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MDNA Promo Discussion - "non-traditional campaign"?


Apples388

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^^

I just think the timeline is all wrong. she should be free from rehearsal on her debut week. Just one week to promote the god damn album!

maybe they should have just postponed the tour a month or so. they're exhausting the queen.

"they"? We're talking about Madonna. No one is twisting Madonna's arm. Unless you just got on board in the last year or two, fans know Madonna is the one who's making the big decisions. She always has. Sure, she has a manager and advisers who encourage her, but ultimately she is in control. If she doesn't want to do something, she isn't going to do it.

To me, it would be far more exhausting for her to be running around doing silly promo here and there while putting a show together. Also, that all cost money, especially mini promo tours which cost a lot money to put together. Again, the purpose of the tour is to showcase the current album. The big difference is that Madonna in the past, usually toured long after an album was released. But that is changing now, and she's going straight into touring. That's what a lot of acts do. In fact, some lesser known acts simply tour right when their album is released. The difference is, Madonna is high maintenance. Her shows are far more elaborate. So it takes a lot more time to put her shows together since she just doesn't stand around with the band, singing her songs.

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It's okay. Julianna feels your pain too.

533050_10150786969630873_559555872_11732625_107340149_n.jpg

:lmao: Thank you Julia.

Madonna has been playing the 'game' for 30 years. It makes sense that her priorities have shifted. Also, what's 'current'? Rihanna? Katy Perry? The other one? Madonna is now an elder stateswoman of pop. That has good aspects (respect, instant interest in whatever she does) and negative (radio viewing her as 'old', not being down with 'the kids' etc). Would you really want her to be competing with Katy Perry's 1000th re-release and go on the KIDS CHOICE AWARDS to perform GGW dressed as a knight?

I understand what you're thinking and don't get me wrong I think the same way. She shouldn't be doing those things because she is the fucking best succesfull female in history! But that's what we know, her fans. She still have to appeal to the general public to prove them again and again. She used to that until recent years. And it was amazing to see the reaction after a Madonna performance in some tv show wasn't it?

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i think this non-traditional campaign has flopped, and the only thing stopping mdna from flopping hard is madonna as a brand. the thing is if they want a non-traditional promo to work, they have got to have the goods to back it up so that the momentum can roll on. true, mdna is a good album, but the singles released are just subpar. the first contact anyone will ever have with the album is the single. if the single is mediocore, it just pulls down the desire of the general public to want to get the album. m's team has so many better songs on mdna to choose from, why did they have to choose what they chose?!! if they recognise madonna as a strong brand name, they should know that as long as the song they throw out is very good, people will go for it no matter how uncommercial it may sound, cause well, it's madonna! what's more, do they really intend to rely all on the non-traditional promo? they need to at least have a fall back plan, to promote it with performances and interviews on tv. they can do less of it, but still do it! how can the tour be a reason to cut down on these? the tour can start a month later, and the tickets can still be sold right after superbowl. there would be almost no effect since they can continue to add shows into 2013. the promo however can't wait. once it loses steam it's hard to pick up. and they also lose the chance to hit at any of the chart records. since madonna holds so many records, the right thing to do should be to extend and/or break these records, cause there's no more madonna after she dies. if madonna promoted to death her love child w.e, then why can't she promote mdna? is it not her love child too? is she too love spent from w.e? if only madonna could list herself as a stock and we can own a piece of her lol.

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I understand what you're thinking and don't get me wrong I think the same way. She shouldn't be doing those things because she is the fucking best succesfull female in history! But that's what we know, her fans. She still have to appeal to the general public to prove them again and again. She used to that until recent years. And it was amazing to see the reaction after a Madonna performance in some tv show wasn't it?

Like when "recent years" are you talking? It really wasn't until RAY OF LIGHT that she started doing performances and interviews on TV. In fact, much of her career before that, we never got any promotional interviews and performances. It wasn't until MUSIC album that we got a mini promotional tour.

