Postcards

How the power players do it - by Fortune editor at large Patricia Sellers

The Jonas Brothers' marketing machine

August 22, 2008: 3:08 PM ET

The Jonas Brothers are masters at generating buzz. The Disney (DIS) TV movie "Camp Rock" -- starring teen heartthrobs Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas -- came out on DVD this week, while the band's new album, "A Little Bit Longer," opened at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 10. The Brothers' last album is No. 10 on the list and the soundtrack to "Camp Rock" is No. 8. Meanwhile, Disney's Miley Cyrus holds the No. 4 spot for her latest album.

Hooray for Hollywood -- Hollywood Records that is, part of the Disney operation that is developing human brands better than ever. When "Camp Rock" premiered on the Disney Channel in June it was cable's No. 1 telecast this year. It's been surpassed only by "High School Musical," which drew 18.6 million viewers on the Disney Channel last year. As for the Jonas Brothers, they drew 15,000 bystanders when they performed on Disney's "Good Morning America" earlier this summer.

It's not just Disney backing the Jonas Brothers. These guys are real corporate creatures. My cousin's kids went to a Jonas Brothers concert in Virginia this week and they said that before coming on stage, the brothers appeared in Burger King (BKC) and Target (TGT) spots, and a Chevy commercial for General Motors (GM).

My cousin Rachel Stoiber, 14, called the concert "random" -- a high compliment from a teenager -- because the boys squirted shaving cream, threw drumsticks, and sang against a backdrop of fire and amazing special effects. "It made their concert different, as opposed to just singing," my cousin said. Rachel's mom says she thinks that the "Camp Rock" movie, coming after the band's first two albums, helped expand the Jonas Brothers' audience to include pre-teen girls. The demos at this concert: 90% girls, age six to 18.

Even my boss Andy Serwer, who went to a Jonas Brothers concert with his two daughters last weekend, said the band wasn't so bad. And what's wrong with a boy band that promotes chastity and overall good behavior when teenage role modeling today seems to fall to Britney, Lindsay and Paris?

Join the Conversation
Fortune's Most Powerful Women
Fortune's Most Powerful Women For the latest on the most influential women in business, philanthropy, government, and the arts, like us on Facebook.
Guest Posts
Fortune Most Powerful Women Fortune Most Powerful Women The rolodex that redefined power
Profile in The Washington Post
Sheryl Sandberg: Sheryl Sandberg: Don't leave before you leave
COO of Facebook
Gina Bianchini Gina Bianchini The Steve Jobs route to building a startup
Founder of Ning and Mightybell
Video
Google's Marissa Mayer: How I got ahead In a funny and candid interview, Google VP Marissa Mayer explains how she got to the top. Watch
The day Ursula Burns almost left Xerox Xerox CEO Ursula Burns shares how she once accepted a job with Dell but ended up staying with Xerox. Watch
About This Author
Pattie Sellers
Patricia Sellers
Editor at Large, Fortune

Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). Since its launch in 1998, Pattie has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" cover package.
A specialist at dissecting larger-than-life personalities, she has also profiled former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack, and countless CEOs.
Pattie co-chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big brand companies.
In Pattie's blog, Postcards, she provides insight into the lives of super-achievers through commentary, career advice, and Guest Posts by CEOs and other leaders.

Email Pattie Sellers | Welcome to Postcards.
Subscribe: RSS feed | email newsletter
MPWomen go Global

Every year Fortune and the U.S. State Department sponsor the Global Women Leaders Mentoring Partnership, which brings rising-star women from developing countries to the U.S. to work closely with participants of the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit - among them CEOs Andrea Jung of Avon, Ann Moore of Time Inc., and Ursula Burns of Xerox.

Read more

Powered by WordPress.com VIP.