Myspace is back and spending a lot of money to make sure everybody knows it's back. They are reportedly spending $20 million on their new ad campaign to promote the relaunch. However, from my perspective, the first ad could have been much better. The fact of the matter is, Myspace is spending a large amount of money to rival an incredibly strong and dominant company, Facebook, for social media market share. If this is their big chance to show us all why they’re back and better than ever, then what are they really showing us? Their latest commercial, which you can see here is a 1:33 spot full of all sorts of celebrities running around in a sea of chaos.
The spot ends with “check us out on Myspace.” Great, I’m slightly curious to check out Myspace, but besides that I’ve really learned nothing about their new site. What I would really like to see is the changes they have made and what is really going to set them apart from other social media sites such as Facebook. As my Dad always told me when applying for jobs, tell people how you are different? What makes you special in an already crowded world? And most importantly why should anybody care? It’s Myspace’s responsibility to show us, as users, the changes they have made to their company.
In my opinion, this commercial didn’t really do the new Myspace justice, but as I looked into the site further I began to really understand what the new Myspace is all about: Music.
Music & Social All in One
Myspace understands their history isn't exactly going to make their relaunch easy, but they've made significant improvements to their website hoping it will yield new users and get rid of their negative reputation.
“There's no fancy marketing campaign that will change that overnight,” admits Chris Vanderhook (COO of Myspace). “We pay a lot of attention to what the sentiment is toward the brand, and when we acquired MySpace we were at over 90% negative. But if you look on Twitter today, it's over 80% positive. And we're not doing any marketing — just focusing on product that serves the artist community.”
The new Myspace is centered around the idea that it’s a place, for artists and fans, to share and post music. It’s a combination of Spotify with the social elements of Facebook and the photos of Pinterest. What differentiates Myspace from music sites like Spotify and Pandora is the fact it’s a place to actively seek out music and then share your thoughts with your connections.
From the reviews I've read thus far, it seems Myspace is on its’ way to being a success. Now the company just faces that challenge of overcoming their past reputation. Their future is in the hands of people like you and me now. I'm anxious to see where they end up.
