Madonna Case Study
Question 1 Described and explain the strategy being followed by Madonna in term of the explanation of competitive strategy given in Chapter 6. Answer 1 Table 2: Bowman’s strategy clock Based on the Bowman’s strategy clock above, we identify strategies been used in her albums through the years below; Lucky Star 1982 Trashy pop – lace tops, skirts over capri pants, fishnet stockings, jewelry bearing the Christian cross, and bleached hair. Young wannabe girls, dovetailing from fading disco to emerging ‘club scene’influential among young girls and women 1. ‘No frills’ – combines a low price, low perceived product/service benefits and a focus on a price- sensitive market price Like a Virgin- Like a Prayer(first number one album on the U. S. lbums chart) 1984 Originally a Marilyn glamour image, then became a saint and sinner She performed the song at the first MTV Video Music Awards – trademark “Boy Toy” belt and crucifix jewelry More grown-up rebellious fan base, more critical female audience and male worshippers – featured role in “Desperately Seeking Susan” – embarked on her first concert tour in the U. S. in 1985 titled The Virgin Tour, with the Beastie Boys. 2. Low price – risk of price war and low margins; need to be cost leader Vogue Erotica Bedtime Stories (eighth U. S. umber-one single -Academy Award-winning song) 199019921994 Erotic porn star, sadomasochistic, sexual control, more minelli in Cabaret than Monroe signed an endorsement deal with soft drink manufacturer Pepsi debuted her new song, “Like a Prayer”, in a Pepsi commercial and also made a music video for it. Peculiar mix of target audiences: gay club scene, 1990s’ women taking control of their own lives, also pure male titillation -Madonna’s first publication Sex, a book consisting of sexually provocative and explicit images – caused media controversy but sold 500,000 copies in the U.
S. 3. Hybrid – seeks simultaneously to achieve differentiation and a price lower than that of competitors Something to Remember Evita (won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song From a Motion Picture also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy) 1995 Softer image, ballads preparing for glamour image of Evita film role Broadest audience target, picking up potential film audiences as well as regular fan base – designed to appeal to the mature audience that would be the target of Evita. Most conventional image.
Max Factor later used this mixture of Marilyn and Eva Peron to market its glamour image 4. Differentiation – seek to provide products or services that offer benefits that are different from those of competitors and that are widely valued by buyers. Ray of Light – (U. S. top 5 singles – won three Grammy Awards – won a Grammy for “Best Short Form Music Video. “) 1998 Earth mother, Eastern mysticism, dances music fusion – album influenced by electronica, techno, and trip-hop, thereby updating her classic dance-pop sound for the late ’90s. “Most adventurous record. “) Clubbing generation of the 1990s, new cohort of fans plus original fan base of now 30somethings desperately staying trendy – used by Microsoft in its advertising campaign to introduce Windows XP. 5. Focus differentiation – strategy seeks to provide high perceived product/service benefits justifying a substantial price, usually to a selected market segment (niche) Music 2000 Acid rock, tongue in cheek Miss USA/cow girl, cool Britannia – having a video which depicts murders by car, was banned by MTV and VH1.
Managing to hit the changing club scene and 30-something Brits – starred in the film Swept Away a commercial and critical failure and released straight-to-video in the UK. 6. Increased price/standard value – higher margins if competitors do not follow; risk of losing market share American Life 2003 Militaristic image Che Guevara Anti-consumerism of American dream – Madonna kissed the heirs to her throne, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera — and then got the two of them to make out with each other.
