not coming up.

While everyone who’s ever cracked a mic at a radio station can relate, I feel some guilt about it now. In addition, it’s not a practice today’s radio stations can continue.

When you wanted to hear your favorite song pre-streaming, you had to own the recording. If you didn’t, the radio station could provide that service, hence the request line.

Today if a listener calls the request line and is told, “I’ll see what I can do” or “It’s coming up” and it doesn’t come up, there is no leverage for the station. That angry and disappointed listener that waited and waited for their song can easily stream it on-demand.

We know the percentage of listeners that will ever call a radio station’s request line is very low. So is the percentage of listeners that will agree to carry a meter or fill out a ratings diary.

If someone takes the time to call a request line, they should be treated like royalty.

If you can’t play the song that’s requested, instead of saying “I’ll see what I can do,” maybe find out what other songs and artists she likes.

Ask what she likes most about your station. Or, ask what she thinks the station could do better.

Ask how long she’s been listening. Ask where she works. Find out who her favorite artists are. Learn if she plays your contests.

It’s not about trying to gather actionable data. You’ll want a research study with a representative sample to achieve that.

But if the goal is to provide outstanding engagement and customer service when the consumer has countless other options to choose from, dropping “I’ll see what I can do” from the vocabulary is probably a good place to start.

 

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Three Takeaways from Internet Summit

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Tuesdays With Coleman

I’m a big believer that radio can benefit from conferences that are not completely radio-centric but feature beneficial and actionable sessions. One example of this is Digital Summit, which is held in 23 locations across the United States.

Coleman Insights HQ is in the Raleigh, North Carolina area, where Digital Summit’s sister event, Internet Summit is held. In the past two years, this event featured marketing icon Seth Godin as the keynote speaker, and I wrote blog posts on both occasions. There was Seth Godin’s Brand Lessons for Radio in November 2017 and last December’s Direct Marketing is Easy. Brand Marketing is Hard, one of our most read and talked about Tuesdays With Coleman entries.

One session I attended (and hadn’t originally intended to attend) was called “It’s More Than Data: We’ve Been Doing Content Strategy Wrong,” presented by Paxton Gray. Gray is the Executive Vice President of Operations at a digital marketing agency called 97th Floor. While the content of the session itself was useful and interesting, there were two other things that really caught my attention and made the visit to this room memorable.

Upon introducing himself, Gray offered the chance to win a copy of Seth Godin’s latest book, “This is Marketing” (somehow it always comes back to Seth Godin) and a $100 gift card to an attendee who comments on his most recent LinkedIn post. The post was this:

97th Floor hosts a marketing book club

There are a number of clever things about this strategy. Of course, I took the bait and went to his LinkedIn page, and before seeing the post I sent a connection request. Then I read the post, which tells you about a Book Club he started at his company. They buy a book for everyone at 97th Floor that wants one and sometimes discuss it over dinner. By asking for recommendations of books, podcasts or blogs, he’s created post engagement and increased the chances of it going viral. So of course I plugged Tuesdays With Coleman, he engaged back right away, and then I didn’t think about it for the next week.

That was until I opened my LinkedIn page to take a peek at my news feed, and guess what came up—a post from 97th Floor.

97th Floor hosts an Alumni Night

This one shared a picture of the company’s recent Alumni Night at Topgolf. The post explains how 97th Floor alumni have access to an alumni network that includes a dedicated Slack channel that allows them to stay connected and share job opportunities. Once again, it’s a post with a pretty good idea that promotes company culture without having to say, “Our culture is awesome!” (Sidebar: if that’s how you promote company culture you might not have a great company culture.)

There are ideas and inspiration to be found outside the lines of where you’ve always expected them to be. So this year’s takeaways for the radio industry are:

  1. Attend a non-radio conference.

We love radio conferences, including the always great Worldwide Radio Summit. Radio is embracing Podcast Movement, a very wise move. But do you think radio could benefit from a conference like Digital Summit, which is loaded with sessions on items like website optimization, social media, SEO and email marketing?

I do.

  1. Start a book club.

In our fragmented world (see last week’s blog, Disney+, Decision Paralysis and Your Brand for more on fragmentation), we’re all consuming different content. The thought of having programming and sales reading the same book, listening to the same podcast, subscribing to the same blog and then comparing notes feels like a good way to improve communication and learn some new things together in the process.

  1. Embrace alumni.

While the idea of an alumni network may not be transferable, we do know radio loves a good reunion and that listeners build connections with personalities. Often their favorite personalities go away, never to be heard from again. By periodically embracing its past, radio can find another outlet to maintain the bond between listener and station.

