What works–and what doesn’t–shifts fast in marketing. As consumers become savvier and shift their priorities, tried and true methods to reach and engage with consumers may not work as well as they used to. To stay ahead, marketers can look to seemingly unlikely sources for inspiration. Enter Megan Thee Stallion.
The rap artist from Houston recently launched Bad Bitches Have Bad Days Too, a mental health resource hub. At first glance, this campaign doesn’t seem relevant to brand marketers–unless they’re a social media manager having a particularly bad day. Megan Thee Stallion is a musician, not a brand. In a post-CD world, her main goal isn’t to sell a product or service. It doesn’t feel directly applicable to most marketing teams.
Despite the obvious differences in business models, Megan Thee Stallion’s mental health resource hub is a masterclass in brand building. Most (71%) consumers think it’s important for brands to speak out on sensitive topics. Even more (88%) consumers say authenticity is important when they’re deciding what brands to support. And over half (56%) of consumers want to know the backstory and the “why” behind a brand. Megan Thee Stallion hit all three of these consumer sweet spots with her mental health resource hub.
In a single web page, Megan Thee Stallion proved that she understands her audience, wants to speak out on the issues that matter to them and has a personal connection to the topic.
Who is Megan Thee Stallion, anyway?
Megan Thee Stallion–also known as the HTown Hottie or Tina Snow–got her start on social media. She gained an audience with her Instagram freestyle videos and released her first single online in 2016. Since then, she hasn’t missed. All six of her albums have made it onto the Billboard 200. “Savage”, a single from her debut album “Good News” inspired a viral dance trend with over 15 million videos using the sound. She nabbed the Grammy for Best New Artist in 2021. Even if you’re not familiar with her music, you’re definitely familiar with her influence. She’s the one who created the phrase “hot girl summer”.
Her primary career might be music, but she hasn’t stopped there. She’s constantly using her platform as a catalyst for change. In 2020, she performed on SNL for the first time and interrupted her own song with a protest about the handling of Breonna Taylor’s case. She followed that up with a New York Times op-ed about the importance of protecting black women.
She demonstrates her brand value of speaking out about issues that affect her and her audience of primarily black women clearly and frequently. Her consistency and vulnerability set her up as the perfect representative for her newest campaign, the mental health resource hub.
So you had a bad day
Megan Thee Stallion’s mental health resource hub is a deceptively simple site. The single page opens with directions to scroll and a photo of the album cover for “Traumazine”. She has links to her streaming platform profiles and an embed of the video for the most relevant song, “Anxiety”. She follows up with links to mental health platforms and crisis lines. The page ends with two CTAs–one to find a therapist and another to sign up for text updates.
Outside of the primary goal of connecting her audience with mental health resources, the site also does an excellent job communicating that this isn’t a one-and-done effort. It associates this campaign with her overarching brand.
Continuous support
The final CTA to get SMS updates about the initiative is a standard approach. But the enrollment message is where the strategy really shines. Instead of coming from a standard five digit marketing number, the text comes from Megan Thee Stallion herself, complete with a contact card and photo. The messages aren’t personalized to the user, but it feels personal. The message itself informs the user they’ll get updates in the future–and more importantly, feels like she’s there to support you on an individual level.
Bringing it into the brand
Megan Thee Stallion’s existing brand is already based on standing up for her audience. This campaign is simply an extension of that value. But she brings in constant reminders throughout the page that this is her effort and it’s something she’s passionate about. She embeds a video to a relevant song, intersperses the site with lyrics from that song and links her streaming platform profiles.
