If you’ve ever walked by my cubicle, you’ve gotten a glimpse into the hopes and dreams of a 13-year-old girl. Walls adorned with what can only be referred to as: The Fever. Also known as “Bieber Fever.”
It’s okay to be scared at first. Resisting the soulful vanilla sounds from a 15-year-old Canadian is natural. I mean, we’ve all seen these teen idols come and go. But Bieber. This is a revolution! A story for our grandchildren! So what does this have to do with marketing?
Everything.
Justin gets it. (Yes, we’re totally on a first-name basis.) He’s wrapped his pretty little perfectly manicured head around the thing that defines teens. The thing that consumes their and most everyone’s lives: social media.
I mean seriously – this kid was a nobody. Albeit, an ADORABLE nobody. But he was smart enough to learn how to use YouTube. He kept it up every day; posting his home videos of R&B cover songs. It was enough to show us the niche he falls in, and the artist we could anticipate and dream him to be. And enough to rack up over 10 million views.
Turns out, Usher and Justin Timberlake have heard of YouTube, too. And they both wanted to sign him. Um…helloo? Sounds like a dream I never want to wake up from! Usher and JT fighting over me?! Wisely, Justin signed with Usher. Which makes sense. Because I would TOTALLY get the Justins confused, and then we’d probably have to call them Big J and Lil J and that would stifle Lil J’s ability to be taken seriously. Kind of like Lil Bow Wow, now just Bow Wow. Don’t even get me started on him!
Hitting the charts, blowing up MTV and performing shows, Justin has made himself a successful teen idol. Much like his predecessors, ‘N Sync, Backstreet Boys, and, remember Jesse McCartney? The leverage that Justin has over all of these boyz is his ability to keep interacting with us. Everyone’s been in Tiger Beat, graced a music video, topped the charts. But when’s the last time ‘N Sync tweeted about their trip to Japan, or updated their Facebook status to tell us when we can catch them on Oprah.
And let me tell you, as someone who “likes” Justin Bieber on Facebook, (just 1 out of more than 10.5 million fans), you should see his posts. One, they’re inspiring. Two, 5 million people always like them, and 2 million people always comment. (These are slight exaggerations.) Rather than watching on TV or reading in the tabloids from afar, we are seeing first-hand just what he’s been up to. And we can provide feedback. With every single choice and thing Justin decides to share with us, he gets immediate feedback from the very people who control his future.
So when his book deals and movies (YES !!!!!!!) are on the verge of coming out, we know. And we know in detail how it’s going and how he feels about it, which in reality is always just a constant promotion. We are so overwhelmed with love for him, we don’t even notice how shameless and truly self-promoting it is. We just think he’s like: “Yo girl, you wanna go see a movie? Yeah? It does sound like fun. Wanna see a movie with me in it? Yeah, that does sound chill. See you there. XOXO.”
And he isn’t just sitting in his room tweeting and posting. He’s touring sold-out concerts, performing and presenting at the 52nd Grammy Awards, Teen Choice Awards, MTV Video Music Awards (just to name a few!). He is constantly putting his face in ours. We don’t have time to forget him. He even plays at places like the MARYLAND STATE FAIR. Which if you are a parent of a teenage girl in the Maryland area, you felt firsthand the power of his anticipated presence.
We can only look up to Justin and hope to model our actions the same way. Sure, you might be distracted by all the purple and scarves and dancing. But underneath is the basic recipe for success. Justin, as a product, has been branded as not just a teen pop GOD, but an R&B teen pop GOD. He has even earned a BET nomination for Best New Artist. BET! Already, he has set himself apart from the otherwise overpopulated category of generic teen pop. You don’t think that was strategic?
Advertising himself on YouTube got him out there, creating a loyal following. And when facing the decisions between Usher and Timberlake, he thought carefully about how he would be interpreted and branded. Like a teenage Lebron James! And then Justin made himself as social and interactive as possible. Okay well, maybe not Justin, but his people. In my head, it’s totally him posting those comments, though.
For anyone who doubts the power of these little things like YouTube and Facebook, please, check your temperature. You’ve been hit with Bieber Fever. Just imagine if MJ started his career in the midst of the technology and media we have today. I almost can’t handle it.
It will be interesting to see how Justin adapts to growing up, and to the ever-changing entertainment industry. More importantly, how he adapts to the ever-changing and developing social media world. I think with the strategy he is using, he won’t have much to worry about. As for now, he will be placed proudly on my wall. Not just because he is like, a TOTAL talented cutie, but because he believes in engaging and rewarding the very people he depends on.
