The X Factor Of Being Heard

 

Sometimes, you see a technology that is extremely cool and can’t wait for it to hit the market. And sometimes, you see something like Headphone:X from DTS that feels more like a pipe-dream that leads you to imagine where it might make the most sense. Could this X-Factor ever really be heard by more than a select few? Which got me thinking that DTS and Headphone:X is a prime technology candidate for marketing and experiential sampling.

We first experienced Headphone:X at CES 2013 and blogged about it in the recap. They put people in a room with 11 speakers placed about and did a white noise cycle.  Then they asked everyone to put their headphones on and seemingly repeated except they did not use the speakers, all the directionality was via the headsets alone.  They then went on to showcase a bunch more music and sound effects and challenged you to take the headphones off to kill your disbelief.

 

Needless to say, it sounded amazing – but the questions were:
–          What content was engineered in 11.1, and
–          Was a new receiver required or was it backwards compatible with existing DTS receivers.

 

The immediate response on site was that you would need new hardware…

 

To me, its an incredible sounding gimmick that might never really find real momentum, just like 7.1 is hard to come by because very few elements are engineered for it, nor do most consumers have the required 7 speakers in their music room. Headphone:X is a great solution as you can use most any set of headsets, but that processing and source engineering poses some release challenges.

 

Now, if we’re talking about experiential environments that can truly transport someone through audio alone, there’s a huge opportunity – but you’ve got to find the client or content creator with a need and wherewithal for such a thing. Creating that environment that truly tickles the senses in a way people aren’t accustomed to is much stronger than just re-purposing video or an experience the consumer could easily have elsewhere.  With the right utilization, Headphone:X could be the X-Factor that differentiates your message being heard rather than ignored.

 

MTV’s Large-Scale Light That We Should All Pounce On

MTV and MoMA (specifically their PS1 imprint) have gone retro with some great “new” programming that will hopefully do wonders for the arts in general.  In partnership with non-profit public arts group, Creative Time, they are bringing back a show from the ’80s that celebrates the video art form. The Art Breaks programming consists for 30 second interstitials that will air on MTV shedding a light on the urban art scene, among others. What first began in 1985 will begin anew.  I know I saw them when they first came out and had no idea who Jean-Michel Basquiat or Keith Haring or Kenny Scharff when they were shown in Art Breaks on MTV in my mid teens, but there was certainly no other way I was going to be able to experience them otherwise.  Even while I attended arts schools, these artists weren’t celebrated in schools – yet these artists were the ones who were resonating with me. Those early experiences played a heavy part in my art appreciation now – and certainly play themselves out in my current love of collecting art. This sort of contextual promotion of the arts on a large-scale is absolutely needed and the model MTV provides should be pounced upon as often as possible by brands and media outlets.

Image from Original MTV Art Break series clip featuring Basquiat

With schools reducing expenditures for arts classes and experiences when they are needed most, somebody must jump into the fray or else our future is in major trouble. If you don’t think that’s the case, take a look at the state of the arts over the past few decades when government money has dwindled and appreciation for the arts has been made available only to ever smaller groups of students.  There is an increasing limit on new and provocative works of art, film or theatre.  Different forms of imagination are being pushed to the wayside with a growing “normalness” all around. As a sign of the times, there are many people who are great at the technical aspects of business, but not so great at the imaginative parts and the amounts of companies that take off exponentially are dwindling. But those existing companies can do much to address it. Even sports entities can get into the act – just look at what Leroy Neiman did (and still does) in joining the sports realm and art. He was able to do it through magazines, like Playboy, that were the zenith at the time.  Others can do the same if given the opportunity on big enough platforms today.

Even Apple – who has so much in their reserves – should be doing more to contextually bring the arts to the masses.  Perhaps instead of providing dividends (or as much as they might be providing) they should be providing financial resources that enable kids and young adults to have more experiences that raise the level of imagination.  In the least, Brands should be looking to do their part by marrying the arts and their products in ways that make sense.

There have been instances in the past where brands might have done something with the arts on a smaller scale.  Some examples are a program Hot Wheels did with Gallery 1988, or hotels bringing art into the mix (but you would hope the guests are already attuned to what is out there), or even what Disney is doing with artists for their Vinylmation Figures line, it may not be enough.  They are either hitting people in too pointed or niche of a way, or the luxury brands are hitting the people who, while a great benefit to society, are the people who are least in need.

There is a huge opportunity to generate arts awareness in products or advertising, but an even larger one is in the sponsorship of festivals or events.  But, I’m not talking about sponsorship just to get the name recognition.  There’s got to be some partnerships to promote arts awareness and education in general. By just sponsoring an event and not incorporating any of the outreach that would lead to a larger scale, it just doesn’t hold the power that more programs like Art Breaks on MTV would bring.

There are probably a slew of programs that I don’t even know about, but those should be lauded and celebrated. The incorporation of young artist designs on Volcom shirts are great, but they are few and far in between. The same could be said about the partnership with Levi’s Jeans support of ART IN THE STREETS at MOCA.  Its good, but not enough.

