A Mary Mary Marketing Plan...

I am now in a Digital Marketing course, and we are learning to analyze websites, their capabilities, and how to attract an audience. I remember back in the Myspace days when I felt like it was my personal website. The Internet has become an important aspect of our everyday lives. We wake up, get dressed, listen to music, run through our daily plans, drive to our destined locations (work, school, errands, etc.), and end our day back at home. These are the basic details, but the details include: checking emails, getting locations or directions, search the Internet for information, and enjoy streaming music and videos. All this is being done without even thinking!

Accessing the Internet has becoming another sense that us humans do without even thinking, unless the WiFi is slow and then IT IS A PROBLEM! While accessing and feeding our need for the World Wide Web, many businesses and individuals have benefitted from this addiction the world has. 

dIgItaL mArKeTiNg

The music industry has really benefitted from digital marketing. One of my favorite Gospel artists/groups are testaments to it: Mary Mary. These two sisters have bridged the gap between the Gospel world and both Christians and secular audiences. On the Columbia Record label, they have extended their marketing far beyond just the labels efforts. Using Social Media outlets, SMS, and Email blasts, they have gained a vast following. I am a part of their email list, Twitter follower, and Facebook fan. These updates broadcast to their audience new products and appearance dates. But beyond their number of fans, these numbers can be marketed to for contests and potential sales. They have released to date 6 albums, 2 books, and working on a female cosmetic line.

Their website is a very interactive site. It spotlights:

·     Home Page

·     News

·     Blog

·     Show Dates

·     Music

·     Media

·     Bio

·     Community

·     Shop Page

In analyzing their site, it is very user friendly and easy on the eyes. One unique feature is instead of a search bar (which no one really uses) they have a subscribe bar that allows an individual to stay connected. The Twitter timeline, and links to their Facebook, Myspace, Vevo, YouTube, and Ping accounts are all accessible. This is a GREAT site to hear some GOOD singing and a positive message!

Click here to view the Mary Mary website!

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The Passing of Pastor Zachary Tims...

On Friday, August 12, 2011, the 42-year-old Pastor Zachary Tims was found dead at W Hotel in Times Square, New York City, NY. A hotel employee found him at approximately 6 pm. The worker went to the room to check the minibar and noticed that the room was locked from the inside by the deadbolt. It is reported that he was in New York City for a meeting/conference and was supposed to preach that next Sunday in Texas.

I want to first state a disclaimer that the Dunlap Digest is not making any claims of opinion on the rumors of his death.

Pastor Tims founded New Destiny Christian Center with his then wife Riva in 1996. The NDDC grew to what now has a congregation of 8,000 members and two locations. The main sanctuary is located in Apopka, FL, where there is also a youth ministry building and a gymnasium and sits on 21-acres.

In his published biography, “It’s Never Too Late,” his memoir tells how a teenage criminal transformed his ways and became a prospering pastor. The book sold more than 25,000 copies through Charisma House Publications. In many of his sermons, he spoke of his addictions to drugs and his affiliations to gangs and selling drugs. It was reported that his body was found with a white powdery substance, hinting that there may have been a drug overdose. The drug toxicology test has not been released, so no cause of death has determined. The NDCC has experienced a great loss. There have been rumors that his ex-wife, Riva Tims, may be considered the new pastor.

Upon moving to Orlando, FL, I attended NDCC from January 2011 to June 2011. I began by just visiting and then joined the ministry and joined the choir and praise team. I can remember many messages Pastor Tims taught that seemed to be addressed right to me personally. He spoke and preached on faith, tithes, and success in Christ.

Amidst the many rumors regarding his death, I can only sympathize for his family and church members. What comes to mind is a saying my grandmother always told me, “Everyone is human and makes mistakes. What you judge may become your future.” I pray that others can live by this and realize that everyone has their own struggles and adversities to overcome. With that being said, let’s continue to stay prayerful and remember the good more so than the bad of anyone. RIP Pastor Zachary Tims.

Click Here for the News Report

Soaring into the iCloud...

