From indie bands to startups, viral marketing has become a game of digital fabrication.
San Francisco: A new dawn of marketing is here, and it’s built on digital deception. Young fans are learning that their favorite bands might not be as real as they think.
Geese is a Brooklyn band whose popularity suddenly exploded. People wondered if they were the next big rock stars. But then news came out about a marketing company called Chaotic Good that creates fake social media accounts to make bands look popular. This company has helped other artists like singer Zara Larsson grow their following.
The founders of Chaotic Good say they buy hundreds of phones to run thousands of social media accounts. They post content and make comments to create the appearance of organic popularity. Similar tactics are used by young startup founders. For instance, the fashion app Phia has college students creating dozens of videos about their product every day.
Even reality TV shows about creating pop groups follow this playbook. The Netflix show “Pop Star Academy” showed how executives turned six young women into a group called Katseye. While viewers may feel conflicted about the manipulation, many end up supporting these artists anyway. It appears that in today’s digital world, popularity is something that can be manufactured, not just earned.