Every so often I will read something I know to be important, without really being able to put my finger on why it is important or even how. That is the case today with “Just for Fun: Oh My Lady Gaga! A Star is Born in…China,” a post on the usually oh-so serious China Law & Policy blog.
The post discusses how incredibly popular Lady Gaga is in China and how the media (for her more than anyone else) so often write her name in English, not in Chinese characters. According to the post, Lady Gaga is hugely popular in China because she is both “accessible” and out there:
Accessible? She wears no pants half of the time and muppets the other half. “Of course.” As Tom explained, someone like Beyonce, who is beautiful and dresses in the highest of fashion, is absurdly inaccessible for the average person in both the U.S. and China. But Lady Gaga creates outfits, making her fashion style achievable with some imagination. “I can just imagine a Chinese girl in some factory town, inspired by Lady Gaga, putting tin cans on her head” Tom said.
That sentiment was echoed in my conversations with the Chinese young people I spoke to. While everyone mentioned Lady Gaga’s music, what they really stressed was her fashion. Although each mentioned that Chinese culture was still too traditional for Lady Gaga’s fashion to be widely copied in China, there was a tinge of envy in their voices, one young man even commenting that he looked to others to have the “courage” to copy her style. And that’s what is most interesting about this Lady Gaga phenomenon in China; for all the talk in the West about the Chinese youth not being taught to be “free thinkers,” their love for Lady Gaga demonstrates that they do have an independent streak in them. One that appreciates and respects differences and the absurd. And just good, fun dance music.
So why is this important? Not sure.
But for some reason, I think the underlying lesson of this post might be the same as that of a client of my firm’s who sells a super expensive toy.
I wish I could describe it more, but I cannot for fear of drawing competition. It is an adult toy (NOT of the sexual kind!) and it is a niche product even here in the United States, where it costs between $1,000 to $3,000.
This client started out having some parts manufactured in China and then got so many completely unsolicited requests from Chinese, he started marketing it a bit in China. Within six months (yes, six months!), China sales began surpassing United States sales (which are quite healthy).
He told me he was stunned by all this because this product is really meant for “iconoclasts” who do not care what others think about them and who are not buying expensive toys to let everyone know they can afford expensive toys and because this toy had completely flopped in Japan. He believed the toy had flopped in Japan due to a lack of individualism there and he had just assumed it would flop in China as well for the same reasons. He had even spoken with a “high end” China marketing consultant on an airplane who had explained that because the toys did not scream “wealth,” they would not sell well in China.
But the toys are selling incredibly well in China, and not just to the super rich, and our client is now convinced that the toy’s main selling point in China is that their purchase and use is a way for their buyers to say”I don’t care what others think, it’s time I did what I want to do.”
So am I right to link the toy story to Lady Gaga? What can businesses learn from Lady Gaga’s popularity in China? You tell me. Please.
