Promoting Alizee / AAm
 

I will be taking a road trip in May covering approximately 6k miles and thought this could be a good way to expose the site and/or Alizee. As my car (see it in album) stands out like a beacon on the road I thought some tasteful magnetic or vinyl signs/windshield banner with site addresses such as alizeeradio.com, alizeeamerica.com, etc might help to spread the word. I would only do this with permissions from this site owner(s) and input would be great. I will be covering the whole east coast from Key West up to Maine. I thought I might put together some cd's with one or two songs on them to give out to anyone asking about Alizee. And write site addresses on the cd's also.
I am looking for input on this from members here.
Yes or no?
Copyright issues?

Yes or no? YES
Copyright issues? I don't think so. From what I recall from early conversations, you should just put samples of songs on there, rather then entire songs.

Great idea man. I try to do this often, but rather than 6k miles, just around my neighborhood. :p

First of all, I'm sure that there is no copyright issue for what we're doing here. We're trying to promote her, to get people to go to youtube, to buy her music, etc.
I've posted many videos to Youtube. The only problem they have is when you use pictures or video of one singer with the song of another singer such as using video of Alizée with the song "She's like the wind", in which case, they'll block the audio. I've been warned by Youtube that a couple of my videos include material that may be owned by someone else, such as my video "Alizée a video history of her early years". But because everything, the audio, the video, the pictures are all of Alizée and it's done in a taseful manner, they permit it.

As far as making up cd's, I made up some dvd's some time ago that I pass out every chance I get for just that purpose. It has samples of several of her songs on it, then my e-mail address at the end, in case they're interested in more. Maybe I can make some more out for that same purpose and ship them to you

. I also made up some flyers and bumper sticker size pictures, the latter of which I put into a holder in the back window of my S-10 pick up. I'll send you copies. I'll try and post the dvd video or at least a portion of it on Youtube.

Edit:

Here's a video that is very much similar to the one I mentioned except that I've used this one to send to different companies like radio or tv stations or newspapers or magazines. The main difference between this and the one I use for just your average Joe on the street is I cut off the last segment of Stars a domicile plus I add my e-mail at the end.

I will have to update this video to include Par les Paupieres and Les Collines, but until I do, I think it will do the trick.

In this video, I first focused on her English songs, mainly due to the limited cranial capacity of your average American, who usually only knows one language.

Hey wait a minute! I'm an average American.

<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ptsh-YRwFQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_ptsh-YRwFQ&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Edit:

Here's a flyer I'll post in stores from time to time.
The picture may be a little dated, but it's definitely an attention grabber and that's what we have to do, get their attention, then they can find out the rest of the story. I put little tear strips at the bottom, so they wont forget the name.

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/126...ithpicture.jpg

Here's another one

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/142...thpictures.jpg


This is a bumper sticker I made up. The picture once again is dated, but again, it's definitely an attention grabber. It would be nice to use a picture of her in her JAM outfit, but it's just too small on a bumper sticker.
It should probably only have 3 lines of large print for easiest readability on the highway. That's why I put a clear plastic holder in the back window of my pickup. So I can put something in large print for on the road, then maybe switch it to another sticker that has more info for when I go into a mall or to a ball game or stop at a restaurant, etc.
The three lines for highway use should have,
First her name
Then Youtube where they can easily find her
Then one of her songs, the title of which would be easy to remember, and that title has to be a good one, so once they see it, they'll want to see more.



Edit:

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/860...ersticker5.jpg



Edit:

Here's a picture I posted in Walmart

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/5...twithcapti.jpg

jk

Wow nice video scruff and great idea :D:cool:

First, Scruffy, you are not an average American citizen. Average don't go half way around the world to get not only one but 50+ autographs!
Second, that video is awesome. Only problem is when I see Lily cry it brings tears to my eyes.
Great ideas, and I have three and a half weeks to prepare.
I agree that samples are the way to go.
Thanks

Promotional DVD disk ideas
 

I loved Scruffy's video sampler, even if some titles are a tad off and the collection is a bit dated. My ideal sampler would also include some of the split-screen "ballet" from MJ, the Andy Warhol "drag" from 50/60, and the Adélaïde duet. A snip of the clear English voice-over from the 2002 Passengers interview would prove helpful near the start of the sampler. In particular, I like seconds 11-15 ("Corsican-born Alizée has become a fixture in the French pop charts") as posted at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNVzRRHqkAI because it pronounces her name clearly and notes she is a hit. (It should be accompanied by a graphic which notes "5 million disks sold worldwide" or whatever.) The audio of JUST her name, together with its appearance in a big, clear typeface, might be usefully repeated during ALL the transitions between the sample clips.

