91 replies to this topic

[Lucky guy]

I don't think he should be fired; that's unrealistic, but I do think he should be moved away from over all control. He doesn't know how to manage a major brand -someone is required who takes a holistic view of Madonna's career, and therefore sees how one thing will affect the other. The reason that Madonna has the brand equity to engage in all these commercial activities is that she has sustained a pop career and remained culturally relevant for over 25 years. When that stops, so will the rest. She doesn't want to become like Pierre Cardin -once a prestigeous brand like Valentio or Georgio Armani, now licensed to the hilt and plastered over everything, with no more ability to add value than if you wrote 'Francois Picou' on something.

The 'Take a Bow' segue into getting the Evita role -that was amazing marketing. Confessions era again stands out as an incredibly consistent and coherent campaign -those club gigs in Koko and wherever it was in NYC, right down to the leotards and hair flicks -something she even maintained for attending the VF party. But there have been periods where it all fell apart -American Life era flop panic being one. I remember Pud giving a really damning verdict on Caresse's management of that situation; I don't think Caresse was necessarily the 'golden age'.

I am always arguing for Madonna to put out another ROL in terms of depth, maturity, and cutting edge production, but I don't actually think she should do that now, because I don't think it will work, and I think those of us who advocate for it will have all the cheekslut fans point the finger and say 'look you said this would work and it hasn't'. I think it would continue the steady decline in sales probably. Because like Kylie and Alanis (I'm not putting Madonna in the same league), she may have got herself into a cycle of fixing the problems of the last era, this era. Kylie -her urban influenced follow up to Fever flopped, so for the next era she dropped the urban and focussed on slightly left field electro and pop, which is what she should have done in the first place. Then that flops because it's incoherent, rubbish lead single, and her styling is a mess. So she fixes that problem by having one good producer helming the album, having a euphoric (they thought) lead single and looking hot with a strong visual theme tying the whole project together. Again it flops, probably because she was doing gay teen pop and she's seen as too old etc. So now the next album will they go more mature? Probably. But again they will be one step behind all the time. Both these artists followed a massive album with an underperforming one, and since then have been mending the problems of each album with the next album. It's inward looking (product orientated) and Madonna has never been that. She should (and must) do something completely unexpected and different.

That's why I think she should do the film version of Sunset Boulevard next. What better way to:
-win credibility as an actress, as she's always acting better when singing
-silence critics about her voice
-play with the whole concept of ageing in Hollywood and show she's not afraid of it
-Surprise fans and the wider public
-Challenge herself and give her something to get her teeth into

[Butter9]

I feel like there are a lot of overlapping in term of branding with this era. Are we supposed to love Madonna-the filmmaker , Madonna-the pop star, Madonna -the Perfumery etc ? I thought this era was geared toward re establishing her as an iconic pop superstar someone who at 53 could still sell records by the millions and have instant sell oit shows in multiple countries but so far I have not seen much effort in that .

I agree with LG regarding the leasing out the Madonna's name and I sure hope that she doesn't become the Pierre Cardin of Pop. I don't think she will. I think Guy shouldn't be fired but maybe managing a career of Madonna - the Iconic Pop Star is not something he excels at.

[Drama_Boy]

Narendra Sen, on 19 April 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

YES!!

I remember when the song leaked, Guy O. said someyhing like "we are very happy that the song got a positive response from fans, but sad that someone leaked it blahblahblah" and I'm like "what positive response"? We all Most of us didn't like it since it leaked, but back then we hoped it was just a demo or that they would release another song as the 1st single. But they just didn't get it.  

I think it just goes to show how oblivious Guy and M's team are with regards to doing their market research before launching a project (be it online research or focus groups, etc). They seem very disconnected from the core audience. If I was M, I would employ a few people to actually gauge honest initial reactions to her products. Hollywood studios have been doing it for years! I would employ a mole to scour all the fan sites like Madonnanation, Madonnatribe and Madonnalicious, etc. It's common sense!

