But this is a great takeaway lesson for marketers and business owners. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE WELL.

While Pia was an amazing singer, arguably the best on the stage this year, she obviously didn’t connect with the voting demographic. I am going to take a guess here and say her amazing ballad renditions were more appreciated by non-voters than voters.  And who are the voters? Well, let’s look at who is still standing- An alternative /singer song writer with a very original voice, a stereotypical rock star with an amazing voice that goes high on command, a young version of Luther Vandross who is hard NOT to like,  two very young country influenced singers with their own style, a clean cut young man that looks like he’s straight out of a boy band with the voice to match, A very original and gifted bearded singer and musician who we all can relate to as the “uncool” out of the mold guy, and  a young girl with an amazing blues influenced voice that she has made into her own original signature.

So what do we learn from all of this about the voters?

1. They want someone who is original with their own style and puts their own signature on the music.

2. The younger teens and tweens are obviously driving a ton of the voting

3. People are looking for a personal connection that they can connect to off the stage as well as on the stage.

5. Don’t rely JUST on  your singing ability. It’s your personality on stage and crowd interaction that makes a difference.

6. And as Mr. Tyler said, it’s some time the imperfect vocal ability that makes it just perfect for the voters.

The lesson and exercise above can be applied to any business or marketing initiative. If you want to connect with your fans or customers who will ultimately vote with their wallets, or their recommendation of your product or service, you have got to know who they are.

Here are a few tips that may have saved Pia, and will hopefully help you-

- Go where your audience goes, read what they read, eat where they eat, etc.

- Be authentic and transparent with your communcation

- Look at your competition and see what their fans or customers are responding to the most

- Focus on the audience of ONE. Don’t try to appeal to everyone, but imagine you are talking to that one person who is your focus demographic

- Be yourself, and at the same time focus on what makes you unique and different. Don’t be a carbon copy of anyone else.

Without being particularly computer savvy or, for that matter, over the age of 10, we can today:

• Tell Pizza Hut how quickly our order got to the door – and how it tasted once it got there
• Tweet about that convertible we just rented, before the top is even down
• Review a movie, during the movie
• Tweet a picture of an actual fast food burger side-by-side with how the same meal looks in the ad
• Share hilarious photos of folks we just saw shopping at Wal-mart
• Become “friends” with our favorite author, TV or movie star, musician or sparkly vampire on Facebook

What started as a few simple comment, feedback or review forms on the Web’s most popular website soon grew into an online obsession. This culture of feedback has spawned the Recommendation Age, and it’s here to stay.

The information age and the Internet have overwhelmed people to the point that we are now more interested in connecting and making real interactions with peers, family, friends, and people with similar tastes and interests than we are in being “told” what’s hot, what’s not – and why. Where we used to search the Internet, now we listen to it; constantly seeking the advice, support and unvarnished – often unedited – views of others to help counsel our most basic decision-making processes.

This shift has also heavily influenced how people shop, research and find information about various topics. For the first time ever, Facebook now refers more traffic than Google. We are now most interested in what others are saying about the product, service, or place than we are what the source of those products are saying.

In other words, we don’t trust big corporations or, for that matter, their advertisements, product placement or paid testimonials to sway us one way or another. We’ll decide for ourselves if Domino’s crust is actually any better now than it was 10 years ago, thanks very much. We’ll go see your movie based on the recommendations of friends or our favorite bloggers, regardless of how many five-star reviews the movie poster features. And if we decide your latest bestseller isn’t up to snuff, it probably won’t remain a bestseller for very much longer.

We can read an excerpt of a book online – posted by a rabid fan – and download it instantly, without waiting for shipping or going to the store. We can pick and choose our own album tracks, downloading our favorite songs based on personal preference or the recommendation of a “dream playlist” from our favorite blog, versus the 10 that are prepackaged in album form.

In short, the days of the media’s power over unwary, unsuspecting and unsophisticated consumers are drawing to a close. Traditional media is fading fast, witnessed by the “death” of many print magazines and the decimation of hundreds of print newspaper positions, and the new “social” media is making “recommenders” of us all.

This is understandable. As businesspeople, we work hard to capture our message; it’s valuable work that can only be done by internal employees who know our culture, our co-workers and our CEO. But the very insider nature of our mission statements and corporate copy can sound exclusive and clique-y to our customers.
They often don’t get the inside jokes, the clever language, the puns, metaphors or similes that we worked so hard on – for so long. If customers don’t get your copy, if it doesn’t speak in their language, you might as well not write it. And copy that only works for you simply doesn’t work!

The trick is to seek comfort where you’re not comfortable, which is usually in your target audience’s shoes. Let’s say you’ve never knitted a day in your life, secretly make fun of knitters behind their backs, talk down to them in their presence and generally just “don’t get this whole knitting thing,” but are suddenly put in charge of producing a new line of do-it-yourself manuals for, of all things, knitters.

Well, unless you get out of your knitter-doubting comfort zone but quick, your future customers will pick up on your thin knitter knowledge – but quick. The best way to do this is to switch off the comfort and welcome the uncomfortable. Immerse yourself in the world of knitting to the point that you are absolutely obnoxious about it. But you can’t just fake it; you have to open yourself up to it.

This is literally the biggest step one can take in measuring the distance between you and your audience. This is your straight line to the audience you’re targeting – and if you can’t feel comfortable in this niche, they’ll never feel comfortable buying it.

Go here to learn more and sign up!!

http://buzzsquared.com/social-media-makeover-giveaway/

But what struck me almost as much as the show itself, was the crowd that was there. In front of us were some crazy 30 and 40 somethings, behind us were two african american women in their 60′s, and all around was a mix of all ages and colors. I expect this from a band that has been around for a while and has fans from different generations, but this was Coldplay. They only formed as a band in 1998, and their first record was out in 2000. Their popularity has only reached the masses in the past 5 or 6 years. So how do they do it?

Yes, they have good music that is accessible to a larger audience. But I saw something more Saturday night. I saw passion, I saw thoughfulness, and I saw excellence. It reminded me of something that happens with professional athletes. When you are the best at what you do, and are passionate about it, it draws in everyone. Even if you are not a basketball fan, you stopped to watch Michael Jordan fly through the air. And while I don’t play much golf, I am mesmerized when Tiger Woods makes that impossible shot that miraculously goes in the hole.

Coldplay is doing that with their music, and it is a lesson we all can apply to what ever business you are in or product you are marketing. Do it with excellence, be purposeful and thoughtful, and most of all do it with passion. You will find that your audience and customers will grow exponentially beyond your target demographic.