Lady Gaga marketing blitz pays off

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The release of a pop star’s album usually comes with the typical cross-marketing splash — strategic magazine covers, a few major TV appearances, and perhaps a cosmetics or fashion deal to remind the public a new project awaits.

Yet the social media-powered blitz connected to this week’s drop of Lady Gaga’s third album, “Born This Way,” is bordering on epic, with partnerships ranging from Starbucks to FarmVille, and virtual giveaways of the album’s 17 tracks.

Gaga already had a slew of magazine covers, from Rolling Stone to Vogue, and appeared on every high profile show, from “The Oprah Winfrey Show” to “Good Morning America” to “Saturday Night Live,” as well as her own HBO concert special.

But she hasn’t stopped there. Starbucks is selling her album as well as launching a “digital scavenger hunt” for Gaga-inspired goods; Best Buy is giving away the album to anyone who buys a mobile phone with a contract; and Zynga, creator of the popular online game “FarmVille,” created “GagaVille,” which allowed fans access to exclusive Gaga songs.

As if that wasn’t enough, on Monday, Amazon.com sold “Born This Way” for just 99 cents, creating a demand that disrupted the online retailing giant’s servers.

And it looks like the campaigns are paying off: Gaga’s album is estimated to sell anywhere between a half-million to a million copies when the top album charts are revealed next week.