This past Sunday I took my teenage daughter to see a performance by Glee star Darren Criss and his musical troupe StarKid Productions at the famous Roseland Ballroom in New York City. We arrived a couple of hours before the show, only to find a line that wrapped around the entire city block. Two hours later we were packed into the theater with over 3,500 screaming (mostly teenage girl) fans. We stood – SRO – for another three hours for the performance. These fans, my daughter included, knew every verse to every song from the Internet-only musical parodies this group sang. OK, what’s my point?
As I looked around at the fans, slowly going deaf from the screaming/singing/squeeing around me, I couldn’t help but wonder:
Could my brand pack in an audience like this? Could yours?
While it’s true the “star” of StarKids appears weekly on a national television program, these fans were not singing songs from that show. And while it was also true that the screaming around me reached a deafening roar usually associated with the takeoff of a jet whenever Criss appeared onstage, it was only a few decibels louder than the roar when the troupe began to sing any song the audience recognized.After the first few bars of almost every song the audience would cheer and then sing along – word for word, pout for pout – to tunes that can only be found by carefully watching dozens of 10 minute videos on YouTube.
Think about this for a minute. As marketers we generally strive to make it easy for customers to find our products and services and here is a loyal group of followers willing to spend hours simply locating and watching the troupe’s latest show. I’m not suggesting that you make it difficult for your customers to find your products – but what could you do to turn customers into raving, tee-shirt-, button- and costume-wearing fans?
About Arthur Germain
Arthur Germain, Principal & Chief Brandteller of Communication Strategy Group is the curator and main blogger for Brandtelling, a blog about Brand+Storytelling.
Arthur, there is something to be said for “exclusivity,” if you can call it that. Nordstrom is never so packed as it is the days of their “pre-sale.” reserved for account holders to come and select and pay for — but not take home! — sale items.
I hope you wore ear plugs.