Happy belated birthday, Bruce Springsteen! I do not know how you do it. Despite just turning 62 years old and having created 17 albums over a 40 year span, your brand still rocks. You continue to deliver a meaningful personal connection between your brand and the audience that sticks. I was inspired to write this blog when a fellow concert-goer from a concert this past August sent me a link to the interview above and why Bruce Springsteen still matters.
How does he do it? I came across a great blog from Andy Beaupre on the “8 lessons from Bruce Springsteen on staying relevant”. It is a great summary of why Springsteen is more relevant than ever. <a href="http://www.beaupre.com/blog/index.cfm/2012/3/29/8-lessons-from-Bruce-Springsteen-on-staying-relevant.
In short, Springsteen and the E Street Band consistently deliver on their musical brand promise:
Strong positioning
Product consistency
Authenticity
Consumer Focus
Emotional Connection
Like Andy, I also experienced Bruce Springsteen in concert this summer but I saw him play in Toronto. It would be appropriate to describe the concert more as a religious revival and Springsteen was still the master at converting new fans to his music. You could see how much he still loved what he was doing; the relevancy of his songs, the band and their stamina (they played for almost 4 hours straight), Springsteen’s authentic personality, and how he was an adept at reaching out to a younger demographic to build his brand. Kids maybe have been at the concert with their parents but they could not help leaving the concert being sold on his music and the E Street “brand”. That type of connection is priceless.
Smart marketers can learn a thing or two from Bruce Springsteen about brand building. Maybe that is why they call him the “Boss”.
Terry Shatner @ MARKETINGCHICKPOV 