Lewis Capaldi: Pop Sensation and Social Media Marketing Legend

Lewis Capaldi has made his long awaited return after a three year hiatus between albums. A classic celebrity move of popping up on our screens again once they have a new album or product to promote. We see the shameless self promotion happen every year with all the big celebs, but there’s something different about the way the self proclaimed ‘Scottish Beyoncé’ markets his new music. 

Ever since he released his first album ‘Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent’ his marketing strategy has been impeccable. You may remember the posters of him plastered on the underground. It was clear from day one he was taking a very different approach to the usual polished celebrity image that we see. Lewis’s face was stamped on the underground billboard sporting a bath towel on his head and some funky red glasses, ahead of his debut album released that day. 

This unpolished image continued across all of his marketing, from instagram posts to interviews. It was refreshing to see a celebrity not taking themselves so seriously and giving us something we could relate to. Along with his clear musical talent, this approach to marketing is exactly why Lewis is so successful. Even if you dislike his music, there’s no denying that his personality is hard not to love. 

Unsurprisingly, this golden approach to marketing has continued on to his second album. With two new singles released recently, we are buzzing to see the return of Lewis’s infamous billboards. For the first single ‘Forget Me’ the general public were treated to a stunning new billboard featuring Lewis’s nearly naked body, and the title of his new single. As always, fans across social media loved this stunt. 

Disappointingly the second single from his new album ‘Pointless’ didn’t receive its own nude themed billboard. But what it did receive was Lewis Capaldi posting his mobile number for all his social media followers to see. Yep, you read that right. Lewis posted his mobile number for his millions of followers to see. A very bold move for such a high profile celeb, but more importantly, absolute marketing genius. 

Within minutes of posting his number, he was trending all over socials. Including Twitter and TikTok. Thousands of his followers were calling the number, and what happens when it rings? 

You guessed it. A shameless bit of self promotion for the new single ‘Pointless’.  Upon calling the number you are sent to voicemail (I should know, I’m guilty of calling it as soon as I saw the post) where Lewis himself greets you, letting you know you will receive a text with the link to download the single and encouraging you to do so as his record label are ‘demanding’ and in return Lewis says he’ll give you his ‘body and soul.’

A very nice idea from the marketing team at Lewis’s record label. A slightly unusual approach perhaps but a great way to get everyone talking and accumulate tons of press coverage too. 

It wouldn’t be fair to talk about Lewis Capaldi’s marketing strategy without giving his TikTok account an honourable mention. It’s no surprise his TikTok account is not only hilarious, but also a major part of his self promotion. Lewis first posted a TikTok using the audio from his new single in November, and now I can’t scroll through more than 5 videos of my FYP without hearing it again. And as much as I may want to feel frustrated for him overtaking my FYP, I simply cannot. The TikToks that he posts incorporate his own comedic genius and down to earth attitude, which, when combined with his musical talent, are a guaranteed success. This is proven as the videos repeatedly go viral. The audio of his new single has already racked up 18k uses (where people have added it to their own TikTok vids), then on top of this you can add the millions of views Lewis Capaldi’s videos receive. With all this attention, it would be practically impossible to be unaware of Lewis’s new single that’s come out. 

Not only is he an undeniably talented singer, hilarious chap and the kind of person we’d all like to befriend, he’s also now a model mogul. In a very clever recent partnership with ASOS, Lewis can be seen striking a pose alongside the usual models on the website. The colab may be considered a bit of a juxtaposition, as Lewis himself admits to not having a great sense of style, but this is why the colab works so well. People immediately took to socials, such as twitter to confess how much they loved the partnership. Hats off to the marketing team at ASOS. Very well played.

It's safe to say that in the lead up to the album release, I will be keeping a keen eye on Lewis’s socials and I can’t wait to see what tricks he has up his sleeve next. 

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