There is no doubt that MySpace helped launch the
career of quite a few entertainers - those smart few who saw the potential early on and rode the wave to online notoriety. But MySpace now seems to be cluttered with ads promoting bands, comics and TV shows that paid for their space or hire some minimum wager to spend all day blindly messaging high school and college students, hoping to spark some buzz. And even if you have a list of friends, they have a list of 1,000 other friends, so your posts and bulletins and messages are rarely ever read.
Is it still possible to garner any attention and gain recognition if you're a small band in Topeka or a comic book artist in Des Moines; or has MySpace lost it's effectiveness as an underground tool for musicians, comics and other entertainers?
One comedy group, The Miami Comics, is trying to break through the clutter using a different marketing model. Instead of competing against the thousands of entertainers trying to make a name for themselves; The Miami Comics have their eyes set on competing with just one person: Dane Cook.
Dane Cook is mega-star in the comedy world and a premier example of online marketing success with well over a million online friends. His success in the virtual world has propelled him into television, film, radio and a soon-to-be HBO special. The Miami Comics' mission is to match (and pass) the number of friends of Dane Cook. Starting with just a few close friends, The Miami Comics are challenging the MySpace community with a game called, 'Catch Dane Cook.'
The game is simple: help The Miami Comics get the same number of friends as Dane Cook.
'It really is the story of David and Goliath. We just posted our idea
yesterday night at 1:30am and this morning I had about 15-20 new friend requests.' says Ronnie Khalil, member of The Miami Comics. 'This game gives the MySpacers a common goal and a chance to be part of something that nobody thought could ever be done. It's just fun to vote for the underdog.'
And underdogs they are...the Miami Comics are starting out is just 387
friends (still about 1 million friends short). But the idea makes sense; and if it works, it once again proves that MySpace has the power to spread buzz through viral marketing and networking – and more importantly without the investment of big marketing dollars.
'The idea came out of a huge amount of respect for what Dane Cook has done,' says Al Jackson, another member of The Miami Comics. 'We kept saying to ourselves, 'there is no way anyone can ever do what he did.' Then we decided to see if we could.'
Can David really beat Goliath? Go to www.myspace.com/miamicomics and find out.
