Lefsetz' Post on Gaga, Adele and the Value of Twitter / Mentioned on Howard Stern

I was listening to Howard Stern this morning, who was talking about Bob Lefsetz' mention of Ronnie the Limo Driver's Twitter following, which now numbers over 100,000.  Lefsetz' post had argued that Twitter followers might mean something, but are not necessarily indicative of purchase intent.  He argued that with far few Twitter followers, Adele was selling more music than Gaga, because ultimately, consumers will purchase music because of its quality, not the amount of hype or marketing power.  He further conjectured that if Twitter was so indicative of financial earning power, Stern's driver Ronnie would be far better off.

I thought Lefsetz' point was interesting and applicable to brands as well.  As digital marketers, we spend so much time thinking about social media trends - the technical underpinnings, the use of localization, user generated content, etc. - that we forget that we need to give consumers something to rally around: a great product, a great idea, something with substance. 

Social media platforms provide a means and mechanism for enabling communication.  But they are hollow and insubstantial...and can be used for good and evil.  They are illusory and their value is as yet undetermined (as a digital marketer who sees ROI reports, I see wide ranges of ROI results, which are tenuous at best).  For "social media" - which is already too broad of a term to be of any use - to be of use to a company, that company still needs to keep its eye focused on its product: is it of the highest quality, the best value, the most interesting or innovative?  I feel more than ever that brands believe that Facebook and Twitter are going to solve what are more fundamental brand problems. 

Let me be clear: social media cannot take on these challenges alone.

Lefsetz seems to be implying that with Gaga, the social media swirl is a diversion of sorts: the music isn't that good, and the hype is transitory and of little value at driving to the bottom line.  Adele's music is, and that's why it's moving more units - Twitter followers be damned. 

As social media evolves and becomes more important to consumers' lives, brands and businesses should pay attention to Lefsetz' point.  Social media is not a cure or palliative for brand's marketing woes.  It can be useful, but it's more important than ever that brands remember to have great product.  It might seem an obvious point, yet I think many are completely missing it.

Related articles

• Is the Internet killing music? Not for these bands (theglobeandmail.com)
• Lady Gaga's Born This Way Is 99 Cents At Amazon Again (blogs.villagevoice.com)
• ArtsBeat: Yet Again, Adele Tops the Charts (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)