Lady Gaga’s ‘I’M A FAME MONSTER’ Facebook App
Lady Gaga’s Facebook Fan Page (see below) recently used a Facebook application “Make Me a Fame Monster” (as the default page) to promote her upcoming album. The application was powered by a light-weight photo composition engine (from Transponder, formerly iWidget) and allows you to overlay some simple text (I’M A FAME MONSTER) on your profile photo or a picture upload. Users are limited to controlling the scale and rotation of their photo. Lady Gaga’s app definitely follows a trend among artists and music labels to promote new releases, drive pre-orders and hopefully expand their fan base using Facebook applications on their Facebook pages. Although the Facebook app has since been replaced by a splash page announcing the new album, there are a number of number of do’s and don’t we can learn.
- Do Something Interesting, Better Still Compelling!
Lady Gaga’s Facebook application was unnecessarily basic! There is some beautify in simplicity, but when possible, applications need to be compelling! Yes there is power in the brand and some people believe fans will do absolutely anything, but marketers need to ask themselves a simple question “Why will a fan want to use this application”. Try the application and judge for yourself. The last reaction you want from fans is “I don’t get it”. -
Allow for More Customization
There was very little to control in the application (especially when compared to something like RE5′s Mijini Makeover which uses our photo composition). The more control you give users over their content creation, the more “ownership” they feel. The more “ownership” they feel, the more likely they are to promote it. The more they promote it…you get the idea. -
Play Something and Sell Something
Make “buy” links for digital music prominent! The goal of most (if not all) of our Facebook artist applications is to sell digital music (or even physical product)! If you get the attention of a music fan, we feel it is important to convert that exposure to a purchase if possible. The easiest way of that (what we call ‘solving the easy problems’) is to expose the fan to the artist’s content, generate a level of demand, and then fulfill that demand via iTunes or Amazon as quickly as possible. This application could have be improved by a stronger call to action. Unfortunately the only “buy” link was hidden in the body of user posts (and unfortunately it was plain text and not even a link). -
Give Them a Reason to Share
The Lady Gaga Facebook appliation assumes that once you finished the simple photo creation process you will immediately turn around and share it with friends of Facebook. There is no marketing copy, no call to action, no reason to act, no incentive, no payola, just a simple blue “Share” button! Always ask yourself “Why would someone share this?”. Is it funny or entertaining? Does it build the poster’s self-esteem? Does it let the poster express themselves creatively? Does it allow them to further their cause or the cause of others? -
Keep Them Coming Back
If possible, when building Facebook applications try and give users a reason to come back! This is a difficult problem to solve, and we (and our clients) are sometimes complicit in this matter. Like many Facebook applications, the I’M A FAME MONSTER app is designed as a “single-use” application! Always try to create “multiple-use” applications that engage fans, keep them coming back, and getting them involved in interacting either with the artist’s content or other fans through the application. Try and create a connection with the user and create opportunities for “re-infection”!
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