The big difference is now is that she doesn't have MTV and RADIO backing her which in the past were huge influences on the general public. They still are influential to the general public, but unfortunately, their priorities have changed as well. The internet is far more influential, and it seems to me Madonna has utilized that tool quite well in the past 10 years.

Do I think she's "too good" to do American Idol, etc? Not at all. But in the end, it's about the tour, so rather spend extra time and money on doing all this mundane promotion, why not spend all the time and money on a spectacular show?

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what's more, do they really intend to rely all on the non-traditional promo? they need to at least have a fall back plan, to promote it with performances and interviews on tv. they can do less of it, but still do it! how can the tour be a reason to cut down on these? the tour can start a month later, and the tickets can still be sold right after superbowl. there would be almost no effect since they can continue to add shows into 2013. the promo however can't wait. once it loses steam it's hard to pick up. and they also lose the chance to hit at any of the chart records.

That's exactly what i'm trying to say. oh well, it's a woulda coulda shoulda situation, and it's all up to M now (as all you ppl say).

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Like when "recent years" are you talking? It really wasn't until RAY OF LIGHT that she started doing performances and interviews on TV. In fact, much of her career before that, we never got any promotional interviews and performances. It wasn't until MUSIC album that we got a mini promotional tour.

The big difference is now is that she doesn't have MTV and RADIO backing her which in the past were huge influences on the general public. They still are influential to the general public, but unfortunately, their priorities have changed as well. The internet is far more influential, and it seems to me Madonna has utilized that tool quite well in the past 10 years.

Do I think she's "too good" to do American Idol, etc? Not at all. But in the end, it's about the tour, so rather spend extra time and money on doing all this mundane promotion, why not spend all the time and money on a spectacular show?

By recent years I mean Music to Confessions, because this is recent, before that is old you got that. And I'm not denying touring is her focus right now, I'm just saying what I like to see. And I don't think touring helps on album sales, if so, Hard Candy would be one of her best selling albums

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Guest bluejean

Not many ppl know her new album is out YET!

I find that really hard to believe. It went #1 in nearly every country, if people go on iTunes or into music stores they will know about it. Perhaps your Aunty Bev's 90 year old neighbour hasn't heard yet but I'm pretty sure everyone who genuinely cares or would consider buying it knows. The people at Suedehead's work probably just don't care :lol:

In fact I would say that maybe apart from a few business and marketing opportunities, 90% of the decisions in her career come from her and not Guy, that's why she chose someone she could easily manipulate and not some music business dinosaur like Freddy DeMann or Benny Medina or Irving Azoff or whoever.

I think they work together. If anything I feel like Guy is there to talk her into things and also talk her out of things :lol: But she certainly needs him (or someone), no artist, not even Madonna can manage their own career.

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I find that really hard to believe. It went #1 in nearly every country, if people go on iTunes or into music stores they will know about it. Perhaps your Aunty Bev's 90 year old neighbour hasn't heard yet but I'm pretty sure everyone who genuinely cares or would consider buying it knows. The people at Suedehead's work probably just don't care :lol:

that's what I meant about people knowing... people that are generally interested in her know, just haven't heard anything off it or aren't in any rush to get it.

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When people complain about the lack of promotion is it actually that or is just that they miss seeing Madonna interviewed and hearing her thoughts on things? Because personally I don't see why any of us should be that bothered how many records she sells or if she has big hits on the radio, even if promotion would have that great an impact. I think it's more some fans want to see and hear her, not that we are all devastated if she doesn't have a huge radio hit. So I think Guy could make some fans happy if they filmed some kind of behind the scenes thing of the tour with Madonna being interviewed about the album.

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When people complain about the lack of promotion is it actually that or is just that they miss seeing Madonna interviewed and hearing her thoughts on things?

seems to me like fans want sales, to justify her relevance and all that.... I think most of todays pop stars would trade places with her if they could.

