What lessons can brands learn from David Guetta and Rihanna. Namely that if you’re not appearing, you’re disappearing. Brands need to be always on to succeed today.

1. @BruceDaisley 29 th FeBRuARY 2012 RIHANNA WHAT CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT STRATEGY This is the outset of some loose thoughts from my morning run. All my thoughts in a personal capacity… Give me your thoughts and I’ll evolve the ideas a little.

2. @brucedaisley “ The CLUB CAN ’ t HANDLE ME ETC ETC ” I wake up every morning to Kiss 100. Every night as I go to bed I like to guess whose tune will wake me up tomorrow. It sounds hard to guess. But with Kiss it is a 50-50 chance. It will be Rihanna or David Guetta

3. @brucedaisley RiHANNA 36 sinGLES in 6 years DAVID GUETTA 18 sinGLES in 3 years RIHANNA - 26 SOLO SINGLES, 10 aS FEATURED ARTIST How have these two stars become so ubiquitous? So dominant in the charts? David Guetta currently has 2 top 10 hits and 5 songs in the top 100. Their success in unprecedented in 30 years.

4. @brucedaisley ALWAYS THERE & DISCOVERABLE, EVOLVING IN PUBLIC RIHANNA - 26 SOLO SINGLES, 10 aS FEATURED ARTIST ‘ ALWAYS ON ’ APPROACH They have done it by adopting a different strategy. They recognise that they need to be always there because these days you get forgotten very quickly. They are ‘always on’

5. ‘ ALWAYS ON ’ Rihanna’s manager has spoken about this. His job is to keep her constantly present because in a 24-7 world people move on very quickly.

6. ‘ CAMPAIGN ’ APPROACH COMING BACK WITH SOMETHING NEW WHEN WE ’ RE READY Of course this isn’t the way that everyone thinks. The old model used to be that you release an album, take a year or two out then come back with a new ‘campaign’. “Look! I’ve now got different coloured hair!”

7. MADONNA BRITNEY SPEARS 2.5 YEAR GAP BETWEEN CDS FIRST SINGLE In 3 years Stars like Madonna look indolent in comparison with Rihanna and Guetta. They come in bursts, rather than always being in contact. ‘ CAMPAIGN ’ APPROACH

8. MADONNA BRITNEY SPEARS DIDN ’ T REACH GOLD STATUS SINGLE REACHED #6 SINGLE REACHED #37 The challenge is that the campaign advertisers are finding that their approach isn’t working too well any more. Madonna threw everything at her new single. Superbowl, epic video, Nicki Minaj. It got to number 37 in the UK. ‘ CAMPAIGN ’ APPROACH

9. ALWAYS ON ISN ’ t CHOSEN STRATEGY IT IS ONLY STRATEGY What Guetta and RiRi have realised is that this isn’t a choice. This is the new world. The only way to win today is to be always on. Real time conversation.

10. MAYBE ROCK BANDS NEED TO THINK ABOUT THIS TOO? Maybe this is one reason why the rock world is struggling. The three-year cycle of rock releases no longer work in the connected work.

11. THEY ARE BOTH HIGHLY CONNECTED TO REAL FANS – NEITHER SHARES LOGINS TO TWITTER WITH RECORD COMPANY (Also in an era of immersive media training, RIRI is refreshingly unadapted) PS both David Guetta and Rihanna actively participate in their own social dialogue. Always on to them means ALWAYS ON.

12. @BruceDaisley 29 th FeBRuARY 2012 RIHANNA WHAT CAN TEACH YOU ABOUT STRATEGY What do you think? Leave your thoughts and comments and I’ll evolve the argument.