Anybody remember the New Kids on the Block? You know, the boy band from the ‘80s? Many people remember them as a manufactured,
over-marketed group of teenagers calling themselves a “band”, a boy band to be
exact. In the late ‘80s you couldn’t
escape them. They were on every magazine
cover, every talk show and every radio station.
You could buy everything from bed sheets to lip gloss to action figures,
not to mention the vast array of posters that so many teenage girls plastered their
bedroom walls with.
Whether you like the New Kids or not, whether you think they
have any talent or not, there is no question that the New Kids had a tremendous
impact on entertainment marketing. Their
marketing team knew exactly what they were doing. They knew exactly who their target was, what
they wanted and how they wanted it.
Hormonal pre-teen and teenage girls were spending their allowance money
on a fantasy. Although teenage girls
have been doing this for years… swooning over actors and singers…with the New Kids,
the marketing team now had 5 guys to use instead of just one lonely solo
singer. Each guy had their own image,
presumably manufactured to appeal to as many different teenage girls as
possible. Donnie Wahlberg was “the bad
boy”, Jordan Knight was “the sexy one”, Joey McIntyre was “the baby” and got
the attention of the 8 – 12 year olds, Danny Wood was “the smart one”, and
Jonathan Knight was “the shy, quiet one”.
Every girl had their favourite guy and the fans were adamant that these
were the true personalities of the guys and there was nothing manufactured.
To many people it might have seemed to be a bit of overkill,
but to the fans, they couldn’t get enough.
There is no doubt that the New Kids had a brand that nobody would
forget, whether you were a fan or not.
Then, all of a sudden, they disappeared. No more concerts. No more albums. No more screaming, crying girls. Fast forward 20 years to 2008. All of these die hard fans are all grown up,
with only memories (and maybe a collection of posters, pins, T-shirts and dolls)
of their favourite band. In 2008, the
New Kids quietly announced a comeback.
No over the top marketing efforts were needed. Why?
Because they knew that their target market was a loyal bunch even 20
years later. They released their first
album since 1990 and went back out on a North American tour. It was no surprise to the fans that the tour
was sold out. The non-fans were now
calling them the Old Kids on the Block and joked that they’d be coming on stage
with their walkers. But even if they
did, the fans would still be okay with that.
Over the past 4 years, the New Kids haven’t had to do a
whole lot of marketing. But of course
what they do now is geared to a different demographic. Where teenage girls once went crazy for
T-shirts and magazines, grown women are now spending hefty sums of money to go
on a yearly cruise hosted by the New Kids.
Some of the guys have solo careers as well. For instance, Jordan Knight recently went on
tour to promote his solo album, complete with tickets for his fans to have
brunch with him. His albums would have
sold even if he hadn’t gone on tour, but creating that extra connection with
his fans is just his way of continuing to feed that brand loyalty.
The New Kids know they have a sure thing in their fans. It’s cheaper and easier for companies (and
boy bands!) to retain existing customers rather than acquire new ones. When your company is new (like the New Kids
were in the mid – 80s) or you’re launching a new product, strong marketing
efforts are needed to capture the attention of your target market. But once you have those loyal customers it is
imperative to build relationships with them.
Then, like the New Kids, your fans will still be spending money on you
25 years later.
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