The large Cuban-American population in south Florida would of course be interested that she is a big hit in a Spanish-speaking country - an excerpt from the "Las Tontas..." episode would illustrate that economically. Also use a short clip of her speaking at one of the Mexican concerts, followed by audience applause.

Scruffy's French TV testimonies of how special someone is, is a new must-have.

Surely there are some parts of the AAm podcasts which could be usefully excerpted. Some of the "motivational" posters might be good visuals to use with same. I hope to find some time to make one featuring the Statue of Liberty with her face replacing that of the statue's - maybe someone can beat me to it? A possible caption: "Americans have always had a weakness for French women." Another poster could stick her kisser over that of the Little Corporal's; captioned "Napoleon was not the last Corsican who would conquer much of the world."

The free Christmas 2009 music video might end the video samples, because it is ALL English, even if the Corsican girl only has a small part within it.

Something else one might put on a DVD is a Windows screensaver. The malware-scanned software archive at download.com includes free tools which let you make screensavers from collections of snapshots. Besides publicity photos, one should include the covers of all her disks.

Nobody has a leg to stand upon when it comes to citing the name of their Web address. As long as one does not represent oneself as the owner of same, it is no different from citing the title of a book!

This is a great idea! I love it. I wish I could promote Alizée in some effective way. Man, I need a computer! :mad:

Have faith, my son.

You don't need a computer to do so. For a while, before I had any Alizée products, my technique was to bring her up in any way possible to any topic.

For example, my friends and I were talking about traveling abroad(I wanted to go to either France/Spain, while they wanted to go to Asia), so I brought up how Alizée was in the Japanese commercial.

When there's a will, there's a way! :D

Well, I can't do that for my family. I try all the time. But they just say 'You're obsessed, and it's scary!'. But I have an idea that I am surprised doc did not mentíon. There is one video you absolutely have to include in a dvd: La Isla Bonita. 3 reasons: it is a song that many Americans recognize; it's in English; and was one of her most beautiful performances. These three reasons practically mandate its inclusion in a dvd for passing out. Hello! Who wouldn't want to learn more after those deep dark eyes stare into you like that? Or after hearing that lovely accent turn an ok song into an AMAZING SONG!? I don't think only advertising her English songs is a good idea, because she is French and sings best in French. But this would be a way to make sure it was watched by at least a few people. As far as I have seen, LIB has more view ratings than most JEAM performances on youtube. Maybe Madonna fans could help us out? That may be where a few views are coming from: Madonna fans who searched LIB and saw a thumbnail of an absolutely gorgeous woman doing the song. Heck, how many mj fans have been curious enough to check remakes of his songs? Fall?

wow great ideas... and nice flyers to get her name out there!

ps. the video was great.. it reminded me of everything i love about Alizee :wub: thanks!

When it comes to fan promoting of Alizée, nobody does it better than Scruffydog himself :D

Scruffy, I like your flyers. I like the bumper sticker, too. But you may not be showing enough Alizée. When I first discovered her, I was initially most attracted to the Psych era, specifically the short bobbed hair. That would appeal to many American men. Also, I know you want to use easy to remember songs by listing the English ones, but as I said before, I think the best video we could show people is La Isla Bonita. It is English, easily recognizeable, and one of her best performances. But you should also let them sample some of her new stuff. Limelight is an easy to remember word, moreso than I'm Fed Up or I'm Not Twenty. We want them to hear more than just the old music, because her current work (according to the interview I just read, thanks ptjmwa!) is what she likes best, and really reflects her as a person. It is most relevant to her, and therefore most relevant to me. Just suggesting, not demanding.

Edit:

Also, would that video be on your youtube? I would love to view it!

It's too bad Alizée and MJ never met up. It would have probably would have meant a huge boost to her career here in the states, as long as that was as far as it went. Any type of relationship between the two of them would have really creeped me out.

