Lady Gaga — a marketing genius !!
What does a dress made out of meat, a fan-base called little monsters and R&B music have in common? It’s Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta!!
Did you say Stefani who ? — Okay you might know her better as the supremely talented and overly eccentric Lady Gaga !! (and yes, thats really Lady Gaga’s real name !)
and one cannot, not marvel at her brilliant business acumen.
Rated as one of the most influential women in the world, Lady Gaga expands her prowess across disciplines- from groundbreaking albums, outrageous fashion sense and excellent marketing strategies. Lady Gaga brings with her an aura of uniqueness and innovation.
Her brand is unparalleled because SHE is THE brand !!
The more I read of her, hear her and about her, the more I’m intrigued and in awe. Of course she is damn talented but how she ensured her talent was noticed is the story to notice and draw inspiration from.
I often draw a parallel between her and modern day entrepreneurs because truth is that millions of people have ideas, maybe thousands take action yet only few hundred succeed. She is one of the hundreds of her own niche of R&B music.
Catch the drift ?
The business world surely has a lot to learn from Mother Monster and I’d like to talk of some aspects.
1. Gaga’s addictive brand
Lady Gaga is a cultural phenomenon and there is no doubt about it. She speaks volumes on self-acceptance and self-expression. She’s the voice of a rebel, a stifled soul. Her brand has an addictive identity, one that turns fans to fanatics. She speaks to her listeners, they relate to her. Like Gaga, personalise your business, strike a chord.
If you’re a marketer or founder, run periodic campaigns that resonate with your audience. Be responsive to tweets and Facebook messages. Most importantly, communicate to your audience not what you do, but why you do it. Gaga isn’t a sensation just for her songs, it’s also why she writes those songs.
2. Stay in the news
When is Gaga not in the news?
Recently she was in the news for shopping in a grocery store looking normal. She never stops experimenting, so much so that it is news when she does. Gaga has been bold in her style and approach to say the least. But her bold style is never just for the sake of staying in the news. She represents something. She uses her music and clothing to express what she honestly feels and at times, for bigger social causes too.
The key is to always have your prospects in mind and to be authentic in the process. No prospect will appreciate a nagging hard selling effort.
3. Building brand loyalty
Gaga’s littlemonster.com is an exclusive site for her hardcore fans. These are the fans that will take it upon themselves to turn others into fans too. Gaga even goes online on the site, sharing fan art and chatting with other ‘monsters’. With an image like that and an interaction like this, she has got enough loyal supporters for a lifetime. What Gaga is asking us to do, is to be personal with our clients- follow up on clients, send them newsletters, personalised emails, reel in people into your mailing list.
4. Stand up for what you believe in
If Gaga were a product, she’d address what customers deeply desire. She addresses a generation of kids with anxiety, body image issues and notions of who they really are. She’s got her causes clear. Remember her song Born this way ?
At times, she overtly (or to say, quite visibly) takes a stand on issues like animal cruelty like showing up to a party in a meat dress against animal cruelty.
Having soft campaigns like this, on parallel with your products, could work wonders!
What you can learn from her:
- It doesn’t matter where you’re from, what matters is where you want to be. Lady Gaga had trained as a classical pianist but moved focus to get into pop and rock. If you know even a bit of music you know how these are as different as chalk and cheese. Lesson : Talent+Passion+Perseverance+Branding = Success
- Brand engagement is Oxygen. If you want your business to survive and thrive always be engaging with fans, customers, clients and prospects. Give more than you can take. Encourage and reward customer interactions.
- Out of sight is out of mind — Always be there doing something relevant to be noticed. Remember The Law of the Mind: It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace. (3rd law of The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing by AI Ries)
- To be a loved and revered brand you need to be relatable. Your branding should reflect that. Your target audience and fans must be able to feel part of a community or family and share some commonalities.
- Have a strong and cohesive team — Okay so if you're wondering Lady Gaga is a one person show, you've got it all wrong !! She has a very close knit and cohesive team who help her in various facets of her larger than life persona. Find yours.
On this note I’d like to share a video from her album Joanne and hope that you ponder about what translatable skills this genius has that you can adopt or work upon right away !!
