Would a Modern-Day Elvis Benefit from Modern-Day Media?

I'm not an extreme fan of Elvis Presley but it's hard not to admire the celebrity status he achieved during his entertainment career. What's most impressive to me was his ability to become arguably the most famous person on the planet during a time when there weren't as many avenues of communication that we enjoy today.

That Elvis achieved such fame with such a limited, albeit global, stage has always made me wonder what height of recognition he could have achieved had his career existed in modern times. Similar to my pondering about how modern marketers would utilize telegrams, I enjoy exploring ways Elvis’ would have been promoted with the likes of social media, the web and other tools of today. Don’t get me wrong – there’s no doubt that Elvis was huge. After all, I’m only 2 paragraphs into this post, referring to him by only his first name, and you know exactly who I’m writing about.

First, let’s look at the ways Elvis became so well-known during the 50s, 60s and 70s.

• Radio – everyone knows the story of Elvis recording his first song at Sun Records in 1954. It wasn’t long until a larger studio signed him and took his talents nationwide. The popularity of his hit records would lead to appearances on...
• Television – the still-budding medium showcased Elvis’ musical talents further. He knew the significance of TV - - approximately 60 million viewers watched his appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in September of 1956 - - and agreed to appear on various shows for large sums of money. His success on TV sparked ideas in Hollywood and soon executives were asking Elvis to appear in their...

• Movies – Elvis never won any awards for his acting (he only won 1 Grammy, come to think of it) but including Elvis in your motion picture guaranteed extra ticket sales. It was a great branding move for Elvis, too. It gave people exactly what they wanted: more Elvis in any form possible. 

Elvis reportedly only made one commercial in his career so he didn’t exactly line his pockets or expand his notoriety by lending his celebrity to product endorsements. In addition to Radio, TV and Movies, live performances and word-of-mouth played significant roles in the growth of Elvis’ legend. But that’s really it. Those are huge avenues to propel fame but you have to admit that lineup doesn’t make for many channels. Today’s stars benefit from so much more: social media interaction with fans, a 24-hour news cycle, MTV (well, not so much anymore), digital music that makes for a more portable experience – the list is endless. But Elvis had (and still has) two other factors that have helped maintain his iconic status.

SCANDAL

Elvis’ later years were shrouded with scandal, from his divorce (which is sadly expected of today’s celebrities) to his drug use to his untimely death. It was all interconnected and played out in front of the world. His drug use turned him into a larger, incoherent version of himself, leaving fans puzzled at his bungled concert performances. News and information is shared so quickly and so frequently today that it takes a lot - - an awful lot - - to shock us. That requirement wasn’t as lofty back in the 70s, when Elvis’ world went into a spiral. Not only were fans truly shocked at his behavior, they couldn’t explain it. An unauthorized photo of Elvis’ corpse paved a golden road for The National Enquirer, which often uses man’s natural attraction to mystery to its advantage. This publication thrives on positioning itself as having access to information, true or not, that is normally not available - especially in the 70s and 80s.

Shadowy conspiracy theorists lapped it up (and still do – Elvis is still alive, after all) but they make up only a small portion of the biggest factor that has helped Elvis stay in the spotlight, decades after his death.

FANS

Elvis fans span the globe and seemingly overlook the weirdness from his final years. They flock to Graceland, buy his music and collect his merchandise at paces that continue to break records. It’s these fans – not the conspiracy theorists – that prompted the creation of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. to manage Elvis’ estate, which was the 2nd most profitable estate of deceased celebrities in 2015.

ELVIS + MODERN MEDIA = ??? 

There’s no doubt that modern media, such as a sharp website and a verified Twitter account, has helped Elvis Presley stay current with the times and propel his estate to tremendous earnings.

"Oh girl of mine you make my day." #Elvis

A photo posted by Elvis Presley (@elvis) on Oct 16, 2015 at 10:05am PDT

But if Elvis' career played out out today instead of the 50s, 60s and 70s, would modern media be a big asset and launch his career to an even higher level? I don’t think so.

Today’s platforms, like social media, spawned out our need to be constantly amused. That makes for frequent flame-outs. We abandon interests quickly and few entertainers have staying power these days. That’s not to say Elvis couldn’t break through – I just think the pace at which Elvis was promoted on the few avenues in his heyday (he was all over the place) would not translate to a tolerable level in today’s world. If you think about it, the lessened level of exposure in his heyday may have been what whetted appetites and made fans want more of Elvis.

