Marketing – The Lady Gaga Way
I first wrote this post back in July 2011, for my old marketing blog. Given Lady Gaga’s stupendous performance at the Academy Awards earlier this week, I have been inspired to dig it out and repost, with an update or two.
If you missed her performance, it was to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of The Sound of Music. A movie that captured all but the hardest of hearts from the moment it was released in 1965.
I first heard a grab on the radio with the announcer saying “guess who?” I thought Julie Andrews was singing again.
Apparently I first saw The Sound of Music when I was about 4 years old. I was so enthralled that my friend Jenny and I (she was also 4) decided to take all our clothes off and run up and down the aisle buck naked. Clearly our mothers had made the rookie mistake of sitting us on the end of the row. They then were so completely engrossed in the movie, they didn’t even realise what we were doing until a cinema attendance tapped them on their shoulders to ask if we were their children. They were mortified!
I can’t believe I shared that!
Moving on… I have since seen this much beloved movie at least 30 times, and happily sing along each time. Fully clothed.
Anyway, onto a slightly updated version my original post!
I didn’t become a huge fan of Lady Gaga’s until early 2011. While I had loved her music for a while (especially Poker Face and Born This Way), and was in total awe of her voice and her sheer musical talent, I was not sure about the woman herself. Or even, if I’m to be completely honest, Gaga as a brand.
This all changed when I heard Fifi & Jules interview her on their radio show, and saw Tracey Grimshaw interview her on the tele (and she sang too). An article in The Weekend Australian magazine (which annoyingly I now can’t find the link to) at the same time solidified my love for her.
I’m now one of her “Little Monsters”. So what I hear you say. She’s just a pop star. Well, um, no. She’s not. She is actually a musical – and a marketing – phenomenon. And these are a few reasons why (stats from 2011 unless otherwise stated):
she taught herself how to play piano by ear when she was four years old. By 13 she had written her first song, by 14 she had begun performing at open mic nights
she is the only artist in the digital era to top the 5 million sales mark with her first two hits
she has over 1.3 BILLION views of all her hits online (this would be far more now, but I can’t find an updated stat)
she has more than 44 million twitter followers (as of 27 Feb 2015)
she has more than 67 million “likes” on facebook (as of 27 Feb 2015)
the single “Born this Way” set music industry records when released in Feb 2011 – it reached sales of 1 million within 5 days of release, on iTunes it debuted at #1 in 14 countries and hit #1 in all 23 iTunes countries within 1 week of release
total sale of 27 million albums and 125 million singles worldwide (June 2014)
6 Grammys, 13 MTV Video Music Awards, 13 Guinness World Records (June 2014)
her music was the focus of a special 90 minutes episode of hit TV show Glee (when Glee was THE show on TV to watch)
AND in May 2011, Forbes Magazine nominated Lady Gaga as the #1 most influential person in the world.
(source: www.ladygaga.com, www.forbes.com, Wikipedia)
WOW. All this and she was only 25 years old. And 3 years earlier practically no-one knew who she was. Except for Michael Bolton. He loved her.
So, I hear you ask. Why exactly IS she a marketing phenomenon? And what can we all learn from her ability to market herself? Well… she uses all 4 c’s of social media BRILLIANTLY – consumer (customer), content, channel and community.
She knows who her fans (consumers) are, she respects them, she values them. She has even named them – her Little Monsters. Importantly, she gives her Little Monsters what they want (content) and she goes where they go (channel). And most importantly, she ENGAGES with her fans. Check out her twitter stream – loads of conversations. And her fans have helped her create a massive community by engaging with each other.
She also:
has an absolutely MASSIVE talent as a singer, songwriter, entertainer, fashionista
knows who she is, what her brand is and what she stands for
is completely focused on her brand – when was the last time you saw of photo of Gaga NOT in an outlandish outfit? OK so her 2015 Oscars frock for her Sound of Music performance wasn’t outlandish, but it was a very phoofy skirt!
has a VERY unique selling point (the music and the fashion – both a bit bizarre and weird) which generates a lot of hype. Remember the meat dress? and the egg?
appeals to a VERY broad audience
is authentic – just listen to the B105 or the Grimshaw interview for a lot of raw honesty. Or follow her on twitter. Not a lot of false pretences
has embraced the digital age and uses social media brilliantly. Seriously. Look at the stats above if you don’t believe me.
builds anticipation for what’s next – remember the frenzy that was built up when she tweeted some of the lyrics of Born This Way in the weeks prior to its release? Actually, just look at the massive lineups outside Sydney nightclubs ARQ and Nevermind last night (back in 2011) when she posted this on facebook and twitter yesterday “Thinking of going out in Sydney tonight. How I wish we had a show. NEVERMIND, don’t listen to me. Maybe I’ll just go for a walk in the pARQ”
(mostly) keeps her private life private. Which helps her stay on message. No mean feat with such huge celebrity {just listen to the Fifi & Jules interview to see what I mean}. But I think this makes her even more beloved. I LOVE how she refused to name the boy she had her first kiss with for fear of making his life tabloid fodder.
Tackles brave issues and stands up for what she really believes in (including gay marriage, sex trafficking, bullying, to name a few) through her lyrics, her video and her answers in interviews.
We can all learn from the marketing juggernaut that is the Lady Gaga brand. Especially how she uses digital media to create a community of raving fans. What do you think?
And, just as importantly, how many times have you seen The Sound of Music?