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Guest bluejean

people that are generally interested in her know, just haven't heard anything off it or aren't in any rush to get it.

True well I guess the singles wouldn't really inspire the average casual fan to rush out and get the album. But I will say that on Facebook I have seen a ALOT of people posting the GGW video on their feed. There are alot of gays on my facebook friends list though :lol:

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As I said in another thread, Guy's excuse about lacking time is lame since they could've started the tour a month or two later. Clearly they simply don't care and focus 100% on the tour.

I still think they should promote the album. Not necerssarily HER doing press but running some ads, having posters etc would be quite helpful. The general public here are unaware that she has an album out since the singles didn't get any airplay. I'm also quite worried regarding ticket sales here (Vienna) - I have yet to see an ad or a poster for the show. There are still plenty of tickets available for ALL categories including Golden Circle

Traditional or untraditional promo, people need to be AWARE that she has an album out and a tour coming this summer!

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Guest bluejean

When people complain about the lack of promotion is it actually that or is just that they miss seeing Madonna interviewed and hearing her thoughts on things? Because personally I don't see why any of us should be that bothered how many records she sells or if she has big hits on the radio, even if promotion would have that great an impact. I think it's more some fans want to see and hear her, not that we are all devastated if she doesn't have a huge radio hit. So I think Guy could make some fans happy if they filmed some kind of behind the scenes thing of the tour with Madonna being interviewed about the album.

No its mainly because they want to see her singles and the album do well. It's always been like this, the Kylie fans carry on in the same manner. And they've had 3 flop albums in a row to assess and dissect failed marketing strategies and botched single releases :lol:

I think that's why I generally don't care. At some point you have to accept that Madonna isn't the biggest female pop star in the charts and just enjoy the music. It's a letting go process, some fans will take longer than others and some will just never get over it and start to hate her. We've already seen a number of people go in that direction.

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Totally agree. We need a song released to radio. Followed by a video and posters/adverts etc. Followed by iTunes and a physical cd release, then picture disc. That's worked in the uk before! Doesn't matter if Madonna does tv shows. I'm not even thinking that. I'm just thinking of decent singles like GGW given a good shot at top 5 which will also help promote the album! Just doing nothing doesn't work.

Edited by topdog
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I still think they should promote the album. Not necerssarily HER doing press but running some ads, having posters etc would be quite helpful. The general public here are unaware that she has an album out since the singles didn't get any airplay. I'm also quite worried regarding ticket sales here (Vienna) - I have yet to see an ad or a poster for the show. There are still plenty of tickets available for ALL categories including Golden Circle

They are running ads. I've seen an ad for MDNA numerous times on US television, showing pictures of her and the dancers from the Smirnoff event. Also, the album has been reviewed in all major newspapers so I assume the general public if they read the paper would know about the album from those.

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They are running ads. I've seen an ad for MDNA numerous times on US television, showing pictures of her and the dancers from the Smirnoff event. Also, the album has been reviewed in all major newspapers so I assume the general public if they read the paper would know about the album from those.

Um yeah, that's great. If you read what I wrote you'd notice that I was NOT talking about the US though.

None of the big publications here have reviewed MDNA and there were no TV or radio ads and no posters

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By recent years I mean Music to Confessions, because this is recent, before that is old you got that. And I'm not denying touring is her focus right now, I'm just saying what I like to see. And I don't think touring helps on album sales, if so, Hard Candy would be one of her best selling albums

But you said "until recent years" she used to do such promo. That isn't true. The fact is she has done extensive promo since MUSIC. In fact, she did a hell of a lot of radio interviews from the start of the lead single of HARDY CANDY up until the album was released. She also did a lot of press interviews and the promo tour. She even did a lot more promo for American Life, but both albums didn't fair well. So I don't buy that doing anymore promotion would help. I think the Superbowl was sufficient enough to remind people she's still here. The two single/videos are promotion as well. Just because some may like the choices doesn't mean it isn't promotion.

