Fans are the backbone of the music industry and every artist’s career is fanmade. Believe it or not, they are the ones who hold the power – too often from the sidelines behind the fence, even when their professional opinion makes them an expert. Writer Jessica Hopper once said: “Replace the word ‘fangirl’ with ‘expert’ and see what happens” – think about it.
When it comes to giving fans an actual seat at the table, it takes a real artist who not only recognizes their fans’ value, but takes initiative and hires their biggest asset. In 2013, that artist was Miley Cyrus. She invited her superfan to work with her over the summer who then became her Head of Marketing & Digital, leading all things fan engagement.
Today, Olivia Rudensky still works with the global pop icon, but through her own company FANMADE that she co-founded with Claudia Villarreal in 2021. Miley didn’t just support it, she invested in it. The success of it led to Olivia being recognized on the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 list – how iconic is that? And after Miley won her first Grammy this year, she thanked Olivia and FANMADE in her Instagram caption. If that doesn’t prove the power of fan culture, I don’t know what will.
Most artists hire social media agencies to take care of marketing campaigns and community engagement. But what makes FANMADE different are the brilliant minds behind it and their more niche-oriented approach to targeting fans. While others traditional marketing campaigns are largely built around basic categories like age, gender and geographic location – FANMADE will develop top-level fan marketing strategies for both artists and brands. And they have done successfully so, with a client list that includes Miley Cyrus, Hailey Bieber and Zach Sang, as well as the NBC network and various brands. Claudia explains it as “working as translators for those who didn’t grow up in the fandom space”, because if you weren’t online, you can’t understand it.
Proving the value of the fans perspective happens naturally through outstanding campaigns and an on-going growth of success. The impact fan founders Olivia and Claudia have had with their agency has exceeded a lot of expectations and has broken barriers along the way. And it has shown that being a fan first is not something you should ever be ashamed of, but a blessing and an advantage you have that you should embrace.
When you look at some of the outstanding projects FANMADE has been behind, you will learn to understand why it is so important to take a chance on hiring professional and extremely qualified superfans. A great example would be the remarkable marketing strategies around Miley’s release of Used To Be Young. The campaign included a series on TikTok, where she talked her fans through 30 years of her life and an outdoor marketing rollout that got fans excited and engaging. If you are a fan of hers, you were blessed.
But as mentioned before, Olivia doesn’t just work on projects with Miley. FANMADE also represents Hailey Bieber and has worked with her on campaigns for her brand rhode, including the collaboration with EREWHON market, the “Who’s In My Bathroom?” and “Who’s In My Kitchen?” YouTube series and surely more to come. The company is also behind bringing back the Zach Sang Show – partnering up with OBB Media – as its producer with Claudia as their researcher and talent booker.
Their marketing moves are brilliant and the continuous high anticipation and hype around new projects are wild and well-deserved at the same time. There is a good reason why Olivia and Claudia are on top of the industry with the outstanding work they’ve done so far and the great knowledge and first-hand experience they have collected over the years. I mean, when the People’s Choice Awards call you to help them improve fan experiences or you become Consulting Producers for the iHeart Radio Jingle Ball, that just shows that they have made a great name for themselves.
Trying to break into the industry with fan experience is a hardship that can be very tough to manage, but the more women like Olivia and Claudia come through and lead the way to opening more doors for fellow fan professionals in the future, the easier it will get some day.
We can all become a part of the change by working our hardest, finding an incredible female mentor in the industry that can lend you a helping hand and by simply believing in our own power and the impact we can have. And if you wanna be updated on all things pop culture, make sure you apply to receive the ON THE PULSE weekly news from CCO Claudia herself – you don’t wanna miss it!
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