Marketing, research groups

[Minneapolisnewsman]

Many times, the noise or rumours on the board--especially those that seem to have eternal legs--are quick studies by hired media firms checking how much interest certain situations would drum up.  There is always a business aspect with major bands that have established brandnames.  The studies coudl be trying, in subtle way's, to find out where a certain fan base is in regards to their motivation and what motivates them to spend $$$$.

Does anyone on the GNR mailing list remember getting a survey call about a month after Axl issued his infamous "dive in and find the monkey" fax?

Things are sometimes more than they seem, and sometimes they are nothing more than a creative rat sitting at home on their lap-top.

[jgfnsr]

Huh?

[Minneapolisnewsman]

Read it again, and then think beyond the rumours.  Not all are smoke and mirrors, but where there is smoke, sometime there is a fire.  Many times, the fires source is not what it would seem on the surface.

Think about it, if one worked for a concert promoting company, one would want to find out what the reaction would be from the core fan base and media before financially backing a tour.  With the advent of the web and messageboards, there are many ways to subtly gain useful information.

Take Van Halens recent tour, where the promoter signed the deal before realizing what level of reaction and what type of venues to book. 

Take it as fact, record and promotional companies monitor and measure reaction an traffic on messageboards.

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Ok. 

[SOH]

Read it again, and then think beyond the rumours.  Not all are smoke and mirrors, but where there is smoke, sometime there is a fire.  Many times, the fires source is not what it would seem on the surface.

Think about it, if one worked for a concert promoting company, one would want to find out what the reaction would be from the core fan base and media before financially backing a tour.  With the advent of the web and messageboards, there are many ways to subtly gain useful information.

Take Van Halens recent tour, where the promoter signed the deal before realizing what level of reaction and what type of venues to book. 

Take it as fact, record and promotional companies monitor and measure reaction an traffic on messageboards.

Some truth in what you said wouldn't really surprise me, but it seems like there are a lot more mirrors and a alot less fire with the Guns situation than anywhere else. The promoter of that Van Halen tour should've realized that nobody cares about Sammy Hagar anymore, and if not he shouldn't be in the business.

[redarmy76]

so let me see if i get this right,

You are saying that some of these rumours that have been circulating lately could have been drummed up by p.r. people gauging the fan's interest.

ie.  IRS leak to see what response it would get
or the potential of a GNR show at some hick bar?

I just don't buy that theory,  I would surmise that these p.r. people would scan message rooms and stuff for curiousity sake, but not directly make up the rumours to "see what would happen"

P.S., if faking a GNR concert down south at a no-name shithole was someones brilliant idea, they should be looking for another line of employment

[TheGun]

Does anyone on the GNR mailing list remember getting a survey call about a month after Axl issued his infamous "dive in and find the monkey" fax?

Actually it is funny you mention that, I actually did get a call around that time. The gist of it was rating how I would feel about whether Axl was in the band, Slash was in the band etc. In hindsight, it is obvious that it was related to Axl being the only one left or whether to just pull the trigger on that.

[Kitano]

I seriously doubt if the record company are going to waste more money on CD.? Spending money on marketing something that for all they know may not even exist is hardly a fiscally sound strategy.

[Christos AG]

Many times, the noise or rumours on the board--especially those that seem to have eternal legs--are quick studies by hired media firms checking how much interest certain situations would drum up.? There is always a business aspect with major bands that have established brandnames.? The studies coudl be trying, in subtle way's, to find out where a certain fan base is in regards to their motivation and what motivates them to spend $$$$.

Does anyone on the GNR mailing list remember getting a survey call about a month after Axl issued his infamous "dive in and find the monkey" fax?

Things are sometimes more than they seem, and sometimes they are nothing more than a creative rat sitting at home on their lap-top.

Do you have any idea about how research and marketing work?

When some research group does a research they want to know who answers the question, how old is he/she, where is he/she from and a whole bunch of other private information that this message board does not provide.

This message board could have 3000 15-year old registered members... Do you think that this would help a lot? Most of them wouldn't have the money to buy the cd or go to a concert.

Out of the 3000 registered members, 1500 could be living in Asia, Europe, Africa... Do you think that would help a lot if a "research group" would want to find out how a US tour would do?

From the 3000 registered members of a message board, the 2000 might never buy a cd and they'd prefer to download a whole album from the net, without paying for it for example from Itunes...

And most definitely, a serious research would NEVER do a research about a new song amongst 3000 hard core fans... They'd do that with all the other people in this world besides the hard core fan base...

I hope I was clear as English is not my first language.

And for those of you who still question my points, you should know that I've studied marketing and research for 6 years... I have an MBA in business strategics.

[Eternal Flaming Sword of Death...]

so you don't think there is any way that this could be true? Maybe not directly linked to Axl, maybe so, but if you in the business of promoting Guns n Roses, or getting ready to, don't you think a few of these boards would be a good place to start? I mean, how often is the casual fan going to vivst a place like this? A couple times, maybe? The people here are here everyday and continue to check the board and wait.

Also, if you spend that much time here, I would be willing to bet you own at least one GNR album and will by CD if it comes out, because right now that seems to be the only thing to wait for.

I don't think it happens all the time, but I wouldn't say it never happens. People here are hardcore fans, like the ones Merck talked about in his speech. We will buy anything, well, most anything with GNR on it.

[Christos AG]

so you don't think there is any way that this could be true? Maybe not directly linked to Axl, maybe so, but if you in the business of promoting Guns n Roses, or getting ready to, don't you think a few of these boards would be a good place to start? I mean, how often is the casual fan going to vivst a place like this? A couple times, maybe? The people here are here everyday and continue to check the board and wait.

Also, if you spend that much time here, I would be willing to bet you own at least one GNR album and will by CD if it comes out, because right now that seems to be the only thing to wait for.

I don't think it happens all the time, but I wouldn't say it never happens. People here are hardcore fans, like the ones Merck talked about in his speech. We will buy anything, well, most anything with GNR on it.

Unfortunately that's not the way research works... It's not that simple.

In a message board they can only see a reaction from the hardcore fans. Nothing more. That's not a safe result.

[damnthehaters]

I actually have thought that the whole gig friday night in Atlanta may have been set up.  The fact that management didn't really do too much about the whole incident, maybe they wanted to see if they could sell out, and what there fan base would have been.  That whole situation was just really weird to me.  How could it have gotten that far?  And with the leak of IRS, Axl could be up to something.  Then again, maybe he's not up to anything.  I just think it was rather weird.

Could you imagine though if GNR started playing at small bars across the USA every weekend, until the release of the album?  I think that wouldbe awesome.