Waiting Queue(s)

Tally Isham or Angie Mitchell ? Where's the script.....

Usually, having two articles in well respected business publications is only cause for celebration in a small world. But a sexy buxom starlet being spotlighted as the newest marketing wave personifying technology and commerce is different. Selling not much more than herself in various medium ( and "clothing" that define more by absence than fabric ), myspace and Unilever recently came to a meeting of minds (This reported in the Economist July 29th, 2006, which I'll link a scan of, mainly for the captioned photo). Christine Dolce, using the alias "ForBiddeN" has consistently proven impressive numbers on myspace for visitors and pageviews, which could be attributed to a wide range of factors, even some faked ( no bustline jokes in this opinion column, I promise). Wily investor and oft-heralded visionary Rupert Murdoch plunked an attractive $580 million for myspace, and could be jostling the marketing world with a serious consumer-brand giant investing seriously in one of their "stars". Unilever's deodorant "Axe" has been already targetted at the same crowd, if not a slightly less neurotic bunch kukawing about teenage promiscuity, that Ms Dolce has been tempting with ringtones, wallpapers, appearances for a supposedly $5k, and a clothing line, reflecting her own style. Unilever is large enough to endure any significant losses if this goes belly-up, and one product, which is far from being a staple of 20-somethings bathrooms, could probably use some sales-inducing controversy. However, it is far from an over-night success for the bottle-blonde with 981,171 myspace friends ( the author not being one of them for no particular reason). Myspace easily toutes her blessed arrival onto the cyberspace hotspot as Sept. 18, 2003. Her first bulletin was good time later, being introspective and far from the rough-punk-tough-top heavy image she portrays, as Sept. 24, 2004. Perhaps she hadn't figured out what she wanted by then, or had to started over ( previous bulletins and other postings in myspace are user manageable including deletions, giving historical consistency an easy feature for myspace users.)
The WSJ article gives several other important new-media types good mouthing, however doesn't exactly make determinations as to their business savvy. Ms. Dolce, seems to have proven something with her vast attention-getting metrics on myspace, which is even more astonishing considering only 12 "friends" are listed on her page. This could be comparable to a name-dropping section at a posh restaurant. But does that mean she's actually done something new? The article hints at the true "value" that she may have cornered:

"As one of the first 15,000 members to join the site, launched in July 2003 (MySpace now has 96 million members), she built an early following that grew along with the site's membership. Because users' pages list their friends in chronological order, being an early member has also meant that Ms. Dolce appears near the top of many friend lists."
Now, there is also a segment on possible implosion due to poor management, a common theme in the on-line business world, primarily with her manager being another myspace member, Keith Ruby, who hasn't tried to exclusively attract attention to himself. Wise business move, or hard-working lapdog, I doubt I'll ever know. But it easily becomes the stuff of the best commodity of celebrities, gossip. Gawker and other sites have covered several business dealings with Ms. Dolce, and won't be astonished when it comes to any non-professional activities torpedoing her success.

While myspace data may be less than open to the public when it comes to popularity, other avenues await. Ms. Dolce's website, which touts her myspace page heavily, is registered under the .com, .net and .org suffices, however leaves out .name, .us, .info and .biz ( four more redirects that could close off cyber squatters ). Even though it is not exactly a significant mistake, the cost and time for registration in additional domains is miniscule compared to her goals. Additionally, her domain name registrations appear to be proxied by godaddy.com, whose primary source of revenue does not involve direct celebrity building. Their choice of media delivery over mobile also suggests a level of at-home-business. DeliverMedia claims to be an LLC in CA, however the state records, even with their disclaimers of inaccuracy for on-line records, shows it is a full corporation, and the PO Box is never mentioned on the company page. However, the registered agent's address is kept in easy reach at her site, and ever-so efficiently, the state filing was done only about a week ago. Quick turn-around on forming a company, filing the paperwork and having your client tout your business as the way to glorify your mobile phone with her lucious curves. Perhaps the on-line information is not accurate showing the depth of their business planning, or some less than diligent deal making ensued.

Most telling in the article is Carson Daly trying to explain why he picked up Brookers on YouTube for his production company:

"He signed her to a deal to develop entertainment ideas with his production company for TV and the Web. Mr. Daly, who has only spoken to Ms. Brodack over email, says he's still working out what exactly she'll be doing for his company. When it comes to hiring talent from the digital world, he says, "There's no manual. Everybody wants to lock them up and figure it out later."
It seems the dot-com zeal lives on, just not in the fanatical sense of days past. Bottom line suggestions include keeping the numbers straight about how and why the manufacturer may experience increased sales due to this additional marketing expenditure. Even with the dying old-media anecdotes, the new-media have yet to prove themselves with statistically and technologically sound metrics ( are page views and number of friends on myspace, even if unique, meaningfull? Shouldn't the interactive part be better suited, such as bulletin replies, kudos, and myspace private message exchanges for judging exposure?). Also, the desparation of companies trying to justify the expenditures and the ease of which funding is extracted must be carefully monitored. The mobile phone adoration is very popular, but is far from translating into persuasive consumer communications, so labelling as a fad is reasonable. Focus on continued improvements in the mobile phone arena for consumer marketing possibilities, but with cautionary dis-passion. Having Ms. Dolce to make appearances in conjunction with the product could be seen as exciting, if the mobile phone is the exclusive invitation. But, is myspace cutting themselves off from the real money maker? User generated content on upcoming celebrities usually experience significant increases during two phases. When the celebrity gains popularity, and then publicly self-destructs. Myspace could easily become flooded, and seen as a less than agenda-free arena, turning off regular users. Thereby, the popularity evaporates, and in the internet world, it could be fast. This could all blow over in a matter of hours.