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The Marketing Genius of the Selfie

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Last night at the Oscars, a group of America’s most recognizable celebrities banded together to take this record-breaking selfie.

When she gathered everyone, Ellen DeGeneres announced that she wanted to make it go viral as the most retweeted photograph ever. And that’s exactly what happened — the picture was retweeted about 2.5 million times as of this morning. It was retweeted so many times that it even crashed Twitter, and smashed the previous record of 700,000 retweets of a picture of President Obama and the First Lady.

While last night’s picture was of course a particularly well known one, celebrity selfies in general are becoming increasingly popular. Others are getting in on the fun too — for example, just a few days ago, Bill Nye posted this photo to his Instagram account.

That is, of course, President Obama with Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Bill Nye, two influential scientists and pop culture icons.

And for a combo politician and celebrity pic, check out this one of real-life and TV Veeps Joe Biden and Julia Louis-Dreyfus:

I’ve seen news stories on multiple platforms about all three of these pictures, last night’s Oscar selfie of course being the most popular of the three. Now part of me is thinking, “Why should I give a damn?” At the same time the Oscars were happening, Venezuela’s protests were getting worse, and Ukraine was devolving further into a bonafide mess.

But there’s also something to be said for the pure, sophisticated brilliance of these selfies. Free publicity is arguably the best kind of publicity, and it cost that gaggle of A-Listers absolutely nothing to have their picture retweeted a few million times last night. For years, celebrity gossip magazines have been printing pages with pictures of stars being “just like us” — they get Starbucks, they grocery shop, or they take their dog for a walk. These selfies are just an extension of that idea — a way for stars to connect with their fan bases.

The same goes for politicians and other public figures. When Obama takes a selfie with two of the most recognizable faces in science, it’s not just to commemorate meeting the two men, but also because it serves as free publicity. It goes on Instagram, a social media platform used mainly by young people. Much as he did during the 2008 and 2012 elections, he’s reaching out to young people on their terms. Now, obviously most politicians do use Twitter and have other social media accounts, but Obama’s usually pretty much on the cutting edge.

What about Bill Clinton’s selfie with Demi Lovato?

Maybe I’m wrong, but I’ve got to assume that there isn’t a ton of overlap between Clinton’s and Lovato’s fans. So by sending this picture out, they probably both got exposure to different groups.

Viral marketing is by no means new, companies have been doing it for a few years now. But the selfie as an individual marketing tool has grown over the years. Not all industries are doing such an excellent job with free marketing. For example, a few weeks ago, a report came out that indicated that law firms in particular are not doing a good job with social media marketing. These celebrities and politicians are doing an excellent job harnessing the power of social media to get their names — and mostly their faces — out there. The selfie is no longer just a thing that teenagers share with their friends. It’s become a powerful tool — and last night proved that.

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Anneliese Mahoney
Anneliese Mahoney
Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.
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