Lady Gaga Case

Introduction

This case study analysis report will shed some light on the use of Strategic marketing initiatives in the creative industries. Specifically, this case studies the meteoric rise of Lady Gaga, from just a supporting act on the re-union tour of the boy band of yester years New Kids on the Block in 2008, to virtually the biggest celebrity on planet earth.

The successful career graph of the pop star Lady Gaga is not the product of mere chance. Rather, such success can be attributed to the dexterity and managing prowess of the team that manages the brand Lady Gaga. Primarily this team consists of Lady Gaga’s manager Tony Carter. However, people such as Steve Berman (Vice Chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M), Arthur Fogel (CEO of Live Nation’s Global Touring), William Morris (of Endeavor) and producer Vincent Herbert also played a crucial role in making Gaga the star she is. Also, organisations such as L.A. Reid (Lady Gaga’s record producer), Atom Factory, Live Nation and Coalition Media were critical in promoting the pop star.

The turning point in Gaga’s life came when she was at the cross roads in life, confused between taking a shot at it or, rather rethink her plans. In fall of 2009, Lady Gaga was set to hit the road for her first multi-month arena tour co-headlined by famous rapper Kanye West. Gaga being relatively new to the music industry with only about a year’s experience in live performance and recording, the tour was so designed that Gaga could piggy back on the reputation of Kanye West, making it safe for her investors and stake holders to make money through her brand, simultaneously also promoting the pop star.

The situation got tricky when Kanye West backed out a month before the tour was scheduled to start. Although ‘team Lady Gaga’ had some intuition about Kanye West’s unprofessionalism (deducing from his bullying Taylor Swift at the MTV music award on September 13 the same year), his backing off at the last moment was the last nail in the coffin confirming the team’s doubt about his ethics.  

The problem facing Tony Carter at that point in time was to decide between various alternatives. He knew well that big ticket arena events could mean big money however; the risk involved was also great since it would have been a first for Lady Gaga. Carter could choose from alternatives such as cancelling the tour altogether or, rescheduling dates, venues (hiring smaller ones) and ticket prices (reducing them) so as to better suit Gaga’s comfort levels and minimise the chances for losses.

It is at this juncture, we step into Carter’s shoes and try to analyse the situation and give our inputs and suggestions based on this review.

Situation Analysis and Determining Alternatives

Before we delve into studying alternatives present to Tony Carter regarding the first solo tour of Lady Gaga, and pour over our recommendations regarding the same; it will be beneficial to study the Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing the ‘brand’ Lady Gaga to get a clear picture of the issue.

Strengths

Lady Gaga has had 3 super hit music numbers under her album ‘The Fame’. She is also signed by the very famous producer Vincent Herbert of Streamline records. For a musician it is of key importance to get his/her music appreciated and accepted by the masses in order to achieve the status of a pop star. Lady Gaga has been very successful in this by developing connect with her audience through her music. This is backed by the fact that a very reputed label has backed her endeavours by agreeing to produce and record her music and market it subsequently.

Another weapon in Gaga’s arsenal is her outré fashion sense and eccentric attitude which has caught the attention of the media and audiences alike. In 2010 she was rated as making the top fashion statement by the TIME magazine and in 2011 she held the Guiness World Record for being the most searched female on the internet.

Weakness

The core weakness in Lady Gaga’s case was a lack of experience. Being a new comer and almost a year old (at max) she lagged behind artists who had wide exposure in performing to multitudes of 20000 plus fans.

The only experience in Lady Gaga’s kitty was opening up for the reunion tour of an old boy band, New Kids on the Block (2008); and often singing in the Night Clubs. However, there was no real exposure in playing at big ticket events.

Also the expected turn up of Gaga’s fans at such a large scale event was not known as she was too new to the music scene and her fan base was still in the initial evolutionary phase. Adding to this ‘brand Gaga’ had already done a ‘not-so-profitable’ small scale event in the recent past.

Opportunities

Lady Gaga has been a leader in celebrity social networking. She has used platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to develop a personal connect with her fan base. Essence of the activity is that she personally manages her social networking profiles, giving such social activity a personal touch and strict quality control. Social Networking in recent times has proven an effective brand promotion tool. Even ‘brand Gaga’ stands to benefit from such early bird efforts.

Lady Gaga also utilises a Digital Team, the responsibility of which, is to synchronise her promotional and brand building efforts across all digital platforms – such as press releases, behind the scene movies on Youtube and  interviews with media bloggers among others.

Being a first mover in this space, Gaga stands to benefit from the growing influence of technology.

Threats

 There are two major threats to the brand Lady Gaga. Firstly, she has to differentiate herself from the growing numbers of pop artists and already established stars by capturing fan bases through her musical ability and promotional efforts. Threat is posed by stars who already have established fan groups and presence on the music scene.

The second threat comes from the ever evolving technology, making it difficult for artists to earn solely through their music. Since, music these days can be easily downloaded from the internet, the artist has to forego his/her royalty.

Gauging from the SWOT analysis of brand Lady Gaga, following alternatives are suggested to resolve the problem faced by Tony Carter:

1.     Cancel the Show/Tour

Tony Carter and Lady Gaga can decide to cancel the entire event altogether. Saving from any losses (and also from any profits!)

2.     Reschedule for smaller venues

Lady Gaga and team can redesign and reschedule the event for smaller venues (at reduced prices) since this is more in the comfort zone of Gaga and the team knows through experience how to handle such small scale events and can almost accurately predict revenues from such events. However, small events will mean probability of small revenue and also less chances of Gaga shooting it to fame.

3.     Continue solo on the big ticket event

This is the most risky proposition however, also the most profitable one in prospects. It can be the deal maker for Gaga’s pending success as a celebrity star. Only thing holding Gaga from taking a plunge in this direction is her lack of experience in performing in front of an arena full of audience.

Conclusion and Recommendations

 Gauging the situation and taking in account the factors influencing the position of brand and team Lady Gaga, my suggestion would be to continue the big ticket tour, solo. Following are the reasons to supports such a recommendation:

1.       Lady Gaga’s music and outfits has already caught the fancies of media and her audience alike. Making her popularity grown not only for her music but also for her attitude.

2.       She has won the titles of best new comer, and best music direction (among others) at various prestigious award functions establishing her as an artist of repute in the music community.

3.       Cancelling and not doing any shows will hold her career at a standstill.

4.       Rescheduling for smaller venues has not been profitable in the past and it also limits her potential as an artist who is capable of reaching the masses.

Thus team Gaga should have the confidence and take the plunge, trusting Gaga’s music ability and her enigma (perceived by the fans), the tour should be a sold out event.