Unclear audience reliant on existing base – sold 4 million copies, the lowest selling album of her career. The release of Madonna’s successful children’s book, -The English Roses, which was followed by several more novels in future years. 7. Increase price/low price – only feasible in monopoly situation Confession on a Dance Floor 2005 Retro-1980’s disco imagery, high-motion dance-pop sound Strong gay-icon audience, pop-disco audience, dance-based audience – radio stations were boycotting Madonna’s singles because she publicly spoke of disapproval against the war n Iraq. 8. Low value/standard price – loss of market share Hard Candy (Most successful release from the album, reaching #1 in twenty-seven countries worldwide including the United World Chart and becoming one of Madonna’s biggest-selling singles. ) 2008 ‘M by Madonna’ clothes collection, which was designed by Madonna for H&M consist of classic designs and accessories which reflect Madonna’s timeless, unique and always glamorous style. Madonna sliced away at genre straightjackets like a surgeon, opening the doors for the future hip-hop explosion. U. S. Canada, North & South America and European concert tour “Sticky and Sweet” in promoting her new album – Madonna’s adding a new twist to a whole new distribution model the mobile handset Samsung and Sony Ericson. Focus differentiation – strategy seeks to provide high perceived product/service benefits justifying a substantial price, usually to a selected market segment (niche) Madonna’s new album Hard Candy 2008 has rebuild her strategy from ultimate failure to focused differentiation as her new album has an urban vibe, while remaining a dancepop record at heart.
Stuart Price, the producer of Confessions on a Dance Floor, described the new album as moving in an urban direction. It had initially been defined as having “a lot of producers from a lot of genres in there. ” The Sun proclaiming that “it could be her most ambitious project yet”, while The New York Times reviewed the album as “a set of catchy, easily digestible, mass-appeal songs”. (Wikipedia 2008) Question 2 Why has she experienced sustained success over the past two decades?
Answer 2 For stay maintaining in entertainment industry Madonna has use a ways of attempting to sustain advantage through differentiation ; Create difficulties of imitation – Factors that can make strategies difficult to imitate. ? Music genre Madonna always changed her music genre in her new album and her music genre never been the same genre from one album with other album. For example in her early career the music genre her bring is Trashy pop and for current album the genre was urban vibe. Targeted audiences Madonna always set her target audience with her new album release in market and her target audience is different for each album. For example in album Ray of Light her target audience was Clubbing generation of the 1990s and for album Confession on a Dance Floor the target was Strong gay-icon audience. ? Style or Image Madonna style and image always changed with her new album release in market and not many celebrities willing to do the same thing with Madonna because its take a higher cost.
For example that we can give here about Madonna style or image is in her album name Music here image was Acid rock, tongue in cheek Miss USA/cow girl and in album Like a Virgin like a Prayer her image is originally a Marilyn glamour image. ? Trademark The trademark of Madonna was her dance, which is her dance for all albums is different from one and other and for all album Madonna has set her own dance. For example in album Ray of Light the dance step was a classic dance pop and for album hard candy the dance step is more to hip hop. Sex appeal As what we know Madonna like to show her sex appeal to public and it’s was her attraction to make her fans buy her album or watch her movie. Her sex appeal is hard to imitate by other celebrity because her has her own persona of sex appeal that other artist didn’t has and also Madonna really confident with her sex appearances in public. Create a situation of imperfect mobility – The capabilities that sustain differentiation cannot be traded. Her self Something that cannot being change or imitate by other celebrity is Madonna voice. Even her now already 25 years in entertainment industry but she still can maintain her vocal establish and didn’t has any singer have a similar voice like Madonna, ever her singing style also cannot be imitate by other singer and it never change until now. ? Trademark As we know Madonna trademark was her dance, and Madonna dance step is difference from other celebrity because it has an own style and persona while her dance.
Madonna and dance is something that we cannot change because Madonna started her career in entertainment industry with dance and until now she still with her interesting in dance. ? Sex appeal Sex and Madonna is one of the thing that we cannot change because Madonna always come out with her sexuality story in media and it’s like something compulsory to Madonna in this entertainment industry. Most of Madonna fans also know her because of her sex appeal story and not because her talent in music.
