Book Review: Monster Loyalty
Katie 
Monster Loyalty is about Lady Gaga and her brand. She has a group of fiercely loyal fans, known as the little monsters. This book looks a bit in to the business aspect of Lady Gaga and how she has become such a pop phenomenon, seemingly overnight. She has huge success on social media, and it really is all about marketing her brand and she seems to be a great business woman.
The key to creating loyal customers is having a focus that is something bigger than people can be emotional about. Gaga is all about making the world better and her fans can get behind that and support that message in addition to her music.
While I wouldn’t consider myself a Lady Gaga fan, I certainly can respect her as a business woman and obviously she is doing something right because she has a very solid and loyal fanbase who are following and supporting her. I also am very much so interested in the music business and fans as a customer so I am always interested in reading different approaches that different artists and record labels take to see how I think they are working or not just from my perspective as a consumer.
I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
“WE IDENTIFY WITH EACH OTHER. I SEE MYSELF IN MY FANS AND MY FANS SEE THEMSELVES IN ME. I CALL THEM LITTLE MONSTERS BECAUSE THEY ARE MY INSPIRATION.” —LADY GAGA
Famous for her avant-garde outfits, over-the-top performances, and addictive dance beats, Lady Gaga is one of the most successful pop musicians of all time. But behind her showmanship lies another achievement: her wildly successful strategy for attracting and keeping insanely loyal fans.
She’s one of the most popular social media voices in the world with more than 33 million Twitter followers and 55 million Facebook fans. And she got there by methodically building a grassroots base of what she calls her “Little Monsters”—passionate fans who look to her not just for music but also for joy, inspiration, and a sense of community.
In Monster Loyalty marketing expert Jackie Huba explores Gaga’s biography and fan philosophy and isolates the seven lessons any business can learn from her. For instance…
Focus on your One Percenters: Lady Gaga is investing today in the audience she hopes to have twenty-five years from now. She spends most of her efforts on just 1 percent of her base, the highly engaged superfans who spread her message. Lead with values:Gaga stands out not just for her music but also for her message that it’s okay to be yourself and to love others for who they are. When you connect with customers beyond just providing a product or service, you create a lasting bond. Give them something to talk about: Whether she’s wearing a meat dress or delivering jaw-dropping performances, Lady Gaga knows what will get people talking. Making your business word-of-mouth-worthy cuts down on advertising costs and spreads buzz faster than anything else.
Love her or hate her, you can’t ignore Lady Gaga. And while not all businesses want to stand out the way she does, any business can win big by creating monster loyalty.