Also, I didn't necessarily say that touring "helps album sales". I said the tour SUPPORTS the album. And for less known acts, it usually does generate more album sales, but the difference is these smaller acts who tour may not have the same exposure Madonna can get.

I agree with Glindathegood here. I think people are simply missing the interviews and such that goes along with the album releases and confusing it as LACK of promotion. I can understand that, but we all know when she does interview, it rarely is about her latest album. I could see that she's sick of answering the same questions. So again, I can see why she just cuts to the chase and just go straight to tour. The album may not benefit a whole lot, but the money the tour generates is what Madonna and her team are aiming at. Spending anymore time and money on little stuff is just wasting resources which can be extended to making her tour that more extravagant.

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Guest bluejean

We need a song released to radio. Followed by a video

We've had videos and songs released to radio. They just aren't getting played.

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Like when "recent years" are you talking? It really wasn't until RAY OF LIGHT that she started doing performances and interviews on TV. In fact, much of her career before that, we never got any promotional interviews and performances. It wasn't until MUSIC album that we got a mini promotional tour.

she performed for Bedtime stories too, before that with MTV she had enough promotion, and dhe gave a lot of interviews to them

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Like someone else said, it isn't about her doing well #s-wise, it's that as a fan I fucking MISS her. :lol: This is not the time to be low-profile, she got everyone in mania in 2010 with Interview + she wasn't even promoting anything. :lmao: Come on M, some magazine covers, some GOOD photoshoots, God knows she could land any she wants.

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At some point you have to accept that Madonna isn't the biggest female pop star in the charts and just enjoy the music. It's a letting go process, some fans will take longer than others and some will just never get over it and start to hate her. We've already seen a number of people go in that direction.

I agree.I've accepted the fact that Madonna may not ever have a huge hit single again.I'm OK with that,and I think she is too.But I understand why fans are so frustrated.We always want our favorite artists to do well on the charts.

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There was an article posted about this recently somewhere....so much has been written recently I can't remember where I saw it, but I agree with the gist of it and that is that Madonna is transitioning into a "classic rock" type of act. Now I don't mean that in a literal sense as in Madonna will be making rock and roll music and exclusively playing guitar on all her tours. She's still a pop star and I'm certain dance/pop will always be her forte, but what she has proven these past few years is that not only can she play the game the big boy rock and rollers play, but this "pop star chick" beats them at their game.

I think their "master plan" goes beyond MDNA's shelf life and it goes beyond shifting a few more albums and having singles go top 10.....granted, if those things happened along the way I'm sure they will welcome it with open arms :) .....but it's obvious that's not the focus anymore, if it were this "untraditional promo" wouldn't be happening, it's not like she's a moron. I think she knows and her fans that allow themselves to admit it know that Madonna playing the traditional "pop star" game that the other "current" girls are playing right now is not only and uphill battle but is increasingly becoming a pointless battle for her. There is obviously a broader goal here and it makes sense, no matter how great the music is, no matter how much promo she does, no matter who she features on her songs Top 40 radio is just NOT going to easily embrace the latest song by a 65 year old woman when that time comes. I'm certain Madonna has no plans on slowing down and wants to remain a tour de force and putting all her energy into having pop radio and MTV embrace her is just increasingly becoming counterproductive at this point.

I think what they are doing now is trying to insure her brand for the future. I know it sounds like I'm saying she is trying to transition into dinosaur status with the Rolling Stones and rely on nostalgia but I don't think that's what's gonna happen. She's gonna transition into her "dinosaur years" and still remain current and vital just in different ways. She's going to do what the "boys" have done but with a twist. I think this current era is a good indication of how the future could be....not good news for some but do Rolling Stones, Elton John etc get this kind of press when they put out an album? Or the kind of sales MDNA got upon it's release? Or get as positive reviews? No No No. I still think she'll be "current" in that way for many years to come....as long as she's still passionate about the music, which it's clear she is. I kind of think it's exciting to see where she's gonna go from here.

