Viper Training

Lady Gaga and the Extended Marketing Mix

Author: Neil Wilkins

Neil learnt his marketing with the likes of Orange, NatWest, BP Castrol and Ordnance Survey and now helps individuals and businesses to communicate more effectively. He trains and mentors marketers on professional Chartered Institute of Marketing qualifications through to post-graduate level.

There has probably not been such a step change in popular music since Malcolm Mclaren introduced the world to punk through the medium of The Sex Pistols in 1975. In today's music scene, the Lady Gaga phenomenon is no accident and has been carefully choreographed using the same marketing principles that Mclaren used over thirty years ago.

These marketing principles? The Extended Marketing Mix. The 7Ps. 

Here's how it works:

Product - Anyone thinking Gaga is original should listen to the lyrics, the key changes and the phrasing. Rather than original it's an almagamation of the best bits of leading artists like Madonna and Gwen Stefani blended with contemporary dance floor and club bass lines. This isn't wrong, it's great marketing. Taking proven formulae and reinventing them for a defined audience is the art of great marketing which we see in corporate sectors with the likes of Virgin successfully taking this approach when breaking into new markets. Copy what already works and give it your own personal flavour. That's the Gaga way.

Price - Lady Gaga has only existed as a global brand for three years since her debut album The Fame. So in just three years how has she achieved such a wide commercial reach? The answer lies with the combination of the Marketing Mix elements but crucially by balancing paid for music and especially downloads with free downloads and video samples, sharable by her adoring fans and helping to spread the message far and wide. In commercial terms most organisations shy away from free because it costs, but with some careful planning and no little dose of self belief, free samples of product and service can create great engagement with target customers and stimulate long term loyalty.

Place - By embracing the very latest online media Lady Gaga brand awareness has gone global in the blink of an eye. But that's too obvious and misses the real value of research and serving existing traditional media and outlets. By balancing TV and radio friendly promotions with traditional high street store merchandising and distribution in regions with her largest base of fans (currently North America, Europe, Australia) Gaga has ensured there are no barriers to awareness or purchase and the CDs and DVDs leave the shelves in the hands of young and old alike.

Promotion - There is no denying that social media is at the core of Lady Gaga's success; "My name is Lady Gaga, I've been on the music scene for years, and I'm telling you, this is what's next." With over 14,000,000 Twitter followers and 36,000,000 Facebook fans (growing at a rate of 1,500,000 per week) there has never been a better way of engaging on a one-to-one basis with fans. As Facebook positions itself at the 'heart of the internet' any business whether B2B or B2C should take a long hard look at itself and ensure it's getting the best out of the potential of social networking.

People - The legions of adoring super-fans or as Lady Gaga calls them Little Monsters, are a demographic easily and quickly identifying with the Gaga brand. Being such a fan is a lifestyle rather than simply a liking of the music. Clothes, style, outlook and beliefs form part of this global community hanging on every word from their idol. In commercial terms this has a huge potential influence on how the brand will develop and evolve in the future but also increases the risk in getting it wrong, alienating or failing to deliver to promise. A similar evolution is happening for Apple as it rapidly transitions from a specialist creative industry tool to a mainstream technology leader. 

Process - The rest of the marketing mix pales into relative insignificance when you consider the impact of the live Lady Gaga experience. In the last three years nobody in the music industry has worked harder, toured longer or dedicated their life to their passion in such a compelling and all consuming way. The whole customer experience of the Fame Monster Tour followed back to back by the Monster Ball Tour through this period has ensured that Lady Gaga is constantly in the spotlight, always accessible and relevant to her fans and continuously siezing the moment and maximising profit through what potentially could still be a short lifespan of her product. The lesson businesses and marketers must learn from this is make no assumptions you will always be here and sieze the moment whilst you can.

Physical Evidence - If by reading this blog you are sitting there thinking, that's all very well but Lady Gaga is a musician and entertainer and what has that got to do with me? Well by following the basic rules of the extended marketing mix she has seen revenues and profits over the last three years that most of us could only dream of. The Monster Ball Tour grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and the highest-grossing for a debut headlining artist. I think that could be the physical evidence that the extended marketing mix really does work.

- Posted on Sunday 08 Jan 2012 at 10:55 by Neil Wilkins

Tags: 7 ps (1), lady gaga (1), marketing mix (1)