written by Edwin St. Fort

Objective: To relaunch Google’s Nexus One by revamping online promotions and using a celebrity endorser to uplift sales.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Google’s Nexus One sold an overall of 80,000 phones in its first month of sales, pushing 20,000 units in its first week. Other Android phones had better success in first week results, T-Mobile’s myTouch made with Google sold 60,000 and Verizon’s Droid sold 250,000 in there debut according to Flurry, an analytics company. Google choose to sell and market the Nexus One device to consumers directly through its website with an option as T-Mobile being a carrier or without a cell phone company contract. Current promotions have been through online marketing via: YouTube and Adsense.

Comparing how the other Google phones performed in the market place and the marketing efforts behind it, Nexus One attempts weren’t comparable; Verizon’s launch of Google’s Droid, spent a record-breaking $100 million on marketing, including aggressive TV advertisements. T-Mobile’s myTouch 3G launch didn’t provide the same co-marketing support for the Nexus One. T-Mobile chose celebrity endorsers such as Phil Jackson, Whoopi Goldberg, Wyclef Jean, Avril Lavigne, and others to promote the myTouch 3G device in their TV ads.

Viewing Google’s Nexus One marketing campaign the results should have forecast an incorrect strategy. Timing, price, and strategic partnerships were lacking in their efforts, but here is an idea that could revamp sales.

Solution: Create strategic partnerships with Jay-Z, Diddy and 50 Cent to promote “Nexus One” to the urban demographic. Continue Reading…

Birdman x Bronald Oil & Gas. If you remember a couple weeks back, WoooHa brought up the issue that many reputable news sources were questioning the legitimacy of Birdman’s Bronald Oil & Gas company. You can read the full article here. Birdman and his publicist declined to comment but it looks like a picture says a thousand words.

Check Birdman’s new tattoos. Yea the big star on the top of his head is old but he added a couple of new ones…one which strategically covers his Bronald tattoo complete with picture of an oil pump. If Bronald Oil is legit well then Birdman’s new tats send a terrible message. Regardless, it’s clear there is a cover up going on…on his head and possibly in real life.

Biz Markie x UNDRCRWN. Biz Markie has resurrected his place in current pop culture through using his hit “Just A Friend” in multiple ad campaigns from Heineken to Radio Shack. Now he has teamed up with street wear kings UNDRCRWN for this new t-shirt. Get it now at the official site for $32.

Lupe has been heavily promoting and performing tracks from his upcoming album Lasers even though his record label still is holding it back. In the meantime though, looks like Lupe is getting into the book business as a novel writer under his real name Wasalu Muhammad Jaco.

“I started off as a writer,” Lupe told 3News New Ze land, where his Steppin Lasers world tour kicked off. “You know, since I was a little kid, I’ve been telling stories and actually hip-hop has just been an extension of me telling stories. So putting it in a more traditional form as far as a book has always been a part of the plan.”

No other details about the book at the moment but its good to hear that it won’t just be another rapper autobiography that is clearly ghost written. According to BoomBox though, the plot of the novel is potentially based around the life of a window washer. Let’s hope it’s a window washer that has super powers, or can free style really well or something.

Ludacris x Conjure Cognac. Ludacris officially launched his Conjure Cognac line this past year with a fair amount of publicity and nightlife marketing efforts. In branding his new company and Cognac line, Luda has been going the “luxury” route pushing Conjure as a high-end cognac comparable to Hennessey. To take things further as he sets to expand Conjure into Los Angeles and New York, Ludacris has brought on some fellow heavy hitters to support his cognac and go directly after the Henny. Check the vid where Rick Ross pledges his undying love to the Conjure.

Lil Wayne x Twitter. The way Lil Wayne is promoting his new Twitter account one might suspect that the heads of Twitter are paying him a hefty sum for the publicity. In just a week since Lil Wayne created his new “verified” account under the name LilTuneChi, over 200,000 fans have already signed up boosting overall Twitter traffic for the social media company and garnering millions of dollars in free publicity impressions.

Both Lil Wayne and Twitter reps have not mentioned any profit sharing deal but it would not be anything new for Twitter to hire celebs. Back in August of 2009, rumors were running wild that Diddy was close to signing an advisory role with Twitter to help promote the company and increase traffic. The rumors were later confirmed when Diddy officially turned the role down. In regards to Lil Wayne, his upcoming stint to prison would be the perfect marketing opportunity for Twitter to cash in on. Check the video to see how hard Lil Wayne continues to push Twitter and even Twitter t-shirts and decide for yourself.

Lupe Fiasco x Lasers. Lupe’s long-awaited album Lasers has faced multiple delays from Atlantic Records with little news from either party…until now. Apparently the main issue at hand is Atlantic wants Lupe to go with a broader more commercial sound similar to Jay-Z. Problem is, even though every rapper in America, well every person in America, wouldn’t mind the money Jay-Z makes…Lupe wants nothing to do with Jay-Z money making levels.

“They (Atlantic Records) want me to step out of my comfort zone and step into theirs. I don’t have necessarily the celebrity success they want me to have but it’s more social success and being able to speak at a college about world affairs. That’s a success, to me.

I don’t want to be Jay-Z and be worth $400 million and perform on every awards show. It’s getting in touch with somebody who needs to improve their self-esteem, as opposed to driving a Bentley and putting some chains on.”

On one hand its very admirable for Lupe to say these things…but as a hip-hop business blog it kinda throws us off our game. Most of the time it’s about rappers making as much as fast as they can. So if Lupe is telling the truth here then hey…we give him two thumbs up on his career. Just put out Lasers already then. Via: LupeEnd