Sorry. Couldn't resist that title. It's true,
Britney Spears, the pop star who gets more press by picking up the newspaper in
front of her house (ok...she probably has someone do that for her), was the #1
most searched term on Yahoo! in 2008. Britney was followed by WWE, Barack
Obama, Miley Cyrus, RuneScape (I had to look that one up), Jessica Alba, Naruto
(huh?), Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie and American Idol to round out the top
10. For those of you keeping score at home Britney was also #1 on the
Yahoo! Search charts in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
What does this say about us? For one thing, we can't get enough Britney.
Based on the Top 10 list we can't get enough of our entertainment celebrities
either. For another, it means that individuals (you, me, Britney,
Angelina) are "brands" just like Charmin or Chevrolet. They are produced, packaged, promoted and priced to sell just like the products you buy online or on store shelves. The fact that Britney has exhibited phenomenal staying power through all the ups and downs of her career and personal life proves that she has a great marketing team behind her and a strong brand. Good sign to marketers of more traditional products that your brands can withstand outside pressures, negative press, smear campaigns, etc (take Motrin for example) but you need to keep your message out there, spend when times are tough, reach people of influence and join the conversation. Make the right marketing decisions now and you or the brand you are working on will make it to the top of the Yahoo! Search charts next year!