Alizée + MJ (musically) = Dream come true. I still hope that she does something with his work someday. And lol, don't worry I assure you there would not have been anything going on, especially because of the language barrier. Plus MJ was quite the gentleman, and Alizée is quite a lady, it wouldn't happen because of each having their own relationships and families. I don't know where you got that idea :blink:

Edit: Plus isn't it also cool that he's a big fan of Peter Pan and she's a fan of Tinkerbell? Its curious how that works :D

i'm not gonna argue with that!

Bumper sticker - I brake for Corsican fairies - AlizeeRadio.com
 

Lol nice, doc.

I'd say a few words of praise, but your last check bounced bub...

As reparations for your foolishness, I'm taking this bumper sticker and putting it on my car (when I get it)

Hahaa, nice work there Doc. :p
Though.. what does it say?

I wonder if I can fit that on the license plate frame?

Random questions and answers
 

With terse comments and no body language, it can be hard to discern if a question is sober and non-rhetorical.

It is very rare for me to omit a posting topic line. Please note that the one for the graphic I just posted read: "Bumper sticker - I brake for Corsican fairies - AlizeeRadio.com" It is also easy to use http://translate.google.com/ if you don't know French.

It is simple to reconfigure and resize this design for various uses. How large a printed graphic emerges in physical form, on a license plate frame or in another place, is beyond my control. If I am supplied with a graphic which outlines the shape of the targeted area and would fit exactly over the final physical target when physically fabricated, it is easy for me (or anyone else) to "paint" it with my resized design elements.

If you guys think you can sell, or want to subsidize, real bumper-stickers, you might ask Ben if he would carry them as an SKU in the new <a href="http://www.cafepress.com/alizeeusa">Alizée America online store</a>. I don't know if anyone would raise objection to the commercial use of the design, which includes a face that looks a lot like you-know-who, the person I aspire to help commercially with my art. ;)

I have a few ideas for your trip. When you pass through a new city, check out the local music shop. Ask for French. Likely they will not have it. So you ask them to look it up. When they do, reccomend they try listening to her. Also, stop by best buy. They usually have demo ipod touches. If they do, go to youtube and search Alizée. Leave her on the screen when you leave. That is how I do it. I don't seem to have created any fans, but will show there is interest in French music in America.

Well, a cheap kinda in home method that I thought of is this:

Who here is familiar with.. chat roulette?
So instead of sporting your member in the video feed, I figured a picture of Alizée or one of her albums would be good idea.

That's kinda the same as useng her pic as an avatar on other forums. Which I would do, had I got more responses to my 'other forums' thread. I just haven't been soshified like some.

Chatroulette marketing strategy
 

Early last month I did some research on Chatroulette, collecting review articles. I came DAMN close to writing about it here at AAm, but decided against it. I would have borrowed some statistics about it to start off my own copy, in this manner:<blockquote>"What is 71% men, 15% women and 14% perverts?
No, not Alizée America - but a new Internet pastime called Chatroulette!" ;)</blockquote>Not a few participants are said by one reviewer to look very bored, so maybe a new singer would catch their interest.

I guess that most people using Chatroulette are wealthy enough to buy Alizée products, but many of them would also be sophisticated enough to swipe them, too. Even if you get their attention, how do you convert them into paying customers?

Everyone seems to agree that if you want someone to watch you for a while, it is important to be young, female and good-looking. That leaves out almost everyone at AAmt - except for a few folks including a professional model, who probably wouldn't like to take a "busman's holiday." But maybe you could pay her to produce a video segment with her mouth covered by a mask, so someone could interactively dub her speech without lip-sync problems. A mask would not be out of place if the party was a Halloween reveler, a bandit, a harem girl or a surgeon - her choice. You could play AlizeeRadio.com in the background, while the URL crawled at screen bottom as an overlay. The thing is this, Wasabi - could you sound like a fetching female without putting your AAm "member" in a clamped vise? ;)

Another strategy would simply feed a looped Alizée YouTube playlist with a URL overlay. Then you could walk away from any Webcam and spend your distributing flyers outside the local supermarket.

Anybody heard of this place?
 

http://www.alizeebaltimore.com/
Maybe I should stop in there and give them some music to play in their spa, bar, ?? A relaxing massage with Lilly in the headphones/speakers.

I was an hour from baltimore just last week! ZUT ALORS ! But yeah, you should definitely stop by there, that is cool as heck. And instead of alizé like the ice cream and wine, it actually is Alizée!

I might have to call them up. If the only way to get Alizée's music in there is to get a massage, well so be it.

