Behind most solid PR campaigns that stem from the world of music and celebrity are the unsung hero’s such as interns, assistants and advisors. These individuals earn a modest wage and although they live backstage and get a first hand experience at the so-called rock star lifestyle their praises are rarely sung.
Karen Civil is an individual of such
obscurity, women praise her, she has pictures with half of the industries high
rollers but if you were to ask someone familiar with her name and brand what
she actually does I can almost guarantee that they would be unable to answer
that question with a concise definition. Karen describes herself
as an “Entrepreneur, Social Curator, Philanthropist, Builder of Great Things…”
as per her social media biographies.
Her roots stem from radio, she began as an
intern at world renowned station Hot 97 located in New York and then moved on
to work with Young Money Entertainment (A record label founded by Lil Wayne, which
houses house hold names such as; Drake, Nicki Minaj, Tyga & Christina
Milian). Her first major breakthrough whilst at Young Money was her ‘Weezy Thanx You’ website which allowed
Lil Wayne to reply to a multitude of his fans at once whilst incarcerated.
Following this she was poached by Dr. Dre and
installed as the head of social media & marketing at Beats by Dre, a
company that was recently acquired by media market leaders Apple. She then used Instagram as her
main marketing tool and proceeded to award free Beats products to popular and
prominent athletes, musicians and public figures each that have huge social
media followings. This then created a demand for the product as consumers were
seeing their idols associated with the brand.
What Karen does better than most is
innovate, she is able to reach out to the general public, projects a very
humble lifestyle and finds ways to advertise which although apparent are very
overlooked at the same time. At Present she finds herself owner of LiveCivil her lifestyle brand and
manager of up and coming rap artist Nipsey Hussle. The Proud2Pay model, which
she founded with Nipsey, has found a way to generate album sales and offer the
fans a unique connection and experience with the artists they support may that
be; receiving a phone call, one off memorabilia, exclusive content or pop-up
concerts.
With such an astronomic rise off of very
few opportunities Karen has proved she is no flash in the pan, slowly building
an empire and power connections in both the music and technology industry she
has definitely made herself one to watch in the near future.
Sources:
Sources:
Written by Jordan Huggins
Well she seems accomplished. I sometimes wonder what PR work goes into music artists and celebrities I like.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, It's interesting to look behind the scenes and at the people effectively pulling the strings and that was my aim with his post.
DeleteGreat read and some very good points. Karen Civil and others like her are very much unsung heroes. The musicians often get the limelight but the people who are much more selfless are often considered afterthoughts. I have huge respect for Karen Civil and people like her!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good read, kudos to the author on the engaging commentary. This was really informative, I had no idea who Karen Civil was but I have definately seen her genius in the works and have fallen victim to her PR techniques ! Great woman
ReplyDeleteGlad I could help inform and that you enjoyed the post, really appreciate the comment.
DeleteWow, I'm a big fan and part of the hip hop culture.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how events happen and the pubic hardly know anything about it...
Its a really vast and interesting world that you rarely get a look at unless you're apart of an 'inner circle'.
DeleteWow, I'm a big fan and part of the hip hop culture.
ReplyDeleteI think it's funny how events happen and the pubic hardly know anything about it...