I tuned in to watch the “X Factor” last night. Disclaimer – I’ve never been an “American Idol” fan, so I wasn’t interested in the “X Factor” itself, but I wanted to see what it was offering to be better than “American Idol.” How is the “X Factor” differentiating itself from “American Idol” to win over those millions of viewers each week?
Thanks to this article (http://bit.ly/rf6hEy), here are a few differences:
1. The rules
2. The grand prize
3. The sponsors
4. he atmosphere
5. Mentoring
6. And…according this article: “Simon’s sincerity”
Watching the show, it felt awfully similar to “American Idol,” but I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt and just wait to see. I honestly thought that maybe having Simon on the “X Factor” rather than “American Idol” and having him and Paula together again would bring in more viewers.
Did it?
No.
According to TMZ (please excuse my sourcing here!), the “X Factor” earned “just over half the ratings ‘American Idol’ got during its premier in January.” TMZ is kind enough to add the caveat that “the first ever episode of ‘American Idol’ only scored a 6.1 in 2002 ... and has since had years to build a loyal audience. Then again, singing competitions were new back then.”
So – why am I bringing this up to you all? How is this relevant? Personally, I think there’s a lesson to learn here. As the “Wear It!” campaign looks ahead to 2012, it’s churning up new, innovative ideas to promote life jacket wear throughout the nation. Just like “Ready, Set, Inflate!” and the “Safety Dance,” the campaign is looking for a fresh, fun, and compelling approach to get people to wear their life jackets.
Will the campaign do a “Safety Dance” with a baby next? No – of course not. Although it’d be pretty adorable, (a) that’s not our target market and (b) it’s already been done. Recycling ideas isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but there needs to be an edge to the new product, otherwise, no one is going to buy it. Just as we see with the “X Factor,” people aren’t going to get excited about something that’s already being done. They’ll tune in and I’m sure their ratings will be fine, but where’s the excitement? Where’s the buzz?
When trying to deliver a message, especially a safety message, we need to remember that people want to be impressed, they want to be moved, and they need to be influenced. It’s okay to bank on previous successes – the success of Simon and Paula, for example, or the success of using the “Wear It!” campaign message. Yes, people want to be impressed, but they also like familiarity. The fact that “Wear It!” can be found throughout the country and throughout the world proves that this message is working and having an impact on our boaters. It’s time to capitalize on that with never before seen ideas and concepts. The “one voice, one message” of “Wear It!” is what gets us in the door with these boaters, but we need to take that next step to influence them, rather than just inform them of the importance of life jacket wear. It’s with that that the campaign continues to look for new trends, whether they been in the social media world or grassroots efforts.
Just as I remarked the other day that there needs to be a compromise among new media and traditional media, so too do we need to utilize those efforts that are already in place (i.e. – “Wear It!” in all 50 states!) with new ideas (“Wear It!” on every continent?)
What do you think?