If you are an addict to Apple Inc. products like me, then you are excited about the new storage space created! iCloud will be released this September 2011 and will be replacing their previous file sharing and storage application: Mobile Me.

iCloud will function similar to Mobile Me, whereas you can upload photos, documents, music, and calendars. But the new features allow you to upload apps and music directly from your iTunes library! What is uploaded can be pushed wirelessly to your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Mac or PC.

When you sign up for iCloud, you receive 5GB of FREE storage space! Any purchased music, apps, books, and TV shows from iTunes will NOT count against your storage space. So you can upload your entire iTunes library (if all were purchased from iTunes) and still have 5GB of space to use! If you have music on your library that was not purchased on iTunes and you want to upload it to iCloud there is a $24.99 fee. This fee allows you to upload any music that you own legally and enable you to share it to your different devices.

Are you in need of more space? Below are a listing of the price packages you can receive:

 

10GB - $20.00 a year

20GB - $40.00 a year

50GB - $100.00 a year

But wait! Don’t forget to add your FREE 5GB on top of whatever package you get! The service will allow you to upgrade your storage package from any device that has the iCloud service.

I have to say, that I’m very excited about the upcoming release. There have been apps that I purchased on my iPhone, but cannot share or sync with my iPad or my Mac. (Yes, I am addicted to Apple Products) I encourage all to get ready to SOAR INTO THE iCloud!

What's Your Verdict...

Being in an Advanced Entertainment Law class, many things have come to light that I had no idea happened behind the legal and entertainment scenes. I took a listen to two podcasts from Gordon Firemark – Entertainment Law Update Podcast. The podcasts are hosted by Gordon Firemark, who is an attorney representing artists, writers, and directors. Also, Tamera Bennett hosts and represents clients in legal matters in trademark and copyright law. Below are some stories and cases that were discussed:

Episode 20:

Mattel® v.  MGA Entertainment

There has been a retrial concerning the Bratz dolls franchise and ownership of the dolls. The federal jury has ruled that Mattel® had misappropriated trade secrets from MGA Entertainment and Mattel® was ordered to pay $88.5 million dollars. The court ruled that Mattel® was NOT the owner of the copyrights of the sketches of the dolls. The first district court jury ruled in 2008 giving Mattel® $100 million dollars for the ownership of the early sketches. A man by the name of Carter Bryant, who is the designer of the dolls, came up with the idea back in 1999 while working for Mattel®. He sold the drawings to MGA Entertainment while on a “leave” from Mattel®. The appeal ruled in favor of the opposing company arguing that Bryant was on a “break” from Mattel® and they did not own the rights of the dolls. It came as a complete surprise that the appellate court decided to favor MGA Entertainment.

This is a tricky case, because the appeal ruled the total opposite than the district court. Both lawyers stated that they can foresee another appeal to clarify in detail who had ownership. In my opinion, Carter Bryant could be in suit for non-disclosure (not sure if Mattel® has this contract), because he went back to work for Mattel® after he sold the designs of the dolls to MGA Entertainment. In my business plan, I want a non-disclosure for all employees while they are employed and that would extend a short time after they leave my company. This, hopefully, will avoid any similar issues and steer clear of litigation.

Visual Artist Rights

The Seventh Circuit Court of Chicago, Illinois rejected that a landscape artist’s rights of integrity was violated. The city changed Chatman Kelly’s artistic garden in Brant Park. Wild Flower Works was a living, elliptical flower bed planted in 1984 and Kelly had a grant to plant by the Chicago Parks department. The district transformed Kelly’s ellipses into rectangles and cut down the square footage of the flower beds. Kelly had his living designs copy written under the visual arts right which protected his flowers from being changed without his consent. But the courts ruled that the art was a living form and not a fixable tangible medium of expression and ever changing, which meant that it would not be covered under the visual artist copyright of 1990. So Chapman Kelly was ruled NOT the author and it originates in nature and not in the mind of the gardener.