These are the weird things I think about late at night. Do you agree that the existence of the web and other modern media would have hindered – and not helped – Elvis’ career? Let me know in the comments or send me a tweet!

Thank you, thank you very much for reading.

I Hope Radio Never Leaves

While recently reading up on the demise of RadioShack, I was reminded about how this outlet for batteries, robotics, fuses and everything in between originated: as a source for equipment to the budding radio industry and hobbyists back in 1921. This realization sent me down a rabbit trail of memories about how radio has impacted my life.

My grandfather operated an appliance store that sold and serviced radios back during a time when families gathered around large radio cabinets in their living rooms for their evening entertainment. My father took over the store as more and more families transitioned to televisions and VCRs. But like his father, Dad isn't fond of throwing things away. Many of my grandfather's replacement tubes and other radio parts remain in storage. I invite any radio enthusiasts that happen to be reading to contact me for some great deals!

Early my career, my duties allowed me to become very familiar with radio advertising. I made a lot of contacts at stations in small markets and I'm still appreciative of their guidance. One particular gentleman that I worked with arranged for me to be a frequent studio guest at his station and the play-by-play announcer for the local high school's football games that they covered. Thankfully, no copies of those broadcasts exist … but it would be fun to listen to them again in all their cringe-worthiness.

These days, I work with Birmingham radio stations when the budget allows. I’m very excited about what will be a new venture for me: internet radio. I just kicked off a campaign with Pandora that incorporates audio and visual ads. The incredible targeting provided by this service estimates a huge amount of impressions and I'm anxious to dive into the wealth of analytics as the campaign proceeds.

Radio has a lot competition in today's world but I think it will fare better than RadioShack. Satellite radio is great but these days I find myself tuning my car's radio to local stations more than ever. The devices we enjoy today are used on such a personal, isolated level that I don't think we'll ever go back to gathering around a radio cabinet in groups. Radio has actually had a big impact on me. I hope it never leaves.

The Legend of Dan Tullis

Everyone knows that there are numerous advertising avenues that can be used to promote a product or service and each of those methods have their pros and cons. For example, televisions ads bring sight and sound to the table but are often expensive. Radio ads, on the other hand, can only provide a listening experience - one of many factors that makes radio advertising more affordable.

I began hearing the following radio ad on the local sports station about six years ago and it seems to always pop up again each spring. Each time I hear this ad, it makes me consider the clash of marketing budgets and the act of promoting a somewhat dull product like life insurance.


I’m an advertising nerd so I'm always looking past or over an ad’s message in order to dissect the elements of the ad. In the above ad, a customer named Dan Tullis contacts an insurance agent named Joel Clark. Near the end of the ad, a narrator provides an "800" number for listeners to call for more information. These 3 voices are deep and fitting for a radio ad but after multiple listenings over the years, I’m convinced that all 3 of those voices are from the same person.

While researching my theory about this ad, I discovered that Dan Tullis is an actual person. His IMDb page credits him with acting roles in several movies and TV shows as well as the voiceover work for Select Quote Insurance, as heard above. Here’s a clip of Mr. Tullis in his recurring role of “Officer Dan” on Married with Children:

While I'm glad that I'm now able to put Dan Tullis' face to his name, that's about the only info that my research provided. I still don't know how or why Dan Tullis came to be the voice of Select Quote Insurance but I bet there’s a great story there!

I'm also not sure why Select Quote Insurance opted to have such a similar voice represent multiple parts in their radio ad. You would think that radio ads require more distinction between voices due to the lack of a visual accompaniment. But maybe budgeting did play a factor, as I mentioned above. It could be that Mr. Tullis' fee prohibited the hiring of other voice actors. It’s also possible that the sound engineers responsible for constructing this ad realized Mr. Tullis' voice could be manipulated to sound like other voices when compacting this lengthy conversation into its short timeframe. Perhaps this was all done by design to get conversations about life insurance started by people like me. MIND = BLOWN.

But seriously...if you happen to have any background on this ad or Mr. Tullis' involvement, please share. I would love to put an end to the 6+ years of questions that pop into my mind each and every time I hear this ad!

Top photo courtesy of the Married With Children Wiki.