So, Lady Gaga scooped more awards than any other artist at this year’s Brits, prompted yet more gasps over her choice outfit – and no doubt won some hearts for her touching tribute to her friend, the late Alexander McQueen.
Amid such hoo-ha it would be easy to forget the scale of her victory over us – her adoring public – these past 12 months.
From nowhere she has become the singing star everybody is talking about. She has sold 35 million downloads over the last 18 months – more than anybody else in the world. She has also sold 8 million albums in the past 12 months – no mean feat in a fast falling global records market – and topped it all with a trio of Brits.
Make no mistake about it, such stunning success can partly be seen as the result of a brilliant negotiating strategy in which she has “sealed a deal” with the public and secured herself an amazing outcome.
Breaking this negotiation down into its classic “stages”, the first stage would be the “preparation stage”. Generally speaking, those who prepare thoroughly for a negotiation achieve much better results than those who skimp on preparation. There is ample evidence that Team Gaga has planned her marketing and positioning meticulously. The exotic costumes and sets, the panache of her stage performances (including an appearance as a Cubist devil-woman on X-Factor), the clever rumours concerning her sexuality – all look to be part of a carefully prepared plan rather than random moves.
The second stage of a negotiation is to set the climate. This is the atmosphere in which a negotiation takes place. Different climates suit different kinds of negotiation. For instance, negotiation of a legal claim might well take place in a cool or even a hostile climate. There can’t be much doubt that Lady Gaga has opted for a “wacky” climate. For her many fans, her OTT appearances represent a welcome diversion from real-world concerns about money, jobs, and the economy. Wackiness suits an era of austerity and everyday concerns.
The third stage of any negotiation is normally exploring each party’s needs. This involves self-awareness about our own needs a well as an understanding of others. It is tempting to suggest that Lady Gaga is in little doubt about her own needs and how to go about fulfilling them – judging by how comfortable she is in the limelight. As for rest of us? Well, Lady Gaga knows that all of us have a need to “belong” to certain groups. The ability to excite this kind of tribalism is at the heart of the appeal of many recording artists.
Where Lady Gaga scores is in her ability to appeal to the ‘belonging’ needs of many different groups at the same time – young girls, red-blooded males, gays. She makes this kind of multi-faceted appeal possible through her costumes, androgyny and sense of fantasy. Madonna pulled off a similar trick in the 1980’s, Bowie a decade earlier than that.
With Lady Gaga it should also be said that, stripped of outlandish garb and make-up, she looks just like the girl next door. So, she manages to go a step beyond appealing to those who feel they want to ‘belong’ to her ‘group’, and reach those many ordinary people who aspire to be like her – perhaps the most influential sub-group of all within youth culture.
Having prepared, set the climate and identified our needs this way, Lady Gaga is in a great position to “bid” for our attention with her musical offering – and to have that bid accepted by millions of appreciative fans.
So, being a savvy negotiator with her public is a key part of Her Ladyship’s success. Oh, and it helps that the music is great too.
Interview on deal-making for Smarta.com - the expert website for Business Owners
Clive Rich
Clive Rich, the creator of the Closemydeal app, is also a professional negotiator. He has made deals happen for the likes of Simon Cowell, Sony, MySpace and the Royal Opera House..
Why Lady Gaga is the real deal ...
So, Lady Gaga scooped more awards than any other artist at this year’s Brits, prompted yet more gasps over her choice outfit – and no doubt won some hearts for her touching tribute to her friend, the late Alexander McQueen.
Amid such hoo-ha it would be easy to forget the scale of her victory over us – her adoring public – these past 12 months.
From nowhere she has become the singing star everybody is talking about. She has sold 35 million downloads over the last 18 months – more than anybody else in the world. She has also sold 8 million albums in the past 12 months – no mean feat in a fast falling global records market – and topped it all with a trio of Brits.
Make no mistake about it, such stunning success can partly be seen as the result of a brilliant negotiating strategy in which she has “sealed a deal” with the public and secured herself an amazing outcome.
Breaking this negotiation down into its classic “stages”, the first stage would be the “preparation stage”. Generally speaking, those who prepare thoroughly for a negotiation achieve much better results than those who skimp on preparation. There is ample evidence that Team Gaga has planned her marketing and positioning meticulously. The exotic costumes and sets, the panache of her stage performances (including an appearance as a Cubist devil-woman on X-Factor), the clever rumours concerning her sexuality – all look to be part of a carefully prepared plan rather than random moves.
The second stage of a negotiation is to set the climate. This is the atmosphere in which a negotiation takes place. Different climates suit different kinds of negotiation. For instance, negotiation of a legal claim might well take place in a cool or even a hostile climate. There can’t be much doubt that Lady Gaga has opted for a “wacky” climate. For her many fans, her OTT appearances represent a welcome diversion from real-world concerns about money, jobs, and the economy. Wackiness suits an era of austerity and everyday concerns.
The third stage of any negotiation is normally exploring each party’s needs. This involves self-awareness about our own needs a well as an understanding of others. It is tempting to suggest that Lady Gaga is in little doubt about her own needs and how to go about fulfilling them – judging by how comfortable she is in the limelight. As for rest of us? Well, Lady Gaga knows that all of us have a need to “belong” to certain groups. The ability to excite this kind of tribalism is at the heart of the appeal of many recording artists.
Where Lady Gaga scores is in her ability to appeal to the ‘belonging’ needs of many different groups at the same time – young girls, red-blooded males, gays. She makes this kind of multi-faceted appeal possible through her costumes, androgyny and sense of fantasy. Madonna pulled off a similar trick in the 1980’s, Bowie a decade earlier than that.
With Lady Gaga it should also be said that, stripped of outlandish garb and make-up, she looks just like the girl next door. So, she manages to go a step beyond appealing to those who feel they want to ‘belong’ to her ‘group’, and reach those many ordinary people who aspire to be like her – perhaps the most influential sub-group of all within youth culture.
Having prepared, set the climate and identified our needs this way, Lady Gaga is in a great position to “bid” for our attention with her musical offering – and to have that bid accepted by millions of appreciative fans.
So, being a savvy negotiator with her public is a key part of Her Ladyship’s success. Oh, and it helps that the music is great too.