5 Things I Like About Brand Gaga

Lady Gaga has done it again – she has yet another newsmaker video out there, this time for Alejandro. You may think Gaga is just another pop princess, and I wouldn’t necessarily disagree with you, but she certainly has a good marketing team.



Here’s what I like about Brand Gaga:

1. She has brought attention back to music videos. I haven’t heard this much about music videos in a long time, and I grew up during the heyday of MTV. Not only does Gaga make great Michael Jackson-esque story videos (which I love), but she brings in that Madonna-esque sensibility for being creepy, enigmatic, and sexy all at the same time.

2. She’s a great pop performer. While nothing Gaga is doing is original, and her songs are the typical pop music fare, they accomplish what pop music sets out to accomplish – good radio play, fun lyrics, and catchy hooks and beats. And those dance numbers. Oh those dance numbers.

3. She’s a walking contradiction. For someone who is a proponent of chastity, Gaga has some of the most sexually explicit videos I think I’ve ever seen. Why do I like that? Because it is counter-intuitive. And that’s good branding.

4. She’s like a female Marilyn Manson. You gotta love a girl who isn’t afraid to where a latex leotard, right? Like Manson, Gaga has successfully marketed individuality. Say what you will about her strangeness, but she is one of the rare birds who can make it work.

5. The costumes. I love the machinegun bra in the Alejandro video. I love the finger gloves. I love the Telephone hairdo. Gaga’s costumes simply blow away any other performer I’ve ever seen. And they just keep getting better.

What do you like (or hate) about Lady Gaga and the brand she represents?