The Beyonce Brand

Beyonce Knowles- Carter aka Beyonce, rose to prominence in the mid to late 90s and early 2000s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny’s Child. From the moment they first entered the scene, audiences were fully aware that this girl was a star. Beyonce was a country Christian girl from Houston, TX who embodied the essence of a southern belle with her wholesome image, charm and southern accent. Fast forward to December, 2013- Beyonce released a full album accompanied by full visuals for every song. As we’ve come to expect from Beyonce, the album sold almost 500,000 copies in 24 hours. The catch here- there was absolutely no promotion.

At the time, Beyonce was on tour performing hits from all of her previous albums. Popular show Scandal, which airs on Thursday nights, is known for captivating audiences on social media and inciting tons of tweets and posts. What did Beyonce do? She waited until Scandal ended and posted an Instagram video  simply titled “Surprise!” which featured visuals and an instrumental, announcing the album which was available exclusively on iTunes at the same time.

Beyonce Logo

The fact that Beyonce, nor her team, did not do any promotion for the album yet it still sold more than most new releases in this day and age, is a testament to not only the strength of her brand but her team’s use of integrated marketing communications. Once the album was officially released, the above logo was scene on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. Commercials began running that resembled the instagram announcement video. Beyonce posted a personalized video on her fan Facebook page. Radio stations received the album in full which they played continuously over the next few days. Additionally Beyonce, who was still on tour, began performing songs from the new album the next day and began selling merchandise with the same black & pink theme.

This is the strongest instance of integrated marketing that I have seen as of late. She and her production team used literally every avenue they had to promote the album after it was released. From the two minutes after Scandal went off the air that night through the next few days, it was virtually impossible to get on the internet without some mention of Beyonce-fever. It is worth noting that this could only be successful with major selling artists who still have some cloud of mystery surrounding them and a recognizable brand to match.. Every move Beyonce makes, every word she says is calculated. She has been polished to perfect and that is not something to be taken lightly.