By Brooke Glasford
This past Sunday Americans reveled in what is often referred to as the biggest night in sports, the Super Bowl. For the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, the only thing that was on my radar about the entire event was the fact the Bajan superstar Rihanna was headlining the half time show. With a major section of the social media populus referring to the even as the Fenty Bowl.
To give context, the half time show is held in the middle of the final game of the football season and is typically 12-15 minutes long. It’s also necessary to note that headliners of the show are not paid, but all their production costs are covered by the NFL (National Football League).
Now why does this deserve to be a topic in Stabroek News Business Section? Simple, no matter which way you twist and turn it, Rihanna is a business woman, so let’s look at how she utilized her business acumen and maximized every moment.
Sundays performance was the first time Rihanna hit a stage for a live performance in almost seven years and her staunch following. In that time, she launched Fenty Beauty, House of Fenty, Savage X Fenty, and Fenty Skin, the four of which lead her to billionaire status. So how did Rihanna and her team take advantage of the hundreds of millions of eyes that would be on her during the Super Bowl? You didn’t ask but I’ll tell you anyway.
Her brands Fenty Beauty, Fenty Skin and Savage X Fenty began promoting her Super Bowl performance in January, giving them over a month to build anticipation and make all three brands top of mind and synonymous with Super Bowl 57. They utilized hashtags #TEAMFENTY and #SavageXGameDay, and also released exclusive bespoke Super Bowl merchandise that was available for sale prior to game day, as well as being modelled on the night of, by celebrities and influencers they were in partnership with. All of this to build greater brand awareness for all brands under the Fenty umbrella.
(Via fox sports)
According to Fox Sports, the half time show pulled 5.7 million more viewers than the football game itself, with searches for Fenty Beauty increasing by 833%— that alone is worth more than any talent fee the NFL would have paid. Searches for music from her set also increased exponentially, and her streaming numbers saw a 640% spike—not that she needs streaming money. These numbers are astronomical, and if only 6% of the searches convert to sales, that is still bang for your marketing buck.
(Via fox sports)
According to the Wall Street Journal, prime, paid, thirty-second advertising slots during the Super Bowl this year cost as much as 7 million USD. Rihanna and her team truly squeezed every drop of foundation out of the proverbial tube.
At the midpoint of the show Riri paused to pat her nose with Fenty Beauty Inivisi-matte pressed powder, those three seconds of product placement was done with aplomb and the trade off was immediate increased interest and online searches.
There were entire articles dedicated to what lipstick she was wearing and what makeup the back up dancers had on, and so you know, there’s only one answer, Fenty Beauty. Fenty’s Global Makeup Artist Priscilla Ono prepped Ri’s skin with Fenty Skin, and the entire process was chronicled in behind the scenes style videos shot for Instagram and TikTok. They partnered with and flew in key makeup and lifestyle influencers and supplied them with product to tie into preparing for the event and after the fact.
An overall timeline of the marketing that went into this whole system is as follows. Fenty brands began promoting on social over a month before the show, Super Bowl specific merchandise was created and launched prior to gameday, all of the makeup for Rihanna and her dancers were Fenty Beauty and Fenty Skin, part of the backup dancers costumes were SavageXFenty, there were key celebrities wearing their merchandise, and key influencers were wearing the merchandise and promoting makeup product, and finally there was product placement done during the show itself. This was the equivalent of vertical integration for marketing.
(Via Daily Mail)
Key take aways from Riri’s performance:
Not every opportunity has to be paid. Some times you have even more to gain in the way of experience, building brand awareness and gaining recognition—but there MUST be a worthwhile trade off for you. While the scale of Rihanna’s celebrity and the size and valuation of her business may not be close to where you are, it’s a strategy that you too can implement.
The Fenty team utilized every point of contact for marketing, social media, audio, video, influencer marketing, and merchandise—to ensure they captured as many eyes and as much reach as possible.
The lead up and the wind down—- they began pushing product and awareness intensely a month before the show, and they will most likely be able to utilize the buzz created for upwards of six – nine weeks after.
Now that is maximizing a single moment.