Making progress a step at a time
 

The supposed bottom-up success of Alizée in Mexico argues that passionate fans CAN make a difference, but I've never read that Alizée's own staff either engendered or accelerated it before it reached the level that it made sense to publish a local album and schedule concerts. It is quite possibly magic they would love to perform, but are clueless about creating.

I did not participate in the drafting or signing of the AAm Open Letter, and in fact only joined AAm at the end of last year. So I hope my critique of the Letter will not bring any undue resentment.

I think it was a fine thing to write Alizée a fan letter expressing AAm's admiration for her and encouraging her to perform in the American market (if possible). There was no harm in saying you were willing to execute the requests of her staff to assist her, but even stipulating your sincerity, it is hardly unlikely that their limited time could be better spent than by directing well-meaning non-professionals.

So why suggest she should go on a popular national talk show in the United States? If you can, get her a booking request. And if you can't, then try to figure out ways in which she might get small opportunities here in America which can foster professional contacts that move her along to better things - assuming she is interested.

That's why I applaud something like Scruffy's efforts to lobby the French TV show in San Francisco. He didn't tell Alizée she should go on the show; instead he worked to get the show to INVITE her to take part.

Alizée has been careful to drop hints about her interests, but modest and cautious enough not to express too many explicit ambitions, which unrequited, might embarrass her reputation.

That said, I think the multimedia enterprise once known as The Factory excites her multifaceted artistry as a Beau Ideal, and not just a plausible subject for a musical album. I think she really would like to be on stage, in film, sing, design and market special goods. The plebeian New York City I knew as a lad makes me somewhat immune to the romantic image of the city, but I must allow it could could be very exciting for a little girl from a rural island, even after international celebrity and a comfortable life at a chic Paris headquarters with talented collaborators.

While I am sure that Alizée would just as much enjoy headlining a concert in Chicago or Los Angeles as in Paris, Moscow or Mexico City, I am far from certain that can happen soon. On the other hand, perhaps we can help foster more intimate US "auditions" which get her the attention of people who CAN help her - like Broadway producers and Madison Avenue advertisers. That's why I like Scruffy's "start small" approach - but want us to concentrate on New York City, especially so because <i>UEdS</i> is set there and may open doors on account of the vanity of all "home town" audiences - even in the biggest of towns.

I will now propose a plan of action. But even if it completely fails in serving the stated ambition, it could still prove helpful to Alizée by helping her make more disk and download sales in the United States.

You are of course aware of social networking sites - such as Alizée's new Facebook entity - which provide a virtual connection between people, even if they remain continents aparts. But are you also aware about the use of such Web sites for coordinating LOCAL, in-person meetings?

I have a membership in such a site complex, called meetup.com Perhaps you do, too. Are you aware that among its various species of sites are language groups? The collection of French language groups are listed on http://french.meetup.com/all/ They come in all sizes, with over 200 of them boasting at least 100 members. Most of the largest ones are based in the United States, but Britain and Canada are represented as well. The very largest group just happens to be in New York City, <i>viz.</i> "original manhattan french language meetup," with over 3600 (locally-based!) members. If the biggest problem with getting enough Americans together to meet with Alizée in person is the language barrier, then leverage of a group like this offers relief!

I would suggest that wherever you live, you explore if there is a French language meetup group near you to join. If you want to start bending the ear of neighbors about how cool Alizée is, they are fine places to start - as well as find candidates for any <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5369">Alizée parties</a> you might hope to throw. And if you cannot get a quorum up for Alizée, then try to assemble one for French singers in general, within which you can promote your personal favorite. In general, there is no charge to join a group and typically no charge to attend most meetings. You can start to explore a group by checking out its Web site, which generally includes an archive of previous meetings, as well as discussion boards and member biography pages. Wouldn't it be nice if you could make new friends and promote the sale of Alizée stuff, too? Don't forget to mention Alizée's new radio station at AlizeeRadio.com

Now, on to the vain ambition of a long road to glory in New York City.

As we all know, Ben is a television professional living there; how many others in AAm call the city home? Ben, do you belong to any francophone groups in or near the city? Did you ever consider joining "original manhattan french language meetup," - assuming you knew of it? Perhaps there already are some Alizée fans among its 3600-plus registrants who would love to know that Alizée America exists - and maybe would lend a hand on the ground in the city itself. You could even introduce others within its folds to Alizée.

