Celebrity endorsement and product placement have never been more popular than they are today. Many brands are fighting to jump on Lady Gaga's success and align their products with her and her billions of worldwide fans. Lady Gaga has embraced this and has incorporated brand culture into her image and has made brands part of her art. For example in her music video 'Telephone' she featured brands such as Diet Coke, Virgin and Polaroid and in her video for 'Bad Romance' she featured Nemiroff Vodka.
However, taking into account Lady Gaga's recent meaty showcase at the MTV awards (see picture above) which managed to offend vegetarians, animal rights activists and many other people all over the world, do you think that product placement with Lady Gaga is more of a risk than a benefit? Who knows what Lady Gaga will do next and can brands take that gamble? What brands, if any do you think are suitable for Lady Gaga to endorse and what brands should keep their distance?
I think this is a problem facing all companies who are identified with a particular celeb. We have already seen the issues sports stars such as Tiger Woods, John Terry and even just this week Wayne Rooney have caused their corporate sponsors. I think any company that gets involved with Lady Gaga are well aware of her "quirkiness" and are well aware of the tightrope they are walking!
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that Lady Gaga is a marketing genius. She has not only successfully marketed herself to her millions of fans but shes has also encorporated brands into her whole image and as such marketed them in a non tacky way. Product placement such as in her telephone video featuring the diet coke cans in her hair as rollers make the brands fit rather than overtly selling anything. I think that Gagas controversial acts are much more impressive than Tiger Woods and John Terrys indescretions which are nothing more than silly, at least Gaga is pushing boundaries, making people think and demanding opinions.
ReplyDeleteAs a marketer I understand that not all products are suitable to be promoted by Lady Gaga however for some lucky brands I think that she is a great advocate.
Trends in the last few years have shown that consumers are demanding customised products and there is a huge demand for limited edition products and products which allow consumers to be part designers. I think that Gaga would be a good fit for such products as her own persona of being individualistic would be a perfect fit.
I also think that because big global brands like coke are part of our everyday lives that Gaga would be a good fit for these brands also. Gaga is reflecting our lives and could play a part in making these brands even more iconic than they already are!!!