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Everything is Marketing – Excuse Me…There’s Egg on Our Face

Justin Bieber

10 more marketing lessons from Justin Bieber. Really.

By Amber Hudson and Luke Sklar

Back in February Luke and I wrote a post about Justin Bieber in which we predicted his career would implode by the end of 2012.

Then a couple months ago Luke shocks me (surprisingly a common occurrence) by saying that I MUST see the Justin Bieber movie Never Say Never. I was all, seriously that’s so lame, I can’t even look at you right now.

So the other night my hubby is out and my daughter is asleep and I’m scouring Netflix for something to watch and I came across this movie. Free = low risk so I hit play and OH…MY…GAWD, the movie is AMAZING! Within the first 10 minutes it totally changed my mind about the kid. And Luke and I are not the only ones. We`ve come across other staunch non-Bieber fans who ended the movie with a raging case of Bieber Fever. What is up with that?!?!? Are we so simple that we can be moved by a splashy PR puff-piece?

There’s a lot us marketers can learn from that little tyke (who is now past puberty and making out with that other little tyke Selena Gomez):

  1. Open-mindedness should be the 5th Cardinal Virtue
  2. You have to earn your luck, there is no “overnight success“
  3. You need a story that resonates (in Justin’s case it’s the archetype of the little hero taking on the world, and kicking its ass)
  4. You need a better product
  5. You need an unbelievable work ethic
  6. You need passion
  7. You need to surround yourself with a talented team: folks that tell you no when you’re pushing the guardrails and people that make you better at what you do
  8. Recognize the incredible power of alternative marketing tools including social media and word of mouth
  9. Have patience and know you`re on a journey
  10. And what else did Luke and I learn? Humility is an important attribute. Have the confidence to admit when you got it wrong. (Okay, maybe a little wrong. He still has to take on reinventing himself year after year)

So, do Luke and I have egg on our face? I hope we do, I truly hope Justin continues to succeed; but only time will tell. Now, if those Jonas Brothers only put out a great movie…

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Amber Hudson Published October 25, 2011 by Amber Hudson This entry was posted in Blog, Brand Positioning, Brand Strategy, Resource Centre and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

  • Smajor

    Nicely done Amber and Luke!  Tough to admit when you’re wrong even if just a little bit.  I may even be tempted to watch this movie…GASP!

  • Layla Shea

    I loved reading this and felt a little less guilty about my own Beiber Fever!  My girls begged us to rent the movie a while back and both Scott and I found ourselves catching the fever by the end!!  I’ll even find myself hummin a little never say never now and again :-o   Since the movie, the bieb is a regular in our “family” playlist – there’s nothing like a little JB to get my girls out of bed and moving in the mornin!! Question remains, where can he go from here?  How long can he keep it up?  

    • Anonymous

      Vacation Alert

      Thank you for your message. I am on vacation from October 18th-28th, 2011.
      If you require assistance please contact Meredith Square, Vickie Papavs or Debbie Dunbar.
      All other inquiries will be handled upon my return.

      Thank you.