Better Marketing for Super Audio on Dylan and DSOTM (1 Viewer)

[Lee Scoggins]

Friends,

I have noticed an encouraging trend for Super Audio - major print ads to advertise the new Dylan series and Dark Side of The Moon.

Observation #1
Home theater magazines are running a full page Capitol Records ad discussing the advantages of Super Audio and Dark Side's availability. Capitol has some great catalog titles so I am wondering if they are planning more releases soon.

Observation #2
The Wall Street Journal and Stereophile (October) both ran full page Dylan ads with a retailer featured in the lower right corner and specific mention of Super Audio. The Journal had Best Buy's logo and Stereophile had Borders' logo.

This is a step up in marketing commitment. I suppose it is possible that Sony did some common "cooperative adverts" with a series of retailers. It is also interesting since it shows a stepped up commitment to Super Audio from Borders which has been lackluster in the past.

Also, here is some info on the remastering of the Dylan series from HFR:

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/ne...umber=10380631

 

[Mike Broadman]

Blender magazine (music and pop culture mag published by Maxim) had a two-page thingy on the new Dylans. They mentioned the SACD, but focused on the music itself and referred to it more as a "remastering." I actually think that's better than focusing on the SACD aspect of it because it doesn't scare people into assuming that they won't be able to play it on their systems.

I think major pop and rock SACD hybrids need to be marketed as remasters that also happen to have an extra even-better sounding version on the CD that can be played on certain players, not as a new format "but don't worry, you can still use a regular CD player."

Michael Broadman: marketing genius.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

I think major pop and rock SACD hybrids need to be marketed as remasters that also happen to have an extra even-better sounding version on the CD

Good point. If people see that the CD layer is an upgrade, they may purchase. After a few good remastered titles, maybe they think to themselves..."hmmm, I wonder what the Super Audio layer would do for the sound?..."

 

[Angelo.M]

This week's Rolling Stone has a one-page ad for the Dark Side of the Moon hybrid. Ultimately, I don't see it as a marketing coup of any kind, because it's going to appeal first and foremost to folks who are interested in that album. Since RS has now become Son-of-Maxxim, I'm guessing that a large bulk of folks looking at the mag aren't going to see the ad and think, "wow, this SA-CD stuff sounds cool." If they're going to react at all, it's because it's an ad for a Floyd album.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

This week's Rolling Stone has a one-page ad for the Dark Side of the Moon hybrid. Ultimately, I don't see it as a marketing coup of any kind

I see your point and I would agree that "coup" would be too strong. It does discuss the advantages of Super Audio and that's more than we have seen before.

 

[Ron Reda]

I too saw the Capitol ad and thought that it was great to see some support behind SACD. Not only did it announce the release, but it also gave some background on the format as far as what type of hardware you need to play it.

 

[KeithH]

Mike,

Excellent points. Everyone has CD players, so play up that aspect. Then tantalize them with the option of better sound in stereo or surround.


Lee,

This is indeed very good news. Things certainly are picking up for hi-rez. I think SACD is making strides, at least by expanding the catalog with significant titles. Whether or not this is making a difference in the marketplace, I have no idea. The ads could help.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

background on the format as far as what type of hardware you need to play it

Yeah its very encouraging. Maybe hirez in general, both SACD and DVDA, could draw strength from a comparison with high definition video.

...Maybe this ad idea would work:

Show a picture of regular video (low rez like tape) and hi-def video.

Then ask the question below:

"You have seen the benefits of higher definition video...
Why not take your audio to the next level as well?

Introducing Super Audio with 64X the musical information of regular Compact Disc...

Here's what Sting and Mick Jagger say about the format:

...some positive comments from both with picture...

Then mention some key facts on Super Audio like:

1,500 titles available including x, y, z (best sellers across a few genres)

Players as inexpensive as $150.00

Available now at Best Buy, Circuit City, Media Play, Tower Records, etc.

***

I'm no marketing genius but there could be worse ads!

 

[Mike Broadman]

Thanks, Keith. As I said- Mike Broadman: marketing genius.

So here's my ad idea: a big ol' picture of yours truly with wide grin and classic thumbs up pose holding up a copy of the San Francisco Symphony's SACD of Mahler's 6th symphony. I dare any consumer to resist that.