Thanks to Paxton Gray for the inspiration for today’s post. Keep those ideas flowing!

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Disney+, Decision Paralysis and Your Brand

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Tuesdays With Coleman

Just when you thought you didn’t need another entertainment option, Disney+ has proven you wrong.

At least 10 million people agreed when they added the new streaming service…in the first 24 hours it was available.

I was one of the 10 million and as we watched The Mandalorian (OMG, Baby Yoda!) and browsed the treasure trove of content including choices from Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and even National Geographic, my 16-year-old son looked in my eyes and said, “This is going to be a real problem for me.”

It’s a real problem for everyone. Back in the summer of 2018, my colleague Sam Milkman wrote about the continuing fragmentation of entertainment options. His contention was that because of the amount of choice, we simply don’t have as many shared experiences anymore. We’re talking about different shows on different platforms, which means we’re not hitting critical mass, which makes it harder and harder to grow organically and break through. Sam’s keys to content becoming something everyone is talking about is a) it sounds and feels new and unique; b) it generates high levels of passion and c) it changes the paradigm.

We know this challenge isn’t going to get easier for entertainment brands, but new research validates what my son is feeling. According to Nielsen, 18- to 34-year-olds spend as much as nine minutes just trying to figure out what to watch, a phenomenon referred to as “decision paralysis.” And that’s just video streaming. What about the audio options, like radio, Spotify, Pandora and iHeartRadio? And the 750,000 podcasts available to listen to right now?

The decision paralysis facing video streaming users has inspired the launch of services like JustWatch and Decider, which make finding that show or movie you’re looking for searchable in one place.

What can audio brands do amidst this endless sea of options?

Sam’s advice still applies. It’s easier said than done, but it’s important to find ways to differentiate, build a cult following and break new ground.

Additionally:

  1. Branding and strategic research has never been more important.

If you’re primarily focused on tactical measures, you’re going to miss the opportunity to properly define your brand and ensure the content fits the brand. Listeners will not choose your brand because of a promotion or because you’ve tried to game the ratings. They will choose it because the brand relates to them.

  1. Simple messaging is more critical than ever.

Focused messaging has always been important. But there’s never been this much noise. Warren Kurtzman recently shared new research that validates the need for focus in his blog post, “Too Many Messages!”

  1. It’s crucial to make your brand easy to consume.

There’s some irony in that radio and TV are often meant to provide escapism from the chaos of the real world, but now we’ve added chaos to the process of escaping. If your radio station or podcast is perceived as easy to find, easy to use, simple to understand and comfortable to listen to, it may have an advantage by truly providing shelter from the storm.

Your listeners need relief from decision paralysis. Will you help them?

As OG Yoda would say, “Do or do not. There is no try.”

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The Only Prescription…is Music in Pharmaceutical Commercials

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Tuesdays With Coleman

I am 46 years old, which means I fall squarely in the wheelhouse of Generation X.

I’m now in the upper end of the 25-54 demo (if you’re like me, the moment you check the 45-54 box for the first time is the genesis of realization).

Most people tell me I don’t look 46.

I don’t feel 46, except when I throw my back out or my shoulder fails me during Sunday morning basketball.

And thankfully, I can always count on Legacy drug rehabilitation to provide reliable information on prescription drug commercials to remind me that I’m still really young!

Take the new TV spot from Trelegy, an inhaler for COPD patients.

 

 

“Tre-le-gy…power of 1-2-3.”

Hey! That’s The Jackson 5!

“ABC” came out in 1970. If you graduated high school the year it was a current, you’d be 67. Seems to make sense from a targeting standpoint.

Perhaps you’ve seen the spot for Ozempic a non-insulin medication to lower your blood sugar.

“Oh-oh-oh-Ozempic”

Hey! That’s Magic by Pilot!

“Magic” came out in 1974. If you graduated high school the year it was a current, you’d be 63. Also seems to make sense from a targeting standpoint.

Then, most recently, I came across the spot for Jardiance. Like Ozempic, Jardiance is a medication used to treat Type 2 diabetes.

The spot for Jardiance doesn’t blatantly use a classic song for its jingle, but listen carefully to the music bed. It didn’t hit me at first, but when I recognized it, I let out a deep sigh and hung my head low.

 

 

No. Oh, no. It’s a jazzy version of “Apache (Jump On It)” by The Sugarhill Gang.

“Apache” was released on the album “8th Wonder” in….1981.

The prescription drug companies have done it…using 80s music in their spots. Warning us about urinary tract infections over a Hip Hop classic no less.

But you know what? That’s what they should be doing.

Campaigns evolve because we evolve. Deciding when to make targeting shifts is a tricky proposition for advertisers. It’s a challenge for anyone in charge of producing content – from TV networks to the movie industry to radio stations to podcasters.

