Marketing Madonna

Just from the title, do you think this will be a technical post? NAH! I'm sure you'll get it.

So, Madonna released her 12th album, MDNA, on March 26, 2012. And now more than 2 months later. It is still not certified Gold (shipment of more than 500,000 copies) in the US. And Hard Candy, her latest effort before MDNA hasn't even received a Platinum certiciation (shipment of more than 1,000,000 copies).

And you're all wondering why? She's Madonna!
And that's the mistake.
They relied on "She's Madonna"
Well who is Madonna?
The world is inhabited by a lot of people and according to statistics, teens and children make up more than 60% of the population. And this people don't know Madonna.

You think they know Madonna? Maybe, but they may think listening to Madonna "is so old" and "not cool." That's something that would hurt sales.

Now, let's look at all the contents of this case
The album MDNA has a better sound that Hard Candy. It has that old school Madonna with new beats from producers Martin Solveig, Benny Benassi, and the return of William Orbit. I think "Give Me All Your Luvin" could actually be one of those tween hits that tweens will not stop playing. But alas, the single peaked at #10 and was nowhere to be seen the weeks after. MY QUESTION: WHY MAKE SUCH A YOUNG HIP SOUND WHEN YOU WON'T MARKET IT TO THE YOUNG ONES ANYWAY? It was such a loss because my friends who hate Madonna told me they loved "4 Minutes" and "Give Me All Your Luvin" has infectious sounds. See? She could've had them when she had the chance!

Do not answer me with Facebook and Twitter. Big stars have FB and Twitter accounts too and they don't consider it a "promotional device." It is a way to "create relationships." If you tweet and update your Facebook constantly, you gain more followers, and you might GAIN NEW FANS! Younger fans at that. That's how it works.

Oh The Superbowl! A hundred million people watched! Actually, more people watched the Halftime Show than the game itself. But here's my question: Are the people who watch the game fans of Madonna? Could it be that the reason there were more viewers of the halftime was because the Madonna fans just "added" to the number of people watching the game who just have no choice but to watch it because SuperBowl fans will not dare touch their remote? And, from what I've seen there were families watching too. Madonna could've gained those children and teenagers if she only continued to entice them. Why?

You see, this generation is such a fast paced and easily bored generation. You get the iPhone 4 today and tomorrow, it's nothing! We're now lusting over details for the iPhone 5. It means, yes you gave your performance of your life. SO WHAT? Only the real fans will lust over the performance over and over again. But the teens, we've seen it. okay. NEXT!

Here's what Madonna should've done:
1. Perform on a TV show: She already performed a 4-song setlist on the SuperBowl so I'm thinking maybe Today Show Concert Series. It's also a research to see "who" are in the audience. Let's face it, Madonna fans are as old as Madonna herself. If Madonna wants to remain queen of pop, she has to have new fans to replace fans that died or whatever. She needs to have a "fresh generation" following her. My setlist would be:
a. Girl Gone Wild or Turn Up the Radio (The GGW choreo looks hard to do when the stage is not like a robot with LED screens on the bottom)
b. Give Me All Your Luvin
c. Vogue; Music (or any other old song)
d. Masterpiece (they talk W./E. then she performs Masterpiece)

2. Perform at an awards show - This is to boost sales of the album or the single. As GaGa and Katy Perry has shown, it works!

3. How about appearing at the Kid's Choice Awards?- Just appearing to present an award, just so to see the reaction from the younger generation. Despite the fact that kids might think "What is she doing there?", they are very easy to impress. I mean, Turn Up The Radio is a hit for kids. It's fun, clean, dancey and current.

4. Appear in print. I wish she did even just one cover, and since the album comes out in March, she could've done a March issue which an issue that really sells.

5. Perform the single on a talk show like Ellen. These shows have high ratings and Ellen has a big women demographic. Madonna already has the gays, I think she should add more women. They might even bring their husbands too.

Sadly, only a fraction of the world will hear the greatness that is MDNA. The sounds in this album, in my opinion, are what the young teen stars album will sound like in the years to come. MDNA was just very modern that it captures a lot of beats that young generations would love. But bad promotion and relying on the brand "Madonna" was the folly. I hope the Madonna people could read this and give more thought to how they will promote her next album. I am sure it will be amazing!

I was also sad that Madonna will not be going to Australia for the MDNA Tour. Why would she perform for 10,000 people for $1,000,000 when she can perform for 50,000 for $10,000,000 in one night I will never understand. GaGa and P!nk all performed there and received sellouts for every show that they added even more! If Madonna were there, she could've had a lot more shows, and in stadiums! She could've also added Asia to her itinerary like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea. I don't know about Southeast Asia, though. I mean, these countries are very conservative. They might not want guns and nipples in their stadiums. :)

I still love Madonna though, you don't know how much time and love I've spent for Madonna. I am loving my MDG (Madonna Dolce and Gabbana) sunglasses that cost me a fortune!