what stromae taught me
a letter inspired by my darling stromae and the genius execution of something so simple.
Dear You,
One of my favourite French musicians is Stromae, not because of his music or his cute, beautiful face. Do you want to know why?
When I was learning French back then, I came across a song by him called Formidable. I watched the video [from 10 years ago], and while the video looked super unassuming, the marketing strategy behind that video was gobsmacking!
Here's the backstory.
If you watch the video, he looks visibly drunk and distraught in the middle of the street at the Louise tramway station in Brussels. The police even walk up to him in the video [one of the policemen recognised him, of course! He is a celebrity]. Anyway, the policeman converses with him to guarantee that he is okay. In the video, people are pulling up their phones, recording him, but I think only one. In May 2013, on the 21st or 22nd, images and videos flooded the internet questioning his mental state, health, and so much more. People had so many opinions and rumours about him being drunk, celebrity lifestyle pressures, etc. He looks like a drunk celebrity on the street. Imagine Beyonce being drunk on the street and how people would react! Exactly. I mean, he is no Beyonce, but... he is my French Beyonce. Okay, no one is like Beyonce. I'm getting sidetracked! [redirects my energy and mind back to this letter].
So, people go on social media attacking him, insulting him about being a drug addict, about being drunk on the streets. The press drools over the news of Stromae, and as always, it becomes a hot trending topic for two days [because bad news travels fast]. You can read about it here [translate the page] and here. Two days later, he released a clip to dispel all the rumours. Nobody anticipates that he's shooting a music video. Cameras at different parts of the station captured him, and at the end of the video, he winked to reassure us that he was okay. It is not over-polished, over-edited, or over-anything. It looks like a simple video recorded with a simple camera.
Because people had spent so much time talking about it, it took everyone by surprise when he released the video. News platforms have to speak about it because they need to dispel the stories they have shared. When they find out that it's a music video [a stunt], everybody returns and talks about it. Everyone is compelled to eat their words. It was a trending topic, so the video release also became a trending topic. People who were in it felt part of the story. Everyone talks about it. In less than two years, it crossed 100 million views; today, ten years later, it has 343 million views.
It's organic marketing at its best. They [Stromae and his team] leveraged their insights, which is the fact that people like to share, and bad news travels faster than good news. People were sharing bad news about someone being a drunk and a drug addict. And that ended up being such a blessing for him because he was able to debunk it with his music video.
I love it because it is unexpected! The best things usually are. They are relatable but unexpected. It's relatable because everyone at some point in their lives has been misunderstood, and it was nice to see him vindicated. Another key learning point is that the truth actually sells. If you do your research and base your marketing on a human truth rooted in human behaviour, you can get people's attention and predict how they would react to specific scenarios.
My two biggest lessons are:
Strategy is more important than perfection. If they created an overly perfect video with 4K quality and dramatic camera angles without a strategy, it may not have performed as well. Focus more on your goals and design a strategy to meet them. Ensure that your execution is also in line with that strategy.
Content distribution is just as important as content creation. It's not enough to create the content. Plan your distribution strategy in advance and as you roll out so that the message you have can travel faster and broader beyond your reach.
Did you watch the video? What stood out for you? What lessons did you learn?
Tell me in the comments.
With Love,
Blessing Abeng.
Sidebar: share this letter with someone who would love it [maybe someone who works in marketing, runs a business, loves Stromae, or someone you want to see succeed].
STROMAE!!!
I first heard Formidable during The Round-table Community event, hosted by Kennedy Ekezie, in November 2023.
Gosh! I was so hooked by the brassiness of his voice. I knew the song was a story but I had to check it out to understand.
...
Story!
I've listened to 3 songs by Stromae and one thing stands out, Storytelling! He's a storyteller.
Also, staying true to one's uniqueness. He's not understood by everyone, but he invites us to his world and we have to do the work in understanding him.
...
As always, it's so good seeing your Newsletters, thank you Blessing Abeng.
Yap, before watching it, I just recalled, on your tweet “ Loosing your 300 days Streak “ few days back
I thought of a request to you !
Pls Blessing are they any tips, for someone trying to rekindle Learning language “French especially”?
I love French as a child,
PS: my mum was born in Cameroon 🇨🇲, so maybe I gravitated and loved French,
during my Primary school days, I didn’t understand it in totality but I love the idea and the nature of its Constructs.
For the Music Video, I’ll have to watch it again with the caption been paused time-time
I rushed here because I love Recaps and reviews ( they help me in learning better )
Also understanding someone perceptive .
PS: I’m training myself for AWEARNESS without external influence or maybe not in totality. ✌🏽💜