Comments on: Fashion 2.0 | Lessons from Susan Boyle, YouTube sensation

By: NotMod

NotMod — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:48:12 +0000

Great news that ‘creating something authentic doesn’t mean it can’t have commercial intent.’. Of course, Ms. Boyle’s act is a New Media phenomenon, and now that everyone has seen the numbers and bent to their power, it is a simple matter of… making them happen again!

By: Sophie

Sophie — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:14:22 +0000

Personally I think the fact that she reminds us all of someone we know…maybe a teacher, a church member, a neighbor or whatever it may be. She comes across as very real & as a viewer I must say I was pleasantly surprised with her talent. In terms of marketing those qualities will be exploited/over-emphasized to a degree but that “realness” will be what people identify with and adore about Susan Boyle.

In the age of Twitter and YouTube people tend to identify with the “realness” factor even more and somone can skyrocket to success literally overnight just like Susan.

You go girl. If I am going to sit down and listen to someone sing I’d rather hear someone with actual talent than someone that is completely studio manufactured because they fit into the right image.

Sophie

By: Martin Webb

Martin Webb — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 01:38:33 +0000

Steve Rosebuam has posted an interesting piece on the website behind Susan Boyle’s success at HuffPost:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-rosenbaum/the-untold-susan-boyle-st_b_188719.html

By: Sandra @ DebutanteClothing

Sandra @ DebutanteClothing — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:56:06 +0000

Imran,
I agree with your response to Martin. There is nothing wrong with a well oiled machine as long, as previously stated, the message is authentic. I personally don’t think Susan’s dowdiness was contrived or costumed, and any TV personality is naturally going to over-react/act. You have to be bigger than life when you are being watched. I’m a teacher by day and I over act all the time – I have to. It’s part of the presentation. Does it mean what I am saying is contrived? No. I’m just packaging it in an attention getting manner.

By: Imran Amed, Editor

Imran Amed, Editor — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:51:22 +0000

@Sandra: I agree that fashion companies’ success at using social media is about both the Medium and the Message. If they get the message wrong, then it will only have so much impact. If they get both right, it could be huge in terms of impact and engagement.

@Martin Webb: Thanks so much for your comment. The many-to-many conversation is the absolute frenzy of discussion, inspiration and debate demonstrated by the video’s rapid propagation around the internet. On Twitter, Facebook, blogs and websites around the world, including this one, people are talking about Susan Boyle and what she means to them.

As a made-for TV clip, the production of course was expensive. But when you think about the cost of taking the clip and distributing on the Internet, that costs almost nothing. This kind of mass distribution at a marginal cost of zero (to the content developer) was not available before the Internet.

I can see what you mean about it feeling well-oiled and mass-market, but is there really anything wrong with that? PR will always exist — for me the debate is more about what actually evokes a reaction these days. And, if this internet sensation was part of the plan, then it shows that some people out there in TV land really know how to use these tools. And that’s something fashion people could learn a lot from.

As it is made-for-television, it is up to each of us to decide whether we buy into what we are being told and sold, or not. For me, despite the mass market television format, the person who really shines through is Boyle, whose dowdy appearance seems 100% genuine to me. I found her 100% authentic.

Whether the judges reactions are feigned is also up to judgment, but while they may have put on a bit of an extra show for the audience as the performance went along (that’s their job, after all!), it seemed to me they were genuinely surprised when she started singing.

By: Martin Webb

Martin Webb — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 12:52:41 +0000

The clip is a piece of very expensively produced mass-market terrestrial TV turned into a net phenomenon by a well-oiled PR machine.

The judges’ surprise at Boyle’s voice is feigned. Her dowdy appearance is contrived.

Where’s the authenticity?

How is this a many-to-many conversation?

By: fashionbeauty

fashionbeauty — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:42:17 +0000

this video make me feel incredible!
I love her :0

By: Helene

Helene — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 07:32:44 +0000

Well said!

Helene

By: zahra

zahra — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:47:53 +0000

wow realy excited to see the video

By: Sandra @ DebutanteClothing

Sandra @ DebutanteClothing — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 06:40:43 +0000

Hi Imran.
Fantastic commentary on the power of social media. I completely agree with you that fashion could learn a thing from Susan Doyle. But I think the real danger may be that fashion brands may use the social web in much the same manner as they have all other forms of communication – in a very contrived, polished way. As you stated, without the realness, fashion brands may exploit social media and use it as a forum for commercials rather than peeling away to the realness we all crave. When designers start tweeting or blogging about the development of their collection without having to hire a PR company to ghost write for them, then I think we may see the real side of a brand. Until then, the social web could become just one more marketing avenue – nothing more.

On a similar note, I first started noticing that indie designers were using social media in this way in 2007. Indie and up can coming designers seems to get it when it comes to social media. http://www.webinknow.com/2007/11/malcolm-harris.html