Can you please explain about the 1D discourse blog saying that Harry’s team uses the same street team and how it’s not surprising? Thanks
I think they were referring to the podcast transcribed here. The transcription didn’t mention HSHQ or Harry specifically, so maybe there’s information floating around that I haven’t seen— see addendum below please.
The “stalker crews” back in the day created a special hierarchy of fans that created drama for PR. They were an inexpensive way to push official narratives, and are cheaper than buying media in a tabloid.
These special groups are an intermediary to the fandom— they convey the zeitgeist from fandom, and they disseminate PR to the fandom.
In 2016, Louis was doing constant Starbucks pap walks and meeting the same fans. Harry seems to have a group of fans that stalk him in LA (and are connected via Twitter). But the information they have is nowhere close to what used to happen. The Azoffs have not really believed in technology for promo, instead relying on tried-and-true industry connections.
Anyway, doing these “street teams” for the bigger cities (London, NY, LA) is an old-fashioned, inefficient way to gather information (it worked for 1D because SM was still young and innocent). I don’t think 5 or even 100 fans would be representative. The overhead— the cost of logistics— to cater to these fans, and the blowback if they’re unhappy (since they’re “insider” fans, their complaints may be taken more seriously) to me, outweighs any benefit.
These days, there are actual social media firms that will crunch big data from social media for artists and corporations. It has evolved rapidly over the last five years. Data from FB, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr of big and small accounts, emails etc. can be used to personalize marketing. Taylor Swift does this particularly well— she’s a huge artist, but manages to relate to fans on a personal level.
Catering to a small group of fans can be problematic because of fandom politics— which are volatile for 1D. The HQ’s also seem to have a knack for picking out the most divisive people. Not sure what the exact function of street teams are nowadays— so this is speculative.
Addendum: thanks to @1ddiscourseoftheday for messaging me. They have spoken to people connected with the Dutch street teams. According to this information, "some" of the team was still active from 1D days, are not stalkers, and are used for both Harry and Zayn (on behalf of Sony). “The team had been called in for HS1 release stuff. She used the present tense throughout so I assume they will also be used for HS2.” “There are still meetings like this but now for the solo careers.” (So it’s on Sony. Not FSM.)
Thank you for the clarification!