Here’s a story that can be interpreted either as a doom-and-gloom report on the demise of two beloved forms of communication—newspaper journalism and indie movies—or as an optimistic rah-rah for innovative marketing. As optimistic marketers, let’s go with the latter.
There I was on vacation, catching up with a not-so-new publication called San Francisco Panorama. The issue I was reading—Vol. 1, No. 1, December 8, 2009—is the only issue ever published. Like the big fat Sunday papers we old-timers cherish, Panorama has a glossy magazine, a hefty book review, droll funny pages, a sports section, and several news and op-ed sections printed on rather nicer stock than your average newsprint. Throughout every piece of the newspaper, the writing is sharp and timely, the journalism penetrating, the design snappy. But it’s not really a newspaper—it’s the one-time-only brainchild of McSweeney’s Quarterly, a literary journal published by a happy band of energetic literati supported by some best-selling deep pockets. It can afford to be the greatest newspaper ever for a small and select audience—for one issue only. It’s kind of a Eulogy Edition. The irony made me depressed, even though I thoroughly enjoyed Panorama and the spirit behind it.
The gloom was not dispelled by an article in the glossy magazine: a roundtable panel discussion about independent film and—guess what—its demise. In yet another sad irony, filmmaking has become a vastly cheaper endeavor, thanks to the digital revolution. There are floods of independently-produced films out there, many awful, some good, a very few of which make it to film festivals, and a tiny, tiny proportion of which ever make it to movie theaters. Conversely, the online world is awash in films distributed by plucky innovators such as Joost, IndiePix, and Mubi, as well as on mega-sites like YouTube and Hulu. But no one has figured out how to make any money off them, except…
Here comes the uplifting part –
Hypernichers! The assembled film pundits cite the successful case of Gary Hustwit, a filmmaker whose feature-length documentaries include Helvetica, about graphic design and typography, and Objectified, described on the film’s website as “about our complex relationship with manufactured objects and, by extension, the people who design them. It’s a look at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets.” According to panelist Scott Kirsner, a journalist who focuses on the ways new technologies are changing the entertainment industry, “Filmmakers like him are early successes because they look at a niche audience that is very tech-savvy (in Gary’s case, graphic designers), and they’re making films that really appeal to a specific audience in a powerful way.”
So take heart, marketers! That’s what we all want—to appeal to a specific audience in a powerful way. No matter the twists and turns, there will always be a new and innovative route to that shining goal, be it through niche marketing or old-school newsprint. Keep dreaming!
I am one of those geeky people who LOVED the film Helvetica. I certainly hope that people can continue finding ways to pay for such movies.
Microniche (I think that’d be a lovely name for a daughter-although some strategic misspelling would be necessary to make it work) marketing only works if there’s quality involved. The fulcrum of the process is word of mouth, and that happens only when something is reasonably good, or spectacularly bad. On the other hand, macromarketing is the only recourse for purveyors of crap.