This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
Lady Gaga: 10 Things We Can Learn [from Apple Inc. about effective Saatchi-esque Lovemark branding], from Victor Niederhoffer
As investors of all stripes continue to go gaga for the Cult of Cupertino (snap, crackle, AAPL), what can we actually learn from Apple, Inc.?
Lady Gaga: 10 Things We Can Learn [from Apple Inc. about effective Saatchi-esque Lovemark branding], from Victor Niederhoffer"
Click here for the original "Lady Gaga: 10 Things We Can Learn, from Victor Niederhoffer" ... reproduced below in its entirety.
The great ascent of Lady Gaga from an also-ran performer in the Lower East Side techno-rock clubs a few years ago to number one selling recording artist in five countries, four million albums sold, and 20 million singles, rivals nothing so much as the ascent of Kilimanjaro in 5½ hours or Apple's 4000% rise from 5 to 210 and the fourth largest market cap company in four years. Here are some of the things we can learn from her about how to be successful in the markets.
1. The Lady has a core of admirers she can always count on: the gay community. "I've got so many gay fans and they're loyal to me. They'll always stand by me and I'll always stand by them." Apple's loyal fans are those that started out with them making music on their first computers and the minority group that liked the Apple operating system over and above the mainstream Microsoft one.
2. The product must be packaged and designed with great care and verve. Gaga has a special team, the Haus of Gaga, that designs all her clothes and stage performances. "When I'm writing music I'm thinking about what I'm going to wear on stage." Apple's packaging, its vivid colors, its compactness, directness, ease of use is crucial to its success.
3. You have to be technical to be a success. Gaga was playing by ear at the age of four, planning to go to Julliard at 13. She writes her own music and her voice was good enough to attract Akon to sign her. The companies that have had the highest returns are people by engineers and computer scientists with technical degrees.
4. You need a vision to be successful. Gaga didn't try to be the world's # 1 singer or its most profitable. But she had a vision to combine glam rock with simple melodies. The best performing companies, Apple or Cisco or Whole Foods, have a product that makes life better for their customers, and they aim to be the best at it, and stick to their knitting.
5. She gets great reviews from the critics and this filters to the masses. All the best-performing companies reach out to the idea that has the world in its grip. They are all huge supporters of the current administration and reach out to unisex and redistributive policies so that the critics who share their persuasion will be sure to nominate them for awards. The most popular song of Gaga makes fun of rich kids that want material goods. When will she be invited to the Oval?
6. She has a simple product and a simple name. It's four letters and two syllables. And she combines simple movements, simple melodies, and simple rock rhythms in her songs. The price to weight ratio of Apple products is comparable to her own.
7. She stands on the shoulders of giants. She has borrowed from all the most popular idols that preceded her including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Blondie, and Andy Warhol. To be successful you need the base of fans that your predecessors have accumulated.
8. She is shocking and exuberant in the things she does. The bubbles that she wore in Rolling Stone remind me of the glass houses Apple sells their products in, and her performances on stage are reminiscent of the conventions where Apple unleashes its products.
9. She has a completely integrated operation, writing her own songs, dancing them, designing her own clothes, and distributing them through a company she owns. The control of product from start to finish a la Apple's designed marketing and then retailing their own products is crucial nowadays to the most successful companies.
10. She is always ready to seek the limelight. She strives to have the best product, is proud of it, and will stop at nothing to popularize her brand. If it requires appearing nude, why that's just more publicity that her critics and core fans will love.
Aside from finance: Victor Niederhoffer is not only a legendary speculator in the true sense of the term (and heralded author therein) but is also the key man behind, dailyspeculations.com, which features a brilliantly eclectic mix of uniquely insightful, distinctly market-related topicality from a similarly innumerable litany of extraordinarily accomplished individuals.
Self-described as:
THE WEB SITE OF VICTOR NIEDERHOFFER AND LAUREL KENNER: DEDICATED TO VALUE CREATION, BALLYHOO DEFLATION AND APPLYING THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN FINANCE
Daily Speculations demands fixture atop the Fast Dial of serious stewards of capital and witty FRMs & PRMIAs, almost as much as Zero Hedge and Mondo Visione. And, exactly like ZH and mondo, the site of Niederhoffer & friends is one of the finest daily destinations for profoundly pointed, presciently postulated, professionally produced position pieces, which (much like Phife's flow, Chris Paul's game and Peter Pan's hat) is almost always on point.
»
- advertisements -
iGaga.