Establish a lower cost position – Competitors can allow an organization to sustain better margins that can be reinvested to achieve and maintain differentiation. ? Album All Madonna album was receive a good feed back from her fans and most of her albums are sold more than what she expected because a price of her album was an affordable and anybody can buy it. Not just that, the quality of her album also appropriate with the price given and make her fans feel satisfied. Tour / Concert In all Madonna tour most of the ticket is sold out and it’s proving to us that Madonna concert get an excellent reception from her fans. Her ticket price also affordable and the place divided also make all her fans can watch her performances in suitable situation. Not just that, Madonna basically has a surprise to her fans in her performance. Question 3 What might threaten the sustainability of her success? Answer 3 There have several factors that can be threatening the sustainability of Madonna successful in entertainment industry and the factor is: ?
Her own self Her own self can be the biggest threat for her future career in show business because with her habit like to present the controversy in media will arrive the negative impact for her in long term. After 25 years in music industry she always makes the negative controversy and it will make the fans keep bored with the bad story about their idol. If that happen, Madonna career also will goes down and it’s hard for her to wake up again after that. ? Criticism Madonna gets too many criticisms along her career because of the controversy that her always make when her new album need to release in market.
Maybe for her it’s just the trick to promote her new song and just a part of her marketing strategy, but for the other parties who give the critic to her will feel that Madonna is wrong icon for them because don’t know how to care her fans sensitivity. ? New artists with new talents Now days too many new talent or star came out in entertainment industry and it will give bad impact to Madonna because most of the new generation likes to watch and give their support to new artists compare than the oldies.
Most of the new artist now has a new talent that we can’t see from the previous evergreen generation. So that Madonna should work harder to make sure her reputation will not go down and can become a diva forever. ? Reality shows The reality show also can be the biggest threat for Madonna in music industry because of too many reality shows playing in television now and the contestant for the program also has a big talent and their idea also new and fresh. When the new talented star will come out from that reality shows, it will give pressure to Madonna to stay in entertainment industry for a long term. Sex appearances Madonna and sex appeal is synonym in entertainment industry because her always like to show her sex appearance to public more compare to promoted her album or films. Most of her story in magazine or from paparazzi is about her sex appeal is too much and have a one time her well known as a sex icon more than a singer or movie star and it’s can become a threats to her because her sex story more than her album or movie story. ? Competitor As we know all celebrity has their own competitor in entertainment industry and it’s goes same to Madonna.
For her latest competitor in music industry was a Britney Spears. It is because Britney and Madonna do a come back in music industry almost in the same time and when the time that downfall of Madonna, Britney also face the same situation as Madonna. Not just that, Madonna and Britney also well known as a celebrity who like to do a controversy and always come out with their sex appearance in public. Conclusion Madonna rocketed to stardom so quickly in 1984 that it obscured most of her musical virtues.
Appreciating her music became even more difficult as the decade wore on, as discussing her lifestyle became more common than discussing her music. However, one of Madonna’s greatest achievements is how she manipulated the media and the public with her music, her videos, her publicity, and her sexuality. Arguably, Madonna was the first female pop star to have complete control of her music and image. Madonna named also list as a one of People Magazine’s ’50 Most Beautiful People of 1991′, and ’25 Most Intriguing People of 2001′.
It is because Madonna has her own Image, music genre and targeted audiences for each albums that been produced in market. She also was the first global brand name to make content delivered to mobile phones seem downright dope. Not just for consumers in Asia and Europe, who’d long been exposed to any number of mobile content and marketing campaigns, but to mobile newbie’s who just happen to be the ultimate arbiters of pop culture cool: America’s teenagers. Madonna has been dubbed “one of the greatest pop acts of all time” and dubbed “The Queen of Pop” by some media.
She is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the twentieth century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million certified albums. Guinness World Records list her as the world’s most successful female recording artist of all time and the top-earning female singer in the world with an estimated net worth of over US$400 million, having sold over 200 million records worldwide. On March 10, 2008, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
