Advertising Age debuted an exposé today (in their “Digital A-List 2010″ section) about Lady Gaga and her unfathomable, drought-defeating anomalous rise to acclaim in which they attribute her success to social media. While I don’t completely disagree, I’m not sure if Gaga’s time in the spotlight has been a landscape-definining case study for social media marketing.

I’ll elaborate….

While the numbers suggest her to be a social media rock star by Web media standards (a combined 8 million fans on Facebook & Twitter, and a disgusting amount of cross-channel views & impressions *Cam face*), her campaign to the top hasn’t exemplified any market-defining activity or out of the ordinary use of the space- she’s a champion of the old model ruling with an iron fist in the new media environment.

But for how long, and to what extent?

Using Twitter as an example- at 2.8 million Twitter followers with only 255 tweets, Lady Gaga hasn’t exhibited the “socially engaged”  behavior that us marketers advise our (non-human) clients to exemplify. Her machine (Akon), her brand associations (Polaroid, Beats by Dre, Mac, Virgin Mobile), and her alliances with various areas of lifestyle have largely defined what we’d consider to be her brand ethos, and have had a balloon-like effect on her perceived status. Not to mention her timing- 2008 witnessed a renewed general interest in electronic “pop” music, as evidenced by the domestic popularity of Daft Punk, Justice, etc.

The argument here is that the digital landscape has simply provided a means for her story and persona to proliferate amongst people who were genuinely affected through a traditional media onslaught – and that she’s done right by it by virtue of her embracing it, even in the limited extent that she has. We live in a world where music sales are diminishing, yet consumption is at an all-time high. That simply means that to affect the bottom line (in this case music sales), popularity within the digital space is a metric that, when combined with great PR and key integrated marketing approaches, can move the needle. Mashable’s Alex Mann asked the right question in his piece on Gaga’s social media explosion: “if there was an absence of free channels to hear Gaga, would her album sales be higher? Or, does the social media universe only perpetuate and support her existing successful career?”

I truly don’t know. However, if anyone is in the right to set digital precedents to use culture to push product, she’d definitely be the most fitting.

Stay tuned.

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According to Business Week, Lady Gaga has signed a normal endorsement deal with on to be the creative director for a line of Polaroid products debuting later this year.

I’m usually not a fan of vanity positions, but hey, they’ve proved successful before! I’ll keep my eye on this one. Video from today’s announcement at CES is below (via AgencySpy), and the full press release is located after the jump.

SUITS!

Lady Gaga will make a special appearance at the Polaroid booth at the 2010 Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in Las Vegas on Thursday, January 7 at 10:45am to talk about her new creative and business relationship with the Polaroid brand.

“I am so proud to announce my new partnership with Polaroid as the creative director and inventor of specialty projects,” said Lady Gaga. “The Haus of Gaga has been developing prototypes in the vein of fashion/technology/photography innovation–blending the iconic history of Polaroid and instant film with the digital era–and we are excited to collaborate on these ventures with the Polaroid brand. Lifestyle, music, art, fashion: I am so excited to extend myself behind the scenes as a designer, and to as my father puts it–finally, have a real job.”

“Lady Gaga’s broad creative talents and the way she connects with her fans in her own, unique manner made her a natural choice for Polaroid,” said Stephen Miller, co-CEO of PLR IP Holdings. “Polaroid has had a special connection with its customers for years, we are delighted to be partnering with Lady Gaga to continue with that tradition and bring new and exciting products to the next generation.”

The partnership with Lady Gaga is the most recent in a string of partner announcements by PLR IP Holdings, LLC (PLR), the new owner of the Polaroid brand. In the past six months, PLR has assembled a family of Polaroid partners for product development, marketing distribution and licensing. Building upon Polaroid’s rich history, the Polaroid partner network will support fans and users of classic Polaroid products and deliver new Polaroid products to a new generation of Polaroid customers while staying true to Polaroid’s long-standing values of fun and simplicity.

New products by Polaroid and Lady Gaga are to hit retail shelves starting in late 2010.

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