This music genius took advantage of emerging trends on his path to success. Know his story here! [Monday: Marketing Marvels]
Miles Everson’s The Business Builder Daily speaks to the heart of what great marketers, business leaders, and other professionals need to succeed in advertising, communications, managing their investments, career strategy, and more.
A Note from Miles Everson:
Happy Monday!
We wish you a great start to the week.
Today, we’re going on an exciting journey into the fascinating world of marketing and business. As we embark on this exploration, we’ll dive into the inspiring stories, valuable lessons, and lasting influence of remarkable people.
For now, let’s talk about a remarkable individual whose success in the music industry has left an indelible mark in pop culture.
Continue reading to unveil the story of this influential figure.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Marketing Marvels
In the age of the Internet, social media has emerged as a transformative force, revolutionizing the way people communicate, share information, and discover talent. One of the most remarkable phenomena of this digital era is the ability to catapult relatively unknown artists into the limelight and make them famous on a global scale.
Through platforms like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, YouTube, and more, people can showcase their work, connect with audiences, and build their brands like never before.
In 2018, an aspiring artist released a song that would eventually jumpstart his music career. The song gained massive popularity on different social media platforms, and the uploader became one of today’s most relevant artists.
Who is this music genius?
Lil Nas X!
Photo from Billboard
Known for his catchy melodies, witty lyrics, and bold visuals, Lil Nas X has taken the music industry by storm. As a 24-year-old rapper, singer, and songwriter, he first burst onto the music scene in 2018 with his hit single, “Old Town Road.”
Lil Nas X adopted a fresh and creative approach to crafting the song. He sought assistance and inspiration from his dedicated followers by requesting them to provide lyric ideas. This unique collaboration resulted in a truly captivating and infectious song.
By uploading “Old Town Road” on TikTok and initially promoting it as a meme, Lil Nas X demonstrated an understanding of the importance of timing. Little did he know, the song would become a hit and go viral on the platform.
To further propel the song’s popularity, Lil Nas X brilliantly paired it with memes, one of which featured a dancing cowboy. The memes and posts resonated with Lil Nas X’s existing fanbase and attracted new listeners.
However, just like many artists, Lil Nas X had his fair share of controversies for the song. In 2019, Billboard removed “Old Town Road” in the Top Country 100 list since it “lacked” the elements of today’s country music. A Billboard representative told Rolling Stone in an interview:
“Upon further review, it was determined that ‘Old Town Road’ by Lil Nas X does not currently merit inclusion on Billboard‘s country charts.”
Lil Nas X did not make too much of a deal out of the issue. In an interview with CBC News, he said:
“Honestly, I saw it as, if you fight back, maybe they’re going to try to blackball me in some kind of way. So it was just like, whatever happens happens.”
The controversy generated lots of buzz on the Internet, but the bright side of it? It also helped attract more listeners to the song!
In fact, “Old Town Road” still received many nominations and awards as a global Internet sensation. In 2020, the song won the Best Music Video and Best Pop Duo/Group awards at the 62nd Annual Grammy Awards. The song also won the Top Hot 100 Song, Top Streaming Song, Top Selling Song, and the Top Rap Song awards at the 2020 Billboard Music Awards.
Since then, Lil Nas X kept releasing hits after hits, including “HOLIDAY,” “INDUSTRY BABY,” “Panini,” and “MONTERO.”
Decoding Lil Nas X’s Formula to Success
Lil Nas X’s journey to global stardom offers valuable marketing lessons for brands looking to make an impact in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. Let’s look at some of these.
- Harnessing the power of community engagement.
Lil Nas X’s success with “Old Town Road” was partly due to his innovative approach of involving his followers in the song’s creation.
One thing brands can learn from this is the importance of actively engaging with customers and fans, seeking their input, and creating products or campaigns that resonate with the audience. This is because building a sense of community can lead to passionate supporters who actively promote a brand’s product or service.
- Leveraging emerging platforms and trends.
Lil Nas X’s use of TikTok and Twitter as a promotional platform for “Old Town Road” was a game-changer. He demonstrated the power of harnessing emerging platforms and trends in their respective industries.
One of the things brands can learn from this is to stay attuned to what attracts people and know how to reach them effectively. Being early adopters of trends and crafting content tailored to new platforms can help brands connect to a wider audience.
- Embracing controversy with confidence.
Controversy is often a double-edged sword, but Lil Nas X demonstrated that when handled with confidence and authenticity, controversies can be an advantage.
This shows brands should learn to address issues head-on while staying true to their values. By doing so, businesses can use such issues as opportunities to engage with consumers and gain attention.
That’s it—some invaluable takeaways from Lil Nas X’s journey that you can use for your marketing strategies!
As Lil Nas X demonstrated, marketing is not just about creating a product or content; it’s also about understanding your audience, embracing innovation, and navigating controversy to continually evolve and grow.
Take inspiration from Lil Nas X’s journey, and learn valuable lessons about adapting to change, embracing creativity, and building lasting connections with your target audience!
In a competitive industry, those who forge meaningful connections and provide genuine value will undoubtedly stand out and thrive.
Hope you liked the story of today’s “Marvel!”
(This article is from The Business Builder Daily, a newsletter by The I Institute in collaboration with MBO Partners.)
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Mondays: Marketing Marvels”
Too often, industry experts and the marketing press sing the praises of some brand or company’s marketing strategy.
… only for the audience to later find out that its product was a flop, or worse, that the brand or company went bankrupt.
The true ROI in marketing can’t be separated from the business as a whole.
What good is a marketing case study if one can’t prove that the company’s efforts actually paid off?
At the end of the day, either the entire business is successful or it isn’t. And the roles of marketing and communication are always paramount to that success.
Every Monday, we publish a case study that highlights the world’s greatest marketing strategies, marketers, and communicators.
However, the difference between our articles and the numerous ones out there is that we will always make certain that the firm really did generate and demonstrate earning power worthy of study in the first place (compliments of Valens Research’s finance group) in keeping with a person’s leadership skills in the area of marketing and/or communication.
We’ll also study the greatest marketing fails and analyze what they did wrong, or what they needed to improve. We all make our mistakes, but better we learn from others’ mistakes—and earlier, rather than later.
Hope you found this week’s marketing marvel interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Monday’s “Marketing Marvels!”
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