[acko]

Drama_Boy, on 20 April 2012 - 04:56 PM, said:

I think it just goes to show how oblivious Guy and M's team are with regards to doing their market research before launching a project (be it online research or focus groups, etc). They seem very disconnected from the core audience. If I was M, I would employ a few people to actually gauge honest initial reactions to her products. Hollywood studios have been doing it for years! I would employ a mole to scour all the fan sites like Madonnanation, Madonnatribe and Madonnalicious, etc. It's common sense!

Thank God ur not M.

[Drama_Boy]

acko, on 20 April 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

Thank God ur not M.

I know. Having children adds wrinkles.

[BoogieWoogie]

...in the UK inerview...M admitted that it herself that says no to doing a lot of the promo - so she can spend more time with her kids...

[Suedehead]

Drama_Boy, on 20 April 2012 - 06:03 PM, said:

I know. Having children adds wrinkles.

Oh, you made a funny.  

[acko]

So funny I forgot 2 laugh.

[Suedehead]

BoogieWoogie, on 20 April 2012 - 06:07 PM, said:

...in the UK inerview...M admitted that it herself that says no to doing a lot of the promo - so she can spend more time with her kids...

Does make sense. Let's not forget that this is her first tour since having children without Guy Ritchie in her life. (Okay, it was all over by S&S but still).

If she had been promoting her arse off the media would have been all over her calling her a bad mother for neglecting her children!

[BoogieWoogie]

Suedehead, on 20 April 2012 - 06:10 PM, said:

Does make sense. Let's not forget that this is her first tour since having children without Guy Ritchie in her life. (Okay, it was all over by S&S but still).

If she had been promoting her arse off the media would have been all over her calling her a bad mother for neglecting her children!

exactly..

i think this is more about the fans then anything..


she has other priorities...if she wanted to get number one singles she can - but she's past givin a shit about it. despite the drop in sales - she ultimately still got another number one album and broke records...without really having to do much.

any after watching that interview (although it was shit) i understand what she means and i see the whole promo thing in a new light.

[SkyHigh76]

Lucky guy, on 20 April 2012 - 04:22 PM, said:

That's why I think she should do the film version of Sunset Boulevard next. What better way to:
-win credibility as an actress, as she's always acting better when singing
-silence critics about her voice
-play with the whole concept of ageing in Hollywood and show she's not afraid of it
-Surprise fans and the wider public
-Challenge herself and give her something to get her teeth into

I wish she had accepted that role,instead of doing the 'W.E.' project.This was her last big chance to redeem herself as an actress and I don't think she's gonna get too many more offers in the future.

[bluejean]

SkyHigh76, on 20 April 2012 - 08:26 PM, said:

I wish she had accepted that role,instead of doing the 'W.E.' project.This was her last big chance to redeem herself as an actress and I don't think she's gonna get too many more offers in the future.

Was she even offered it?

[SkyHigh76]

bluejean, on 20 April 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

Was she even offered it?

sorta....the director (I forgot his name?) mentioned that Madonna is his choice for the role.

[Lucky guy]

SkyHigh76, on 20 April 2012 - 09:15 PM, said:

sorta....the director (I forgot his name?) mentioned that Madonna is his choice for the role.

Andrew Lloyd Webber, not the director, but the creator of the musical and the owner.

[Littlebastard]

Lucky guy, on 20 April 2012 - 09:25 PM, said:

Andrew Lloyd Webber, not the director, but the creator of the musical and the owner.

He even said in an interview he did this past fall in /montreal that she'd be perfect for the role. Wish she'd do it

[whyme?]

What makes you think he could have done a better job at promoting the album? The only thing that would promote the album is madonna actually going on tv and singing and doing talk shows. She obviously hates doing that and there's really nothing guy can do to convince her.

Other ways of promting the album include paid advertising -- which is totally pointless from a cost basis because without a radio hit, ads don't generate much in sales.

[Narendra Sen]

whyme?, on 20 April 2012 - 10:34 PM, said:

What makes you think he could have done a better job at promoting the album?

- releasing the album the day after the SuperBowl
- a different 1st single

I don't know if these 2 aspects were his job, though.