 

[Rachael B]

Is better marketing going to make more than a marginal difference? IMO, proably not???

 

[Lee Scoggins]

Is better marketing going to make more than a marginal difference?

Better marketing always makes a difference...after all there are many products that get purchased due to the brand name.

If the marketing just adds a few thousand buyers to the Super Audio community, the increase in overall disc sales (tens of thousands+) could still be substantial enough to entice more bands to sign on (perhaps with encouragement and capital from Sony/Philips) and more hardware players to come to market. It could also help establish SACD and/or DVDA as a standard "expected" capability of newer DVD players.

The goal is to create a "virtuous cycle" where increasing disc sales lead to more buyers to more (and cheaper) players to more buyers to more titles to more disc sales and then repeat.

If we are even conservative and we just expect hirez to fully gain hold in just 2 channel circles and home theater buffs, those markets are sizeable enough to support the product as a niche for a while.

If you add portable hirez to the mix, then I can see the average consumer buying less expensive MP3 for most of their music but higher quality, slightly more expensive hirez for their favorite bands...It's easy to mix and match both and I think the record companies would prefer a mix of hirez and MP3 since it will mean higher average dollars per customer. That would be worthwhile for them to promote.

Another scenario might be that portable hirez never arise, but with hirez you get a video of the band and other special features and a nice package of disc & liner notes. Maybe people are happy to spend $10-12 on that for their favorite artists or jazz/classical buffs who want collections of certain cycles or periods of music...

 

[Brian-W]

Lately I've been seeing a ton of SACD ads in the enthusiast magazines (Stereophile, Sound & Vision, etc).

It would surprise me if Sony's funding (same ad style, different label and featured disc), but the fact remains someone is pushing SACD. I think it was SGHT that had no less than 4 SACD ads (Dylan, Norah Jones, etc.)

 

[Danny Tse]

One of the full page ads featured Steely Dan's Gaucho.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

One of the full page ads featured Steely Dan's Gaucho.

If the 'Gaucho' ad doesn't mention the DVD-A, you can assume that ad is largely/wholly funded by Sony.

 

[Lee Scoggins]

If the 'Gaucho' ad doesn't mention the DVD-A, you can assume that ad is largely/wholly funded by Sony.

How can you be sure that the label did not provide any or all of the cost?

I would bet that Sony is funding the new push to some extent, but it is common for partners to share costs in these situations.

But is there a problem with Sony spending money to raise awareness? They likely view this as a good investment.

 

[Michael St. Clair]

But is there a problem with Sony spending money to raise awareness?

Where did I say there was a problem?

Your responses to my post are irrelevant, moot, redundant, and just plain unneeded. Why do you insist on trying to stir crap up?

 

[John Kotches]

Egads.... mareketing drivel alert:

Introducing Super Audio with 64X the musical information of regular Compact Disc...

Wrong, wrong wrong.

Why are you of all people even typing something like that? One parameter (sampling frequency) does not make up for another parameter (bits / sample).

Using the same type of completely invalid "marketing speak" would yield:

DVD-Audio with 8 million times the resolution of SA-CD. After all, each sample contains 23 more bits.

Each is a completely bogus statement, because it ignores one parameter for the other.

Regards,

 

[Rachael B]

Lee & John, I'm stille available to referee ya'all's Texas Tornado Death Match!

 

[PhilBoy]

I bought the DSOTM SACD 2 weeks ago knowing that right now I would not be able to listen to the Hi-Res tracks with my existing equipment.

I thought for sure the regular cd layer would have at least sounded better than the original I bought 10 years ago...(as in remastered, considering the amount of work involed in authoring the hi-res tracks)

Lunch bag letdown. No difference. Even with a digital connection.

If there had been an improvement (even slight), I may have considered getting a SACD/DVD-A player.

The price I paid for the SACD was less than I paid for the Redbook, but an improved cd layer on the SACD would have been a nice 'tease' to upgrade to Hi-Res.

I guess I'll put my SACD up on the shelf beside my quad LP of DSOTM.

 

[John Kotches]

Phil,

In the spirit of Pink Floyd.....

Welcome to the Compression

Sorry, I couldn't resist that. It's been demonstrated that the CD layer has had substantial compression applied which severely limits the fidelity.

Regards,