Scooter Braun is one of the entertainment industry’s biggest power brokers. Don’t miss his fireside chat at Spark 2015 on October 8th!
Scooter Braun has built his career at the intersections of music, marketing, intellectual property, and technology — with big impact. He’s been named one of TIME Magazine‘s 2013 100 Most Influential People in the World, one of Billboard’s 2013 40 Under 40 headliners, one of Fast Company‘s 100 Most Creative People in Business, and is the founder of SB Projects, a company at the intersection of music, film, television, technology, brands, culture and social good.
But you may know him courtesy of another household name: Justin Bieber.
Scooter Braun’s client roster includes a vast majority of the prominent pop artists on your top 40 playlist, including Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, and more.
In 2008, Scooter Braun discovered a young Canadian phenom on YouTube. Just a few years later, Bieber Fever was upon us.
But before Bieber, no pop sensation had seen crossover success from social media — at least not without the power of tween TV stardom behind them.
In an interview with Forbes, Braun describes the social media strategy behind Bieber’s meteoric rise.
“I signed Justin when he had 70,000 views on YouTube, not 50 million,” says Braun. “The only ways minors have broken over the past years was through having their own Disney or Nickelodeon show, and every label told me that unless I had a TV show attached to one of those networks, they were not interested whatsoever.”
Braun’s strategy? Using digital channels to display Bieber’s raw talent, or what he calls authentic marketing.
“We built his YouTube channel over three years. He had a bigger YouTube channel before we even did a record deal with Usher,” says Braun. “He was captivating and I think that the marketing was right. At the end of the day, the secret to the marketing was to keep it organic and authentic.
Oh, and remember Carly Rae Jepsen‘s “Call Me Maybe”? You can thank Braun for that, too.
Braun signed Jepsen, and after a YouTube video of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Ashley Tisdale singing along to the infectious diddy was leaked on YouTube, the song shot to the top of the Billboard Hot 100.
Talk about the power of influencer marketing…
Don’t miss your chance to hear from Scooter Braun at #Spark15h! Register today!