Big Stick

The age of information has dawned upon us with its many benefits and now we can use the Internet for a multitude of purposes. It is the fastest and surest way to receive the info we need, not to mention the most interesting way to find entertainment, in the form of music and movies.

There are many websites presenting a wide variety of mp3s, music videos and lyrics to match them. As the Internet has proven to be the main tool used by the X generation, many music producers and artists started to promote their creations online and the results were amazing. Popular music can be found today online, being just a click away.

It is interesting how quickly people saw the importance of the Internet. They realized that the only way to satisfy the customerâ??s needs was to profit from the World Wide Web. Now days, many teenagers consider this resource as the only place to find the music they like and browse various websites in order to locate a specific music genre they are interested in.

There can be no denial that music has had a great influence on our lives since ancient times. People have always used various musical instruments to create amazing tunes and today popular songs are widely spread online. Along with them, come appealing music videos and music lyrics. Both represent a wonderful way of expression and they are very common amongst youngsters.

Music lyrics are something that can greatly add value to a song. They are an important part of any musical creation and many of us have found ourselves in the situation of repeating verses from our favorite songs. We link music lyrics with our memories, emotions and significant moments in the past. For many music fans, they represent a great way to reconnect with someone long gone or lost. All they have to do is to close their eyes, sing the chorus and the face of the loved one appears.

Online, there are many websites presenting the most popular music lyrics along with music videos. The artists that are in style greatly enjoy the opportunity to be so listened to and music constantly accumulates new meanings. There are so many songs out there and people worldwide acknowledge the powerful effect music has on humans.

by Philip Yaffe

â??I know that half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The problem is, I donâ??t know which half.â?

This succinct resume of the advertiserâ??s dilemma is often attributed to John Wanamaker, the department store pioneer. Some people prefer to give the credit to Henry Ford, the automobile pioneer, or other favorite business giants. Whoever said it first, it is certain that it has been said thousand and thousand of times since.

The significance of the observation is nothing short of astounding. These are people whose business is investing and harvesting financial assets, yet when it comes to advertising, they freely admit to wasting at least half of their money!

But the observation can be turned on its head. Viewed from this perspective, it means that these same extremely clever and resourceful marketers believe that the power of advertising is so great, even at only 50% effectiveness they still get their moneyâ??s worth. This is equally astounding!

The value of advertising can most easily be seen with mass marketed products. For example, a breakfast cereal launches a major advertising campaign; within a few days to weeks the sales figures will reflect the impact of the campaign. With technical and industrial products, the picture is not quite so clear. Few people buy a car or a piece of industrial equipment on impulse. They build up to it over a long period of time, so that the cause-and-effect relationship between advertising and sales is virtually impossible to evaluate.

Nevertheless, advertising is indispensable. So the question is, can you construct advertising campaigns that will assure the best return on investment (ROI), even when that return cannot be directly measured?

The answer is both yes and no. It is â??noâ? if you believe that advertising by nature is more of an art than a science. It is â??yesâ? if you believe that advertising is a combination of both art and science.

It is certainly true that advertising has a major â??artâ? component, i.e. that people who have a â??feelâ? for it are likely to produce better, more effective advertising than people who donâ??t. Unfortunately, this verity has led to the false conclusion that advertising is predominantly art, i.e. a matter of taste.

When advertising is viewed as largely a question of personal preference, the rational component of the exercise takes second importance. Worse, it often degenerates into a kind of pseudoscience of rules and regulations with no scientific justification: