I recently returned from a visit with my brother Glenn and his family, and we decided the day of Lady Gaga’s show to go! We got two awesome seats that they apparently released the day of and off we went to St Pete Times Arena in Tampa to join the “little monsters” and become two of them for the night!
Sustainability
Coming from an entertainment and media background I have been on stage, know what it takes to create a performance and the marketing and press it takes to create the buzz. Stefani Germanotta, aka, Lady Gaga, just turned 25 March 28, and she was much more brilliant than either my brother or I anticipated. Her command of exactly who she is, who her audience is and what she wants her message to be is spot on. What she has accomplished at just 25 is nothing short of impressive and inspiring.
Brand longevity
In the course of the 2 hour show she demonstrated some of the key things that build brand longevity:
- Be the Front of Your Brand-she spoke directly to the audience in an honest, authentic way.
- Put Your Supporters First-She thanked her audience for making her braver.
- Give Back and Pay Forward-She donated 20k from her ticket sales to a charity of her choice.
- Get Personal-She called a fan from the stage in the audience on a cell phone who brought her 10 year old son, also a big fan and invited them to come back stage and bring their friends to meet her.
- What do You Want to Be Known For?-She made sure several times to inspire and encourage everyone to be proud of who they are and celebrate who they are no matter what race, creed or sexual orientation they are.
The Monster Ball Tour and Gaga are all about going to a place of personal acceptance and self love that each and every one of us has a right to express and celebrate. Coming from a childhood of bullying and being made fun of, Gaga is now the advocate and voice for taking responsibility for your own life and the way you want to live it! It is her amazing personal vision expressed through music, fashion and art that she is connecting, engaging and challenging all people to do this!
She was thoughtful, intelligent, humble, eccentric, grateful, engaging, interactive and in her words, “will work her a__ off” to show her fans how much she appreciates them. Somehow, all those outrageous media clips we see of her that get our attention on the news was not what I was left with. Instead, I got to see a very real, dedicated and talented businesswoman selling the heck out of her product!
Businesses can learn a lot from this young entrepreneur about branding, business, sales and putting a foundation in place for brand sustainability. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years will bring. She will only be 35!
What are you doing to build brand longevity and sustainability? Ready to make a shift?
Author:
Deborah Shane is an author, entrepreneur, radio host and expert. She is the heart and soul of her business education and professional development company, Train with Shane and is in her third year of hosting a weekly business radio show on blogtalkradio.com. She writes for several national business, career and marketing blogs, and websites including smallbiztrends.com, careerealism.com, Internationalbusinesstimes.com, Smartbrief.com and blogher.com Her new book Career Transition-make the shift-the 5 steps to successful career reinvention is available now on amazon.com. Connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Blogtalkradio @Deborah Shane, or visit www.deborahshane.com.
