In this previous post, I wrote about the "Call Me Maybe" cover contest and the exploding number of covers of this song. The covering hasn't stopped since then, but has only continued...
...from the Olympic Swim Team visiting Downing Street...
...to Military in parts unknown...
...to Late Night...
...to Sesame Street.
Has there ever been a more quickly and over-parodied song in the history of music?
If you type in "Call Me Maybe cover" into a YouTube search, you'll receive "about 146,000 results"! Compare that to a Katy Perry hit of the same time frame--type in "Fireworks cover" and you get "about 11,900 results".
According to a Wikipedia article, (the song already has a significant enough history to warrant an article), the Canadian born Carly Rae Jepsen's catchy hit was released in September 2011, in Canada, breaking the Canadian Music scene's top 100 in October. It's not until April of 2012 that the song cracks US Billboards Top Ten--it reached number 1 by June 23--and, as of this posting, it's still number 1.
What makes a silly, "chick-flick" of a song the default soundtrack of summer?
It's not because it's a better song than all the other songs released in the same time frame. It's not because Carly Rae Jepsen has a track record of great music and fanatic following. It's not because she slickly marketed her song through YouTube, Twitter, and other social media networks.
So what was it?
Maybe, because of timing:
Spring fever is all about the crush, and this song gains momentum in the largest media market in April.
Maybe, because it's simple--instrumentally, lyrically, and vocally:
It's simple, quirky casio-friendly melody gets stuck in your brain. Vocally, it doesn't it have high-arching/range-stretching vocal solos, so it can be easily replicated in the shower.
Maybe, because it's all of the above.
Marketing "guru" Seth Godin shared in a TED Conference on "How to get your ideas to spread" that "in a world where we have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff." He goes on to talk about the necessity of being "remarkable"--literally causing someone to create a remark:
to notice the difference,
at the right time,
connecting with need or desire,
and the simple option.
Godin uses two examples of products:
1) SILK "milk", which watched their product sales triple immediately when they took their product out of the aisles and placed it in the refrigerators beside the milk--even though didn't need refrigeration. Godin exemplifies, "milk, milk, milk, Silk?!?"
and 2) Dutch-boy Paint, whose product line was saved by not making a better paint, but a new paint can.
Godin thinks proclaims that Silk and Dutch-boy challenged their alternatives/competitors by simply being 'remarkable'.
"Call Me Maybe" is not the best song of the summer, but it's been the 'remarkable' one--and that will have people remembering this summer with this song for years and years to come. Potentially, when flashback scenes in romantic comedies are filmed in 2022 or 2032, don't be surprised if you hear this song playing.
(Side note: If this hit becomes her albatross, as in becoming a "one-hit-wonder" she cannot escape, the potential, ongoing future royalties will make it a little easier to bear as opposed to other one-hit wonders such as Vanilla Ice, Dexy's Midnight Runners, or Toni Basil.)
So, what does this matter? What lessons can we learn from the summer success of "Call Me Maybe"?
Attention getting, movement creating, interest drawing -- however you want to define it -- is essential in offering anything in the day and time in which we live. Beyond the applications to creating something new, what about what we currently provide or do?
When you work, are you attempting to offer something "remarkable" or just enough to get an "A" or cross it off the "to-do" list or out of the "in box"? One of my greatest educational challenges came when a different professor asked if a project I had prepared was "my best"--I knew it wasn't; I knew it was just enough to get the "A", but I didn't strive to give it my all, and his question pierced me.
When you are preparing for a weekly or monthly meeting, are you preparing to make it "remarkable," or just routine? How many church services include copy-and-pasted bulletin material, rerun sermon outlines, similar song sequences, and little imagination? (As a result, how many people walk out facing the "too many choices versus too little time" dilemma and may choose just to "ignore" the next meeting?)
What thoughts do you have?
How would you dissect or define "catchy", and how would you apply that?
...from the Olympic Swim Team visiting Downing Street...
...to Military in parts unknown...
...to Late Night...
...to Sesame Street.
Has there ever been a more quickly and over-parodied song in the history of music?
If you type in "Call Me Maybe cover" into a YouTube search, you'll receive "about 146,000 results"! Compare that to a Katy Perry hit of the same time frame--type in "Fireworks cover" and you get "about 11,900 results".
According to a Wikipedia article, (the song already has a significant enough history to warrant an article), the Canadian born Carly Rae Jepsen's catchy hit was released in September 2011, in Canada, breaking the Canadian Music scene's top 100 in October. It's not until April of 2012 that the song cracks US Billboards Top Ten--it reached number 1 by June 23--and, as of this posting, it's still number 1.
What makes a silly, "chick-flick" of a song the default soundtrack of summer?
It's not because it's a better song than all the other songs released in the same time frame. It's not because Carly Rae Jepsen has a track record of great music and fanatic following. It's not because she slickly marketed her song through YouTube, Twitter, and other social media networks.
So what was it?
Maybe, because it's different:
It's not laced with innuendo, even in the age where "sex sells" and taboo equals "cha-ching", it retains a bit of innocence.
Maybe, because of timing:
Spring fever is all about the crush, and this song gains momentum in the largest media market in April.
Maybe, because it's universal:
"Crush at first sight and, though unconfident, wanting to do something about it" is Romantic Fiction 101 because it resonates.
Maybe, because it's simple--instrumentally, lyrically, and vocally:
It's simple, quirky casio-friendly melody gets stuck in your brain. Vocally, it doesn't it have high-arching/range-stretching vocal solos, so it can be easily replicated in the shower.
Maybe, because it's all of the above.
Marketing "guru" Seth Godin shared in a TED Conference on "How to get your ideas to spread" that "in a world where we have too many choices and too little time, the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff." He goes on to talk about the necessity of being "remarkable"--literally causing someone to create a remark:to notice the difference,
at the right time,
connecting with need or desire,
and the simple option.
1) SILK "milk", which watched their product sales triple immediately when they took their product out of the aisles and placed it in the refrigerators beside the milk--even though didn't need refrigeration. Godin exemplifies, "milk, milk, milk, Silk?!?"
and 2) Dutch-boy Paint, whose product line was saved by not making a better paint, but a new paint can.
Godin thinks proclaims that Silk and Dutch-boy challenged their alternatives/competitors by simply being 'remarkable'.
"Call Me Maybe" is not the best song of the summer, but it's been the 'remarkable' one--and that will have people remembering this summer with this song for years and years to come. Potentially, when flashback scenes in romantic comedies are filmed in 2022 or 2032, don't be surprised if you hear this song playing.
(Side note: If this hit becomes her albatross, as in becoming a "one-hit-wonder" she cannot escape, the potential, ongoing future royalties will make it a little easier to bear as opposed to other one-hit wonders such as Vanilla Ice, Dexy's Midnight Runners, or Toni Basil.)
So, what does this matter? What lessons can we learn from the summer success of "Call Me Maybe"?
Attention getting, movement creating, interest drawing -- however you want to define it -- is essential in offering anything in the day and time in which we live. Beyond the applications to creating something new, what about what we currently provide or do?
When you work, are you attempting to offer something "remarkable" or just enough to get an "A" or cross it off the "to-do" list or out of the "in box"? One of my greatest educational challenges came when a different professor asked if a project I had prepared was "my best"--I knew it wasn't; I knew it was just enough to get the "A", but I didn't strive to give it my all, and his question pierced me.
When you are preparing for a weekly or monthly meeting, are you preparing to make it "remarkable," or just routine? How many church services include copy-and-pasted bulletin material, rerun sermon outlines, similar song sequences, and little imagination? (As a result, how many people walk out facing the "too many choices versus too little time" dilemma and may choose just to "ignore" the next meeting?)
What thoughts do you have?
How would you dissect or define "catchy", and how would you apply that?
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