4 Powerful Marketing Ideas We Can Learn From Lady Gaga
I saw Lady Gaga on The Late Show with David Letterman the other night and I was amazed on what a great marketing genius she is.
She is the first person with ten million Twitter Fans (how many do you have?) and in a few short years, she has taken the entertainment business by storm. She certainly understands social media.
I was also struck during her interview by her understanding of basic marketing ideas and saw four marketing ideas that can any business or organization can learn from:
1) Be True To Your Brand
2) Know Your Audience
3) Stay on Message
4) Work the Media to Your Message
1) Be True To Your Brand: Lady Gaga came out for the interview in not much more than a bikini bottom, leather jacket, wig and mask, and later revealed her face with her own style and flair of makeup. On Saturday Night Live, where she performed a few days earlier, she also came in costume (actually costumes).
I imagine that when she goes out as her true self, as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, she takes on a different persona, but when she is Lady Gaga, she is a powerful brand.
2) Know Your Audience: In her interview, she mentioned that she tweets her fans and stayed up the night before tweeting with them for a while. Like she said, with ten million fans (“little monsters”, I think they are called), she gets the good and the bad. Either way, she learns who her fans are, what they are like, what they expect from her, etc. She gets in the trenches, so to speak, which is more than I can say about most executives. If you don’t understand your audience, how can you fulfill their needs?
When was the last time you went to a trade show and spoke to your customers. I mean really worked the trade show, not staying in the hospitality suite but working the show floor?
When was the last time you rode around on sales calls with your team?
Knowledge is crucial and you can learn a great deal by asking questions of your customers and listening.
I would even take this one step further and say that Lady Gaga actually appreciates her fans and thanks them for buying her CDs, music downloads, concert tickets, etc. She mentioned that she struggled for a while during her early show business career, and now that she has hit the big time, she appreciates what she has and is thankful to her fans/monsters.
A friend of mine who was at her most recent concert was amazed that she thanked her fans several times during her show.
Stay humble. Smugness is quite a turnoff.
3) Stay on Message: Many time during the interview Lady Gaga referred to her new CD, which was just released. She stayed on message and mentioned it a few times,not getting side tracked by the interviewer’s other questions and comments. She was prepared.
I have seen many celebrities that appear on a variety of late night talk shows stray far from their message, talking about everything EXCEPT their new album, book or movie—which I am sure drives their agent and their producer/publisher crazy.
It takes practice to stay on message. You can watch any politician on the Sunday talk shows for a refresher course on staying on message.
4) Work the Media to Your Message: Lady Gaga dominates the media because she understands it, knows her audience and knows her message.
She is Queen of the radio charts/music industry, has the largest Twitter following in the world, looks calm and cool on television , and knows how to get attention for herself when she goes to ballgames.
Today’s superstars know how to work all forms of media, including social media, print, video, radio, television, web, etc.
A mixed media campaign is crucial for most brands. Do not put all your eggs just in one, as tides change rapidly.
I was not a big fan of Lady Gaga until last night. Now I am becoming a “Little Monster” myself.
We can all learn a great deal about branding by following this media superstar’s rise .
Does your brand have what it takes to become a marketing and media superstar?
