[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWBS0JBNzQ[/youtube]

By Daniel Morell

Her music videos are the most extreme, boundary-pushing, and hyped we have seen since the days of Michael Jackson and Madonna. However, her latest music video seems to lack all of those qualities. Some have even called it, well, a little boring.

The video depicts the star dancing on a metal balcony and running and dancing along the streets of New York, like something from a Broadway musical.  The video makes a statement. It takes away all the hype and special effects and relies solely on the music and dancing of lady gaga, and lady gaga alone. I suspect this is as much a marketing decision as it is an artistic one.

Why? Because gaga has been suffering from ‘hype overload’ – When a star, or product, becomes overhyped there are just as many risks as there are benefits to be considered. After all hype does 2 things: 1) It creates increasingly heightened expectations from your audience and 2) Eventually you’re going to run out of steam (Your audience want more from you – and you have less to give!)

When your brand is built largely on hype, you distract people to the thing that REALLY matters: the product itself. You bring focus onto the marketing communications and create audience dependence on that.
You create a brand that people expect far too much of, and you’re going to have to keep topping yourself with bigger and better…but how much bigger can you go? What happens when you’ve run out of things to shock people with and have an audience waiting for more and more, and you just cannot deliver anymore? Your audience lose interest, and you get thrown in the bin like every other faddy kids toy, gadget and shock artist.
So, is hype good or bad?

A LITTLE hype never hurt anyone, but businesses should be careful not to rely too much on the shock value alone. Make the product and service great and grow it slowly over time, rather than overhyping and growing too quickly and you’ll have a better chance of long term success and staying power.

And if, like Gaga, you’ve already got a hype problem on your hands, do exactly what she’s done – dampen expectations, and dampen them quickly….but more importantly, stick to the overall brand image consistently and prove your talent as a singer, manufacturer, or retailer even more intensely. Remind people that you’re good enough even without all the added hype – and they’ll appreciate the hype for what it is – just the added extras they could do without.

DANIEL MORELL is a Social Media Strategist at InSync Marketing.
InSync Marketing is an Integrated Social Media Agency specialising in the Leisure and Entertainment sector.