Item #49: Katy Perry. Modern Marketing Wonder.

I took my 7 year old to see Katy Perry last night. Holy Moly. The whole thing was like a walk through a 3-dimensional version of the Candyland board game from my youth – but even way better because it’s done with 21st century technology!

The woman is a modern marketing wonder. The music is pure bubblegum teenage pop, the costumes deserve their own Tim Burton film and the stage design appears like a modern pinball machine that ate a ‘grow-humungous’ pill.

But what stood out for me was the permeation of social platforms like Twitter, Youtube and Facebook in her show production. And the degree to which she attaches to pop culture, embracing those platforms to build connection with her audience.

Here’s what Katy Perry Did:

She started out with the typical format of ‘the opening act’. Marina and the Diamonds, who I happen to love, put on a mediocre show at best, which disappointed me. But that’s for another post.

But that’s where ‘typical' ended and Katy started to mix it up. Opening Act 2 was DJ Skeet Skeet, helming a 30 or so minute dance party with a set list that included Dragonette, LMFAO, Kesha and more. Clearly a mix board master, he had the 14,000 odd fans on their feet, shaking their bodies fueled by their cotton candied sugar rush. DJ Skeet Skeet closed his set by directing us all to his Facebook page where we could download for free (“cause who doesn’t like free music!” he yelled) his debut remix of John Legend doing Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. I have not been able to locate said free download as yet, but that’s not my point. My point is that Katy Perry had a DJ for an opening act!

Then here’s what Katy Perry did. She posted the Twitter hashtag #TorontoDreams on the big screens. Within seconds, profile pictures and twitter posts started appearing on the big screens. Yes, I sent a post with the hashtag and watched to see my profile picture with my twitter post appear on the big screens at the Air Canada Centre for 14,000 odd people to see! Very cool. And there’s more. So many people were sending posts with the hashtag #TorontoDreams, that it started trending. Random Torontonians, having no awareness that it was the concert hashtag began tweeting about how they want world peace, a huge home, a lot full of fancy cars, or (apparently) to move to Vancouver. The power of Katy Perry.

And here’s the last thing that Katy Perry did. She had a little sojourn mid-concert, which she called her ‘Karaoke Break’, whereby she sang a few covers. And covers of what, you might ask? Well Rihanna’s Only Girl in the World, which was lovely, but then… oh yes, after a prefacing discussion about her favourite videos on Youtube (many of which involve cats it seems), she sang, to my dismay, the infamous Rebecca Black’s Friday, to which my 7 year old knew all the words, to my even greater dismay.

Katy Perry in Summary? Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Popular Culture Tie-Ins, Entertainment Production Goddess. Modern Marketing Wonder. And yes, I loved it all.