But, it’s also a necessity. One of the things our clients tell us they find most valuable in their research studies is the guidance they get regarding things like shifting music tastes and the age relevance of their content.

Drug companies shouldn’t target their potential customers the same way they did 10 years ago, and the same is probably true of your brand.

So just wait, 40 year-olds….you graduated high school the year The Backstreet Boys dropped “Quit Playing Games With My Heart”.

In 25 years, you’ll hear it in a Lipitor commercial.

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The Chris Gaines Stunt: 20 Years Later

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Tuesdays With Coleman

If something (or someone) is popular, why should brand fit matter?

If a song is a huge hit, shouldn’t it be safe to play on any radio station?

If a morning show is popular on one music format, wouldn’t the show work on every format?

If a TV show is popular, does the network really matter?

Just because something (or someone) is popular does not mean it will be popular on every platform or in every circumstance.

Need proof?

Just ask Garth Brooks.

By 1999, Brooks had released seven studio albums, not including holiday recordings. Each sold at least seven million copies. His 1996 world tour lasted two years, 220 shows and drew record-breaking crowds around the globe. You could easily make the case that Garth Brooks was at the height of his popularity when he released his eighth studio album 20 years ago this week. It wasn’t a Country album. It was billed as a “rock & roll” album, but it was really a Pop album.

It was called “Garth Brooks In…The Life of Chris Gaines”.

Sort of. The album cover said something different.

“Chris Gaines Greatest Hits,” with no reference to Garth.

The album cover featured a picture of Garth, but it didn’t look like him, because duh! It’s Chris Gaines!

The “greatest hits” album contained songs from previous Chris Gaines albums that didn’t exist. You know, like “Straight Jacket” and “Fornucopia”.

Did you know Chris Gaines was the subject of a movie called “The Lamb,” a suspense thriller about a Gaines superfan who sets out to prove that Gaines was murdered?

Don’t bother adding it to your Netflix queue, because it never got made.

The “Greatest Hits” album was intended to be the pre-soundtrack to the movie, so you could understand the backstory.

Oh hey, there was a VH1 Behind The Music episode about Chris Gaines.

Friend: “I remember going over to Chris’s house, and he was packing a chainsaw in his bag.”

Gaines: “There was a chainsaw on tour. Yes there was.”

You have to admire the effort. You learn all about Gaines’ (not real) life, his sex addiction and the details surrounding his father’s death.

Oh, and there was the time Garth Brooks hosted Saturday Night Live and the musical guest was Chris Gaines.

And there was yet another NBC one-hour special featuring performances by Gaines.

Strangely enough (in case you needed some more strange in this blog), I was there for the filming.

Good luck finding that special anywhere, though I’m pleased to inform you that you can watch YouTuber “icepets queen” tell you about the link in the comments that leads to the video except that it doesn’t.

So the album got released, the movie never got made, and the Chris Gaines experiment went down as a bizarre misstep in Brooks’ career.

With the benefit of retrospect 20 years later, a few things are worth noting:

  • “Chris Gaines Greatest Hits” or…”Garth Brooks In…The Life of Chris Gaines” is certified double platinum.

 

  • It spawned a single, “Lost In You,” that broke the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #1 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart.

 

  • By today’s standards (and for many other artists back then), it would have been considered a substantial hit.

 

Thinking about the popular artists of 1999, how would the same songs have been received if it were a Matchbox 20 or Goo Goo Dolls album?

We’ll never know.

We do know Popularity isn’t enough on its own and Fit matters.

Pop fans accepted Taylor Swift’s shift from Country because her songs and style had already incorporated Pop. Country fans accepted Darius Rucker’s shift from Pop to Country, because, as Rolling Stone explained five years ago, “Hootie and the Blowfish was Country all along”.

But when MC Hammer, the guy who wore parachute pants and claimed “we got to pray just to make it today” changed his name to Hammer and released “Pumps And A Bump,” neither his existing fan base nor the new fan base he was trying to target was ever going to accept it. Why?

Fit.

In the case of Chris Gaines, Brooks was unable to truly connect with any coalition. His fans at the time found it too weird and esoteric for their tastes. Pop/AC fans were confused because, while Garth Brooks was a huge star, he was a huge Country star with a specific brand. Even though there was crossover, the Pop base wasn’t big enough to sustain the stunt.

Alas, don’t feel too sorry for Garth, who’s enjoyed massive success of late, in post-“retirement” back to embracing his core brand. That probably means, of course, the Chris Gaines “Where Are They Now” episode isn’t coming anytime soon.