As I <a href="http://alizeeamerica.com/forums/showpost.php?p=156263&postcount=254">outlined</a> previously, a dream is that one day it proves possible to book Alizée to perform at the 400-seat theater of the <i>French Institute Alliance Française</i> in Manhattan. Becoming active in the meetup group could provide the means by which the dream can become a reality and introduce Alizée to professional people in the city who might help her make her way forward there.

As a lay person, I was very impressed how Alizée's people got her so many mass-media interviews in France to promote <i>UEdS</i>! I wonder what is happening in Mexico along these lines.

While I don't want to sell the USA short, when her main publicity push is over and she has recovered, perhaps Alizée would also consent to an interview by Scruffy's San Francisco French TV station. Recall the events to date:

Scruffy, did you hear back from Aline and her compatriots? I hope you made SURE she knows AAm would be only too glad to provide her with good biographical and industry background material to make the production of an interview of Alizée as easy as possible. Did you mention the good ways to contact the Corsican girl which she reported lacking?

One way is to use the Institubes Web site contact page at http://www.institubes.com/contact/ Observe that it includes the following revealing tidbit: <blockquote><i>PLEASE NOTE THAT WE'RE NOT EVEN CHECKING OUR MYSPACE INBOX SO PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING OPTIONS</i></blockquote>Apparently, professional contact media evolve!

And as we know, a new alternative is the wall of the <i>Melle Alizée Bis</i> account on Facebook. And of course, Facebook also allows one to send private messages between accounts. Whether that would get any more attention is open to question, but at least the privacy of the sender is thereby better protected.

Hmm, doc, where so you get your ideas? You claim quite often you are not a financial expert; though, you seem to know a large amount about this kind of thing. I was wondering if you had seen my 'The ULTIMATE Fan Art' thread? I would love to see what you think about that. Anyways, let's keep everything realistic. A small network is doubtful to gain her attention, but it is not impossible. But this meetup site, does it have a French group anywhere in central Virginia? I can't access the site from my phone.

this is the key!! if Alizee sees that shows are interested and they want her for an interview, she will be more likely to come over because that means that people are becoming more and more interested in her. this is a much better plan then having her create a whole new fan base by coming over here on her own.

Prototype promotion decal
 

Here is the prototype for the left side rear bumper. I will add ALIZEERADIO.COM to the right side. And I am changing it to reflective black so it illuminates when headlights hit it.
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/100_9669.jpg
http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...e/100_9669.jpg

thats freakin' SWEET! i might just have to look into getting one like that! how'd u make it?

I actually made it with individual 1" vinyl letters spaced 4mm apart. I will be getting it made out of better vinyl on transfer paper to make it much faster to install.

That's AWESOME MYGOGT!!!

it looks like so professionally done because of the perfect spacing and straight line.... i kno if i did it then it would look like crap.... but urs is amazing!! it was a great idea!!

Once I make the real one on the transfer paper all the spacing will be automatic. You just lay it in place, press it down, and peel the paper off. The prototype took over an hour. That is way too long. I'll see if I can get a sweet deal on a bunch.

WOW!

I must have missed your previous posting wherein you mentioned French Institute Alliance Française. I had scanned around the City for a venue that might work for her. This place would be perfect.

If she were invited over to this type of venue, it would be just the type of venue that she might accept. Her history has demonstrated that she prefers to perform in 2,000+ seat theaters, however, as this is the USA, and she realizes that she may have to start smaller here, she just might go for a multi-night appearance. She obviously has an interest in New York. This would get her into New York, at a venue she would feel right at home at, with the possibility of being exposed to the right people in NY. :)


There would of course have to be an after-party... :D

that would be great! i would totally buy one or two!

The Manhattan beachhead
 

Since you get down to the City to buy Japanese cookies now and then, I take it that, like Ben, you are a candidate for membership in one or more of the French language meetup groups there. WiIl you give it a try? Do you know other people in AAm who live nearby?

Surely if there are other francophone places in the City of interest, some of the meetup group people know about them.

Yes, I can't imagine there would not be a reception in such an intimate setting. My hope is that it would allow Alizée to make useful professional contacts in New York City BEYOND those know French. Isn't that what we want to make possible?

Maybe you can see Roman's tattoo artist and find out how much he charges for a design that says "Big-time Broadway producer. No kidding!" ;)