New media or social media “tanks” as a money making marketing tool Tween music dies hard Ponyo and Bandslam dive bomb at box office

It was April when I first began blogging about Bandslam. Even with five months of Internet buzz, it “tanked,” as Associated Press termed it, at the box office, placing #13 with less than $2.5-million, possibly this year’s lowest box office opening. Ponyo, another tween oriented film, featuring the voices of Bonus Jonas Frankie and Miley Cyrus’ sister Noie, also “tanked,” placing #9 with $3.5-million.

District 9, a movie targeted to baby-boomer males and gamer geeks placed #1 with very little advertising and no buzz, other than Twitter on Friday. The movie explores themes developed in the TV show V or Independence Day of aliens taking over the earth and how mankind fights back. It took in $37-million, which seems to be normal for opening weekend box offices today.

Bandslam had a video out in about May of tween star Vanessa Hudgens. Alyson Michalka tweeted from the United Kingdom in July. None of this 21st Century marketing helped the film. Even a film with no advertising, no buzz, The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard, placed twice as high, #6, to Bandslam.

In April I posted an online (LinkedIn) question about people who have realized five-figure income from Twitter. I got answers like, I know a guy who knows someone whose dog made five-figures, but the fact is no one has made a dime from Twitter. It is not a revenue generating source. It does not replace mainstream advertising.

Yet it cannot be overlooked as an image creating entity. Anyone depending upon Internet only to create revenue for building companies is putting their eggs in the wrong basket.

Internet is a tool, same as press releases. Press releases nor Twitter ever created a company like General Electric, Ford or Colgate. All these companies smartly depend upon advertising, public relations and now 21st Century marketing like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace to create an image. They use a smorgasbord of marketing tools to create wealth and build a company. Even Microsoft has advertised mainstream.