Some of you may have seen my recent attempt at coining a phrase called Honking.

A “Honker” is an unimaginative artist whose sole purpose for Social Networking is to promote his / her latest CD, Book, Movie, or Live Performance: “honking” obnoxiously like an ugly, fat goose rather than “tweeting” like a pretty little bird. These perpetrators are responded to by civilized users with a simple “Honk!”

What I see happening is the creator and his “existence space” as being outside of the creation itself. He goes “Meta.” He makes his “advertising” separate from the “work” itself. So we end up seeing a lot of the following:

“Hey everybody, check out my Myspace page. The first 20 people to download my new free commercial get a 13.5% discount on my latest flier.”

or…

“We have T-shirts and stickers, please vote for my new record, I will be playing live at 8pm, 2 for 1 drinks if you print this page, come and check us out!”

or…

“My new book, How To Sell Books On The Internet, is in the Top 20 on InternetMarketingBlogReaders.com. Order 3 copies and get a free 2-month subscription to my SellingStuffBigMoneyMarketing RSS Feed!”

Impersonal, generic messages full of data that don’t amount to much more than, “Click On My Link” and “Buy My Widget” don’t work. (Not if you’re trying to build an authentic career, anyway.)

Here is what Frank Zappa said about this:

“I make the act of doing business part of the creative act. I involve it in the overall concept of what I do. Which has led to some rather amusing album covers, I think, and some pretty bizarre advertising campaigns for the products. If you have to advertise, make it interesting. If you have to do an album cover, make it interesting. If you have to do an interview, make it interesting. You should always make it interesting.”

In other words, if you’re advertising something creative, why not advertise it creatively? Why does the creativity stop at some point?

I discovered a wonderful example of How It Should Be Done last night. Sony Pictures has started several “fake” websites for their new movie, 2012.

If you happen to watch TV (which I don’t… I heard about this from a brainwashed zombie), there are commercials for something called The Institute For Human Continuity, which appears to be an organization dedicated to “Preparing The World For 2012.” http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org

One of the offshoot sites is a blog called http://www.thisistheend.com. There, you’ll see Woody Harrelson dressed up as a wacky conspiracy theory freak, producing YouTube videos under the name Charlie Frost. They used a green screen to make it look like he’s in some underground bunker with old-fashioned radios. (I have no idea who this character is in the movie, and I don’t want to know, because it will ruin the surprise.)

This is usually referred to as Viral Marketing. However, I don’t see why we should call it that. There’s no “infectious or deceptive” element here, really. It’s just Creative Stuff. Why don’t more people do this? I was truly amused by the videos on the page. They had depth. As cliché as it is, I appreciated the reference to the 405 in the I Ching video. Pilates instructor? That’s hilarious to me. They did a good job communicating with someone in Los Angeles. Plenty of in-jokes.

Overall, what I like about this “campaign” is that it’s simply building a universe that is not just a 2D movie on a screen. It’s enriching the experience. Why not expand the work of art to not just be a “movie” but an immersive, interactive, multi-media experience? Why should a website serve a film? Why not treat them as equals?

Another brilliant thing Frank Zappa said is: “If you have a cool character, why should he only get to go to one party?” He was referring to his re-use of musical themes over his entire discography. It is as if everything he did (50+ albums) all fit together somehow.

Frank Zappa wasn’t just selling albums. He was sharing his imagination with the world. And he applied his imagination to everything he did. His interviews, which he did for free, are priceless. His “product” was not just his music. The guy was oozing with creativity, and nothing could be within 5 feet of him without getting sucked up into it. It just so happened that a portion of that ended up on records. How could it not?

So we have to evolve beyond “product-centric” thinking. In this new world of copy-everything-with-one-click, revenue has to come from:

1.) Live, Personal Interaction. You can’t copy this. Musicians, think Live Shows. Authors, think Workshops. Philosophers, think Retreats. It’s life-changing to be there in a room with a real human being who isn’t scripted and edited. Ask any question you want! Rock Guitarist Steve Vai recently put on a Masterclass. He charged $325 per student, limited to 70 spots. Can you say, “$22,750 in 3 hours?” Show up with your guitar and amp, talk for a few hours. No band. No bullshit. Incredible! Why aren’t more semi-famous musicians doing this? http://www.vai.com/News/ags/index.html

2.) Limited Edition, One-of-a-Kind Collectibles. Forget trying to sell things that people can download. Take a cue from the Comic Book / Sci-Fi audience (which is becoming monstrous, if you haven’t noticed) and sell statues, mugs, anything that someone can put on their desk, hold in their hand, touch. Nothing that is mass-produced. Make it special, make it rare. Make it cool. I know a guy who collects original pencil & ink drawings from comic books. What does he fantasize about if he had millions of dollars? “Dude, I would buy so many Conan Pages.” These things sell for up to thousands of dollars. If you’re an artist, why aren’t you doing this? http://tiny.cc/hRde5

Everything else that can be downloaded is Free. Music, PDFs, Blogs, Images. Give it away. This is a new world and that’s the way it works. Don’t try to go into business selling something that everyone already gets for free. That’s called a Bad Business Idea. Selling snow to Eskimos. It might last a little while (some people are still buying CDs for some reason), but you’re doomed if you don’t figure this one out. Supply & Demand, remember?

More examples of products that can’t be copied on the internet? Here are some examples from my own everyday life:

I still like to go and see a movie in the theater. I love the experience. The ritual. That’s just me. I especially like going alone. It’s a sort of meditation. I forget everything else and sit in that dark room and escape the world. It’s not the “data” on the DVD I am buying. I could sit home and watch the movie on my computer. It’s the comfortable chair, the energy, the excitement that happens when the previews come on.

Same with restaurants. I’m not just buying the food. If I make it all about the food, I’m missing the point and wondering why I am spending $20 on a burrito. I’m buying the waitress, the lighting, the background music, the atmosphere. All important stuff! It doesn’t just serve the product… it IS the product.

So let’s apply this same principle to entertainment.

If you’re going to sell a musical album, make it part of a classy box set. Something that someone feels proud to have on the shelf. Include a comic book, a “behind-the-scenes” DVD, a book full of pictures, a poster, some buttons, some stickers, anything you can think of that can be part of the “world” that you are creating. Don’t just record 10 songs and slap them on a CD. That’s so boring. Any kid can do that now. Put some effort into this. Show us that you what you do is really special and unique. That you can invest some real time and energy and thought. People appreciate that sort of thing these days. It’s why vinyl is making a comeback. It’s novel.

If you’re as old as me, think back to Star Wars… remember all of those action figures? They weren’t toys. They helped us imagine we were in that world. The movies were 2 hours long, but the action figures could be collected for years! Which one is more important, really?

(The above photo is taken from The Action Figure Museum.)

The Star Wars Universe is just that. It’s not a movie. Or a comic book. Or a toy. Or a T-shirt. It’s a Universe you step into.

Next time you Tweet about your latest “product,” do it from inside Your Creative Universe. Don’t be a Honker.

-Carl.

–
This is my public blog. You can also Join My Cult!