Hi all,

I recently read a blog post that my friend Vivian wrote about Rebecca Black and how she has, almost overnight, become the target of hurtful mockery and parodies due to her recently released single Friday. Just like Vivian, I can’t help but wonder what is it that determines which teen stars become the target of admiration and worship and which the target of hateful comments.

Vivian mentioned that what happens behind the scenes of these teen stars is almost more important than charisma or performance and singing skills. So, is the marketing and PR behind Justin Beiber so much different From Black’s or is there other factors that influence how responsive teens are to these artists?

I believe that the teen pop star industry is like any other industry; it also has a product lifecycle. I feel that the teen pop industry is definitely in the maturity stage with a lot of competition (Justin Beiber, Taylor Switft, Miley Cirus and the likes) and a limited audience. The only way to survive in the maturity stage, and increase the product lifecycle (in this case the length of the career) is to differentiate yourself from the crowd.

So, what does Justin Beiber have that Rebecca Back doesn’t? Bieber started of as a Youtube star portraying his self learnt skills as a singer and guitarist. His authenticity and home-made videos were something that teens hadn’t seen before, and could easily relate to. So, at a stage of maturity, doing what someone has done before (like in the case of Black) isn’t the key to success but rather doing something completely new and unheard of. Otherwise, you’re bound to head to the decline stage and exit the industry.

So, as Vivian and I have concluded, if you wish to be a teen pop star in 2011, better come up with something original and have a powerful and well structured marketing plan behind you!

Until next time,

Roosa xxx