We’re all missing out in the long run if there is nothing to drive interest in the arts among the masses – and the 13-24 demo is a perfect place to aim for.  Does it do the best thing for the brands who execute the programs? That will depend on who is doing it and what the context is. But there are certainly creative ways to make it a win-win.  In ever-smaller circles, much emphasis is being placed on the value of art by the likes of Damian Hirst/Warhol/Gaugin, the sales of performances of the dance masterpieces by Ailey/Tharp/Joffrey, or the resonant brilliance of Glass/Handel/Shostakovich, but the true value of expanding the reach of the arts like these and more goes far beyond a sale.  It goes to the very core of our society not turning into IDIOCRACY. If you’ve seen that movie, you know what I mean.  If you haven’t, you should.

The classic meaning of the Patrons of the Arts is almost gone and the void is ripe for filling by the brands and mediums that have the reach like no others.  It’s time to step up and grasp the change for the benefit of our future. If MTV is, we all should…

The Academy Needs to Re-Focus and Connect Emotionally With New Audiences

Another Oscar Awards season has come and gone. Even though most everything surrounding the ceremony has changed, the award and the Academy that presents it has stayed pretty much the same. There’s many people who are quite happy with that and a whole bunch who are either quite upset or indifferent about it.  The reality is that it’s somewhere in-between. Over the past week, there has been buzz about the membership demographics of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. One major issue was made very clear when it was mentioned by the President of the Academy, Tom Sherak,  that there are only 6,000 members and they were there to convey the magic in movies – and watching them in a theatre with a bunch of other people. Perhaps it is time for them to embrace today’s environment and re-focus the way in which they connect with the people and bring the magic and emotion of movies to the audience in every way possible.

From THE ARTIST

The Oscar telecast is a great format in which to reach a huge audience, but they have missed a beat in really bringing the magic to the people.  Billy Crystal does a phenomenal job as host and his comedy bits are fantastic, but are they too filled with insider references?  And, do they gloss over what the stories are all about?  If filmmakers are inherently storytellers, shouldn’t we be doing a better job of telling the story of moviemaking?  There were a number of strong steps in that direction with the technical awards – where viewers got some insight into the process. But then, when it got to the meat of the awards with the Actor and Best Picture Awards, it was less about story and more about celebrity and body of work. That ended up making the final forty minutes of last night’s ceremony feel like an eternity.

For the most part, in Hollywood, the magic of movies is presented as a bygone era with museums showing history in an old-fashioned and stuffy way whether it’s through the wax museums or The Hollywood Museum.  Is it that those are the only ways we can see fit to present the joy of movies?  Certainly technology allows us to have some fun – perhaps even let kids make their own movies with interactive exhibits to get a better understanding of the movie making process.  Are we looking at the guardians of the world of movies aging out of relevancy for an entire generation (with only 2% of membership being under the age of 40) and is it destined to become even more irrelevant?

The Academy has a chance to get current and redeem itself somewhat with the announcement that they are partnering with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to, hopefully, build a museum that truly does convey the magic and emotion of movies – with everything that makes that possible.  They should also jump at the opportunity to embrace technology for the enhancement of the experience on location as well as remotely through the internet.  The Museum of the Moving Image in Queens does a phenomenal job in education and building wonder through their museum exhibits and online extensions. The closest parallel to the Academy with a museum is the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.  The music academy’s museum focuses a lot on their own awards ceremony, but they augment that with experiential craft sampling opportunities.  All ages are able to interact and gain a deeper appreciation for the craft.  The Academy needs to follow some of that lead in whatever they do in the LACMA space – or whatever iteration they end up with.

Currently, the Academy focuses on education in a way that could be considered old-fashioned – with screenings and gallery exhibits.  That needs to change. In addition to any local museum or education changes, the Academy needs to look at expanding outside of Los Angeles in a meaningful way to convey the magic.  I appreciate that they are constantly going outside of Los Angeles to help philanthropically, but there are opportunities to go beyond the city to instill the magic or remind people how magical movie going is. The telecast alone, is not the best way for them to break out of the city limits and reach the people to convey the magic.

Perhaps it’s not just about physical locations to draw people in.  Maybe the Academy needs to bring the message to where the people are and interact with them in a powerful and emotional way by way of a traveling roadshow. Build the wonder of film by tapping into what people know and the places they’ve been.  Allow them to play and let their imagination run wild in a setting that does not require a big trip just to partake in the excitement.

The new audiences don’t have much experience – if any – with attending movies in a large theatre with packed houses.  They haven’t had the opportunity to feel what Sherak was intimating in his speech, where there is a collective energy by watching film in groups.  Because of that, they have no hesitation about enjoying films in any format they have available to them.

There are no real easy answers, but the continuing drop of interest in the Oscar telecast and the movie-going experience will be felt as clearly as the demise of the silent film era celebrated in this year’s best picture winner, THE ARTIST.  The Academy needs to come to terms with that and bring focus to the celebration of the storytelling, emotion and wonder of movies in any way, shape or form available.