Both attorneys were shocked at the courts decision based on nature (flower beds) not being an applicable visual art. They stated concern because of Disney’s annual arrangements that bring so many tourists to view the Disney characters formed by flowers. I was shocked by the ruling as well and still wonder what the gardener could have done to protect his work. Chatman Kelly’s work had existed for 19 years without any disturbance and now the work is able to be transformed by the city’s parks department.

Episode 11:

Bryant v. Media Right and Orchard

Bryant made a deal with Media Right to distribute two specialty records entitled Songs for Dogs and Songs for Cats.  Media Rights was to be the sole distributer for the physical discs in exchange for 20% royalty of all sales. Media Right licensed Orchard to distribute the records digitally without Bryant’s consent. From the 2002 to 2008 the albums grossed $12.14 from the physical product, and $578.98 in digital copies. Bryant claimed copyright infringement on both Media Right and Orchard claiming statutory damages for each of the 20 songs totally $3 million dollars. The court ruled that each album (2 albums) was counted as one work  of art and did not acknowledge copyright infringement on 20 tracks. The district court also ruled Media Right NOT to be a willful infringer and Orchard innocent of infringing. Also, no attorney fees were awarded but granted the minimum amount for infringing on each album ($200) as well as $1,000 in damages for each album. So Bryant was awarded $2,400 total damages for his claim against Media Right.

This relates to my business plan because I want to represent independent artists who may be looking for distribution deals. I was unaware of the fact that albums accounted for one work of art. The attorneys both brought up an interesting question of how would a compilation album claim copyright infringement because it would contain several artists with their own copyrights. 

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Citations:

Firemark, Gordon (Host). (2011, May 11). Tattoos & Topiaries [Episode 20]. Entertainment Law Update. Podcast retrieved from http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/

Firemark, Gordon (Host). (2010, May 24). Hot News [Episode 11]. Entertainment Law Update. Podcast retrieved from http://www.entertainmentlawupdate.com/page/2/

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Court Cases

With high hopes of developing and managing a celebrity, along with success comes hard times that may involve the law. On the management side, there is a lot of damage control that has to be done to make sure the artist/actor/celebrity is represented in high regards at all times. Below are three celebs that have been had run ins with a court’s decisions and the Dunlap Digest’s response on how a positive conclusion could be represented:

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay has had many visits in the courtroom, including cases on drugs, alcohol, and most recently theft. It is reported that while on probation from her 2007 drunken driving case, Lohan is allegedly blamed for stealing a $2,500 necklace from Kamofie & Co. In 2010, she was sent to jail twice and also to rehab twice for violating her probation. In order to find the necklace, detectives are in works to issue a warrant to search the Lohan home.

Being on the management end of this client would be hard to reach a positive end. Because of Lohan’s legal past, as her management I would be forced to release her from services. Although it seems harsh, it would be a good move to make professionally.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-20035260-10391698.html

Mel Gibson

A major part of our legal system are the legal FEES. Some lawyer services give their clients until after the case to pay their fees. So what happens once the trial is over? Ask Mel Gibson, who is being asked to pay close to $1.5 million dollars in lawyer fees used by Oksana Grigorieva, Gibson’s ex-girlfriend.

If I were to represent Mel Gibson, I would have to advise him to pay up the amounts unless there were substantial cause for him to fight against it and battle it in court. I would keep him as a client because despite his public nuances, as an actor/producer/director, his work is of high quality and can be looked on high regards.

http://www.calattorneysfees.com/cases-celebrities/

David Beckham

The super star soccer player David Beckham was ordered to pay $272,000 in legal costs because he sued In Touch magazine for reporting allegations that he was cheating on his wife. Beckham sued the magazine for $25 million dollars. The case did not reveal if he won the suit in regards to the infidelity allegations, but Bauer Publishing will be receiving the ordered legal fees.

