Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Lady GaGa, Flo Rida, and…Susan Boyle? What do they all have in common? For one, they all have videos on YouTube that have over 25,000,000 hits. Only Susan Boyle, however, managed to capture over 50,000,000 views and 10,000 diggs within, get this, just eight days. Susan Boyle, the Britain’s Got Talent sensation who shocked the world with her angelic voice. is certainly no household name, but if you have not heard mention of her name within the past week, it might be time to pop on the tube or join the digital age.
Over the past five years, we have been witnessing the burgeoning of social media as a major shakeup and impetus for marketing, advertising, public relations, and web strategies. Online communities, social networks and blogs have taken off and are engaging, influencing, and connecting people around the world. We have witnessed user-generated content have a tremendous bottoms-up effect, slowly penetrating and influencing the mainstream media. No single person can attest to the far-reaching impact of social media than the small-town Scottish singer. Within just days of her appearance, YouTube became saturated with different renditions of Susan’s performance. The surging hits and buzz around Susan Boyle quickly percolated into mainstream media and she became a celebrity icon across the world. Any doubts about the pervasive impact of social media have been cast aside- social media is the real deal.
What makes Susan Boyle such a hit? After all, reality shows have been producing platinum singers for nearly a decade. The answer lays in a fundamental principle known as juxtaposition, i.e., throwing together two disparate concepts to enable people to see things in an entirely different light. The immediate visual conjured when we say “music icon” is that of a physically attractive human specimen. Although our vocal chords have no correlation to our physical attractiveness, much like many other professions, looks certainly go a long way in the music industry. Susan Boyle, a 48 year old virgin who is not necessarily physically appealing, violates this cognition and, in doing so, creates a juxtaposition- a woman with a celestial voice who strays from the typical physical profile. The moment she stepped up on that stage, she was expected to fail based on appearance, but the juxtaposition of her singing to beauty has caught and opened the world’s eye, and in many cases, has inspired people to look beyond looks. We can learn a lot from Susan’s triumph for our own digital strategies. Introducing elements of juxtaposition that violate preconceived personalities, notions, styles, or concepts will resonate with targeted customers.