Start with the headline
How do you make the most successful album of all time? Start with an idea and make it a clear, succinct and contagious one.
Word in Your Ear isn’t a marketing podcast, and it’s not generally somewhere I expect inspiration. It’s essentially the conversations of two erudite music journalists who served variously at the NME and Smash Hits and presented Live Aid and The Old Grey Whistle Test (ask your grandad). They’ve spent most of the last 50 years absorbed in the world of music, musicians and the music industry.
Their podcast isn’t something I listen to for business insights, but it does tend to touch on the decisions musicians and record companies make. But, of course, inspiration can come when you least expect it.
Whilst paying tribute to the late Quincy Jones (producers, composer, conductor, trumpeter and bandleader across a seven-decade career), they recalled a story about the first day of the making of Michael Jackson’s Thriller (37 consecutive weeks at number one in the USA, 32m copies sold during 1983 alone, seven of the nine tracks were released as singles etc.). His approach was like that of a filmmaker, and he unveiled a hugely ambitious mission for Thriller to “save the music industry”.
Jones gathered the key players to galvanise them for their mission, knowing that having the central idea of Thriller would help them make the record. He worked out their limitations (Michael Jackson didn’t interview well, so video would be the critical medium) and created an idea to focus, inspire and guide the process.
Think of it like starting with the film poster and creating something that would attract viewers. Before making the film, work back from the customer and understand why they would watch it. Beginning with the end in mind is crucial for leaders and marketers. You’re bringing the outcomes to life for the team – and probably yourself, too. I always try to do this using one of the following methods:
What does the press release for launch talk about? What’s the news? What are we doing different? Who are we doing it for?
How does a stellar news article about your product, service or business read? What do they highlight? What are the metrics it’s measured by? Where does it appear?
What does billboard poster campaign look like? If you’ve got five seconds to get a message across (as someone passes an ad) what do you want them to know? What emotion do you want them to feel?
Doing a piece of time travel like this helps you to see what you’re trying to achieve and understand what success looks like. What headlines do you want to make? What succinct message do you want people to take away?
Do that, and whilst you might not make the best-selling album of all time, you might make a difference to your business and your clients or customers.
Listen to Word in Your Ear’s discussion of Quincy Jones here.