If my company were to represent David, I’m sure that the funds would not hurt his pockets nor his image. He has had pretty much a clean record. With the payment, I’m sure that the allegations will soon be forgotten.

http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/travel/david-beckham-paying-legal-costs-prostitute-case-496514

The business plan of Mar Lamar Consulting will be representing high end clientele. Being aware of the legal system and how to properly represent my clients will help the company handle any legal issues that may arise.

Let Goo Dress You!

Something significant happened to the fashion world in 2003. Goo Atkins entered the scene as one of the most dynamic forces to ever be called stylist. Specializing in curvy figures, Goo is also a costume designer for stage and television, with clientele that includes the likes of Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child, gospel greats Mary Mary, and leading actors Laz Alonso and Morris Chestnut. There's nothing she can't champion having coordinated runway shows, and created looks for major red carpet events like the Grammy's and AMA's, album cover art, and editorial shoots for Jet, Heart &Soul and Sophisticates. Although she is technically a celebrity stylist, Goo is "non-industry" and enjoys working with everyday people as much she likes working with her celebrity clients. Her passion is helping everyone look their very best and reach their optimal style potential! ~Written by Christopher E. McMullen

The Dunlap Digest got the opportunity to interview this woman of fashion! Below are the questions and links to all of her social media outlets.

Questions:

DD: Many people may not know, but you have a huge musical history in singing background vocals for major artists. Can you tell us some you have sung for?

GG: I've sang with Mary Mary, Patti LaBelle, Mario, Kelly Price, Kanye, Common, Mos Def ....

DD: When did your artistic flow begin, in regards to designing and styling?

GG: I can remember drawing sketches of ideas as early as 14 yrs old.

DD: Who has been your favorite client to style and can be versatile with different looks? Who would you like to style?

GG: I don't have a favorite client. But I do have a favorite "type" of client. That's the client that while they know what they want, they allow me to make their visions & ideas come true...As in, they give me their ideas & quietly go away & allow me workspace. I always like to style "new comers" or those who don't have an established "presence" fashionably. So that I'm not riding anyone’s coattail, but rather take full responsibility for creating their fashion presence...in other words, I'm not hype therefore I don't have the least bit of interest in styling "big names" in fashion JUST BECAUSE their big names. I like creating it all from the ground up, day one.

DD: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Do you envision your own clothing line?

GG: In 5 yrs Let Goo Dress You will consist of great stylist all over the world, who are capable of wearing my name...My clothing line will be in major stores everywhere.

DD: What are some “Do’s and Don’ts” in dressing females?

GG: Do's & Don’ts: The average female wants to look taller and/or thinner, ALWAYS. So always shop with this in mind.

DD: What are some “Do’s and Don’ts” in dressing males?

GG: Do's & Don’ts: Male's should always look distinctly different from a female.  Tread lightly around pattern & print mixing. Leave that to the trained pro's.

DD: What styling advice can you give to the “saints” both male and female?

GG: "Churchy" looks always require "one less item" to me. It’s usually over done. Just choose any one item & leave it at home.

DD: What motivation can you give those who are aspiring to follow in your footsteps?

GG: Aspiring stylists should be "good" and not just "into fashion". If I hear that term again I'll scream. They should not be designer label driven aka "hype". They should picture all of their work & shop their best work to agencies. They must know that they work in a "service" industry & that they "work for" divas. Which won't work is stylist is one. They should be nice. They should be diligent.

Random Questions:

What’s your favorite color?

~Blue

Are you a morning bird or a night owl?

~Night owl

What’s your favorite vacation spot?

~Sydney, St. Barths, London, Maui, Miami

Blackberry vs. iPhone?

~Team Blackberry

What is something you do that nobody knows about or notices? (Ex. Count your steps, bite your nails, or have a collection)

~I'm always looking. I'm very observant.

Follow Goo! Facebook, Twitter, & Website!

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ESPN's College Day Video Shoot

Today, Monday, June 6, 2011, ESPN filmed their College Day video shoot for the country band Big & Rich at Full Sail University!

Below are some pictures of the actual event. (I even had a sign, confetti stick, & got filmed in the audience!)

 Follow me on Twitter: @seanlamar919

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