Obsessed with Mormons
This morning I woke up to a little surprise. The #1 and #2 albums on the Soundscan Classical Traditional chart belonged to the Mormons.
#1 - Men of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
#2 - Josh Wright
First of all, watch the Josh video. It’s DOUBLY difficult to watch.
I’m not really going to comment on the quality as it’s irrelevant.
The issue is that the Mormons are the epitome of community marketing. These two records were initially sold very locally, and they still charted! Their community is super supportive, and they spend money on their own. And I honestly don’t think that people were buying this and they didn’t want it. They probably wanted it and were motivated to do it because their friends were buying it. They were given a reason to do it. The reason - he’s one of us.
What does this mean to us as music marketers? It doesn’t mean “release Mormon products”. It means get micro. Drill down on your release and address the constituents. Who’s conducting? Does he conduct somewhere else with a following? Who’s singing? Every chorister has a stake in this release, and those folks have friends.
So let’s take a page from our Mormon friends - let’s stop thinking that a casual consumer is going to walk through a Barnes & Noble, see something way in the back on an endcap and pick it up just ‘cause. Let’s start thinking that people are inundated with product/entertainment choices, and they need a reason to act. “You know that kid Josh who plays two pianos? I think he went to school with Michael and Kate, Jenny’s kids? He’s got a new CD out!” THAT’S a reason to act.