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Like someone else said, it isn't about her doing well #s-wise, it's that as a fan I fucking MISS her. :lol: This is not the time to be low-profile, she got everyone in mania in 2010 with Interview + she wasn't even promoting anything. :lmao: Come on M, some magazine covers, some GOOD photoshoots, God knows she could land any she wants.

:bow:

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Well for everyone that's missing her so much, I have good news! As soon as the tour starts, you will be able to get a bunch of new performances + different photos of her every night. Yay!

:lol:

I don't think that's what they have in mind dear!

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You know, seeing as this is the first Madonna era I will experience from beginning to end, I would LOVE for her to overexpose herself with appearances, interviews, performances, and photoshoots. It would be great to see her just talking about the album, its inspirations, and the process behind it. It would be even more great to see all this translate into incredible sales of millions worldwide.

At the end of all, though, is that really all that important? Are sales defining for the quality of the album? I don't think so. She delivered a really good album this era, one that critics and fans have enjoyed immensely. It's the perfect mix of fun and personal and has been praised all around for that. I read many comments that say no promotion for the album is not caring for the art and she just wants the money from touring. How backwards is that?

Touring is a means of bringing her art to life, with visual and emotional interpretations for each song, new and old. Yes, tours make big bucks, but if Madonna were interested in just making a quick buck, she wouldn't go through the trouble of making as amazing tours as she does. You've seen the pictures of her bruises, heard the stories of the broken bones. She's putting A LOT of time and effort into this tour, sacrificing time with her loved ones in the process. She's sharing her art with the people who care most to invest interest. The fans. If that translates into a billion shipments in sales, cool. If not, then that should be totally cool too.

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You know, seeing as this is the first Madonna era I will experience from beginning to end, I would LOVE for her to overexpose herself with appearances, interviews, performances, and photoshoots. It would be great to see her just talking about the album, its inspirations, and the process behind it. It would be even more great to see all this translate into incredible sales of millions worldwide.

At the end of all, though, is that really all that important? Are sales defining for the quality of the album? I don't think so. She delivered a really good album this era, one that critics and fans have enjoyed immensely. It's the perfect mix of fun and personal and has been praised all around for that. I read many comments that say no promotion for the album is not caring for the art and she just wants the money from touring. How backwards is that?

Touring is a means of bringing her art to life, with visual and emotional interpretations for each song, new and old. Yes, tours make big bucks, but if Madonna were interested in just making a quick buck, she wouldn't go through the trouble of making as amazing tours as she does. You've seen the pictures of her bruises, heard the stories of the broken bones. She's putting A LOT of time and effort into this tour, sacrificing time with her loved ones in the process. She's sharing her art with the people who care most to invest interest. The fans. If that translates into a billion shipments in sales, cool. If not, then that should be totally cool too.

Great post!!

One thing I think we forget is that the one thing Madonna has ALWAYS been MOST passionate about is executing her songs for the stage. She's always been a PERFORMER first and foremost so in a lot of ways focusing on the tour and perhaps even recording songs having a plan on how she's going to execute it on stage in mind during the process of making it is kind of her going back to basics in a lot of ways.

And Hipster let me fill u in on a little secret.....

All this talk about promo promo promo that she USED to do is just slightly exaggerated. As a long time fan (like over 20 years) I can tell you that seeing Madonna perform on talk shows, award shows etc was very very RARE and an event when it happened. People reference COADF as some era that had HUGE promo but from my perspective being in the US, it wasn't that great of promo for the album. When she went on Letterman the album wasn't even dropping for another month and HU had LONG been gone from the top 10 by the time she performed it on Grammy's and that is the only promo I remember. I know the EMA's were a huge deal but here in the US that barely was on the radar (unless you're a hardcore fan of course).

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