The World According to Mitch Fanning

I recently went through this year’s “Fast Company 100 Most Creative People” List and was surprised (at first) to see Lady Gaga at the number #1 spot amongst the corporate CEOs and Internet start-up celebrities.

Now, before all the Little Monsters out there (a nickname Gaga gives to her die-hard fans) start sending me nasty emails, let me explain…

Like I said, I’m no Little Monster, but I admit over the past few years the ‘Lady’ known as Gaga has been ubiquitous.

Since her debut album, The Fame, was released in August of 2008 almost every time I flipped radio stations I heard either the song “Poker Face” or “Paparazzi” (or both).

It got a bit ridiculous.

What’s even more ridiculous (in a good way) is five years ago Lady Gaga (both the entertainer and the brand) didn’t exist. Then 19, Stefani Germanotta was waitressing and perfecting her craft in dingy New York clubs.

It’s obvious (now) she had bigger goals in mind.

The Lady and The Brand

Last year, those lofty goals were realized as Gaga became a global brand and phenomenon.

According to the write-up in Fast Company, some critics still feel she lacks originality and is nothing more than a carbon copy of Madonna’s ‘glitter-glam’ fashion with a dash of Alice Cooper’s ‘shock-rock’ antics.

Since I’m not a fan I wouldn’t know.

I am, however, impressed with her ability to navigate the digital and social landscape with ease as it pertains to her fans and business empire that was both built in record time and on a diversity of web platforms.

The Numbers

“No other artist commands the kind of attention that Gaga does, If she does something with your brand, it’s like bam! — a million eyeballs.” – Gabe McDonough, an exec at the ad agency DDB

Now 24, Gaga reigns over a brand that spans over music, the web, product design, and lucrative sponsorship deals.

Here are the numbers:

1. 10 million-plus albums sold

2. Video (1 billion-plus Web views)

3. Product design (Monster headphones, Polaroid cameras)

4. Marketing (HP, MAC Cosmetics)

Her impressive stats don’t end there.

Her army of ‘cult-like’ fans mimic her dance moves and sing her songs (can anyone say Grayson Chance) on YouTube, uploading 15,000-plus user-generated videos.

They also voraciously devour her content on Twitter, where as of June 7^th, @ladygaga currently has over 4.3 million followers, and Facebook, where over 8 million people have declared themselves fans.

How She Did It

Sure it helps if you have talent and a bit of luck.  No one is an overnight success, but here are 4 crucial steps Gaga took over the past 5 years to build an empire.

1. Be a Trailblazer

Lady Gaga made a name for herself with wild, theatrical, and often tongue-in-cheek “shock art” performances.

Risque?  Maybe, but her crazy fashion sense was tailor-made to attract ‘eye-balls’.  She was the most-Googled image of 2009.

Coincidence?

2. Engage Your Community (in real-time)

I often see brands enticing fans and followers with some “carrot-on-a-stick” only to forget about them once they’ve opted in to their social program.

Gaga doesn’t collect fans she engages them.

How?

On Twitter, she thanks her fans in real time and shows her appreciation by posting a photo of her tattoo that reads “Little Monsters” (again, her nickname for fans).

3. Create a Team of Trusted Advisors

In 2008, Gaga handpicked several friends to form a creative team that she calls ‘Haus of Gaga’.  Together, they produce the ‘look-at-me’ fashions that define her concerts and her controversial videos, which drive a full 25% of the music site Vevo’s traffic.

“Bad Romance” alone has racked up some 200 million plays on YouTube; it’s the site’s No. 1 clip of all time.

4. Understand Your Audience (and show them you care)

When Virgin Mobile, a sponsor of Gaga’s U.S. tour, created a shrine to the Little Monsters (ladyvirgin.com) giving show tickets to fans who did community service,  Gaga had two conditions that had to be met:

The shrine had to involve her fans and her causes.

She also wowed Polaroid CMO Jon Pollock in the boardroom by offering insights on digital strategy.  Specifically, how to position Polaroid that would effectively reach her generation.

Impressed, Pollock asked Gaga to serve as creative director for a specialty line of Polaroid Imaging products (see official press release here).

The enthusiasm was mutual.  Gaga proudly posted a photo of her “creative director” business card.

Today, it’s not enough to be just good at what you do.

Are you blazing your own trail?  Are you compelling (enough)?  Are you really engaging your customers?  Do you understand them?

Original article in Fast Company written by: Dan Macsai

Photo credit: LadyGaga.com

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About the Author:

Mitch Fanning is an “available-for-hire” online marketing and social media practitioner.  He runs three6media, a “new marketing” publishing and consulting firm that advises small to mid-sized businesses how to use content marketing and social media to encourage members of their target audience to become advocates and join their tribe of loyal repeat customers.

He’s spent 10+ years (and put in his 10,000 hours9) working with businesses of all sizes, from global brand (NBC.com, Nestle) to Canada’s fastest growing Internet companies ranked in the PROFIT 100, creating, selling, implementing both traditional and digital marketing opt-in strategies.

Click here to contact Mitch directly.  Or skip right through the garden and grab Mitch’s RSS Feed right here.