IFPI- An organization you can count on

Today's insightful video of the week features BBC's Zeinab Badawi interviewing John Kennedy, CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Now for those of you who like myself did or do not know much about this organization you may find this intriguing. The IFPI is an international non profit organization that strives to protect every aspect of an artists or even a company's intellectual property as it pertains to the recording industry. The not-for profit organization was founded in November of 1933 in Italy. The overall mission of this organization was to promote legislation and copyrights to protect the legal rights of the British recording industry at the time. However, overtime the organization has grown and gained much support all over the world. Their membership covers over 60 countries worldwide. Today we find ourselves to be transitioning head first into the age of a digital market. The recording industry has suffered significantly as a result of music pirating world wide. The IFPI is continuously working to resolve that never ending dilemma. I will agree with Mr. Kennedy that it is easier today for someone to digitally market themselves now that it was maybe 10, 15 years ago. With the grow of social platforms digital marketing is at the fingertips of the every day common man wanting to make some sort of a statement. I can resonate with Mr. Kennedy that with the amount of work an artists puts towards an album and the amount of investment a label puts behind their signed artists, it proves difficult for one to sell more units with out someone obtaining that intellectual property illegally and then offering it to the public for free. That creates a bad habit to the general public and financially robs the artists. The piracy issue is a dilemma that is constantly under debate and scrutiny. Yes the economy is bad, and yes everyone loves the opportunity to obtain free stuff but if you are a true fan of the artist then you will respect their work enough to not obtain it illegally but to buy their single or their album. Support your talents because they will show their appreciation ten fold. The legalities are far more complex than most people really care to comprehend. But at the same time I find it re-leaving that there is a hard working team like the IFPI and the RIAA that are working around the clock to create new iniatives to protect the recording industry so that everyone can continue to enjoy the great entertainment the recording industry brings to the table.

References:

HARDtalk: The Music Industry - Digital Music & Piracy

IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry)

Google UK's Marketing Director, Dan Cobley speaks on behalf of Ted.com

    
One of my favorite websites to  gain inspiration, knowledge, education, and enlightenment is non other than Ted.com. There are so many amazing speakers that place their life's or work's experiences in a perspective for people to go see or view online. As a fan of Ted.com if I find speaker that I resonate with weather it be work, career, or life I also want to share it with my readers who may find these guest speakers just as intriguing. With that said, I have chosen Dan Colbley, the Director of Marketing for Google in the UK Ted.com video as this weeks blog highlight guest speaker. Dan Colbley interestingly enough shares with us his love for physics and introduces us to a unique parallel perspective between physics and marketing. In this way bringing the idea of marketing to a more understandable platform for his listeners and online viewers as well as convincing his audience that physics is cool.
      Brand building takes a lot of drive and work. Colbley mentions in his talk that  "[...]...the physics is, the bigger the mass of an object the bigger the force is needed to change its direction. In similarity, the marketing point is that the bigger the brand the harder it is to reposition it...[...]" I found myself agreeing with this point because when you start a brand, no one knows about it yet your  brand idea is full of boundless possibilities. But how our you to build that brand to such a massive point? Its almost similar to the idea that if you start too big you become overwhelmed and nothing gets done. Yet if you start small and slowly build on to the brand it will have a stronger foundation and inevitably have a longer "shelf life." Colbley later mentions that "[...]...the physics is: that you cannot prove a hypothesis but its easy to disprove it...any hypothesis is shaky. The marketing aspect is: that no matter how much you've invested in your brand, one bad week can undermine decades of good work. Be really careful to avoid the screw ups that undermine your brand. With this point in mind I found it a very useful tip in consider the different pros and cons that may come with the process of building my brand. In addition with marketing comes clear decision making. You would need to have a clear sense of what it is your doing so that you don't go shooting yourself in the foot later for a marketing decision you made that in all truth may not have necessarily been the best move for you and your brand. The feedback one receives from their marketing efforts on a given project or brand development endeavor, varies from day to day, week to week, month to month, year to year. There for you  must be careful to make moves that are in the best interest of your brand and its growth and development.
       In closing, Colbley states that "[...]...entropy will always increase. Its a fundamental law of physics. The message for marketing is that your brand is more dispersed and you can't fight it so embrace it and find a way to work with it."

More on Dan Colbley, Marketing Director for Google UK:
http://www.ted.com/speakers/dan_cobley.html
http://www.iabuk.net/video/dan-cobley-fast-and-happy-how-the-web-is-changing-the-world-for-consumers

https://plus.google.com/113390679691036376988/posts
Twitter: @dcobley

References:

Colbley, D. (Director) (2010). Dan cobley: What physics taught me about marketing [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/dan_cobley_what_physics_taught_me_about_marketing.html