AboutAngie Hung Expertise Melanie C (aka Sporty Spice). I can answer things like: -who her idols are
-what kind of music she likes -details of her first solo album -her sexual
preferences -how she likes to relax -why she likes fame -her and the future
of the Spice Girls. I also have contact with a woman on their management
team, so I have access to information that others may not have access to.
Experience Oh, see my Madonna profile for this one.
Question Hi,
Thanks for taking the time to read my question. I have always been totally impressed by the Spice Girls as business women. They had a very good strategic plan in the earliest days that really catapulted them to stardom. I am now writing a paper for one of my business classes (about strategic planning) about the way the Spice Girls went about organizing their plan for stardom and then executed it perfectly to achieve their goals. What I am hoping you may be able to provide me with is background on their earliest plans for exposure, to get contacts in the business, etc. I had heard that they dumped the management company that brought them together, fairly quickly, but was this after they got a demo tape out of them? Also, I have heard that when they finally got their record deal with Virgin, they had already created such a "buzz" about them that they actually had record labels fighting over them, rather than the usual band going after labels. What did they do to accomplish this? What did they do to get news media, etc. to take notice of them? What was the chronology from when they first got together up to becoming number one worldwide? I know these are a lot of questions, but any type of info you can give on the way they went about achieving their dreams in the early days, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much!
Sincerely,
Kelly
Answer hello Kelly,
Wow, what a great in-depth question, one of the most in-depth ones I've ever received! :-)
The Spice Girls were put together by a management team of Chris and Bob Hebert. After about 6 months, they were upset that they were being told exactly what to do and how to dress, so they left. At that time, Chris/Bob had a demo tape of them, so the day they left, Geri (and the rest of the Girls) pretended they really wanted to hear their demo tape so that they could work on their voices, but once they had the tape in their hands, they just walked out of Chris/bob's house for good. As you probably know, they later found Simon Fuller (after visiting many potential managers but only realizing that it was Simon who understood them and would give them their room/respect).
Once under Simon, he helped mold them into performers...
This is when they also would burst into record management offices alltogether and show what they could do as a group. (They probably talked as much as they sung). This helped create lots of hype about them that passed around. Eventually, this made top record companies very interested in them and their attitude (something that probably had never been seen in the market for quite some time). eventually they settled with Virgin, who somehow offered them the best deal and the most attitude. So basically, they got people to notice them by simply visiting the various offices and DEMANDING to be heard even though this may not be the most professional of protocols.
In the beginning, they took singing/voice lessons and were taught how to coordinate their singing/dancing with each other. Geri was quite sensitive about all this, and sometimes would put in extra hours, because she felt she wasn't learning fast enough. I believe it was her, Mel B, and Emma who did most of the talking, whereas Victoria and Mel C kinda hung in the background.
I believe most of their contacts were through knowing Chris/Bob and networking through them.
They did a few test shows with Chris/Bob in front of mgmt bigwigs, which also helped them gain a little exposure.
And of course, because Simon was already established as a music manager, he was able to provide the marketing background that they very well needed.
So basically, it was just a lot of persistent knocking on the doors of "important" people. So it was their never-give-up attitude that got them to where they are now. Obviously, they aren't the most talented singers/dancers, but this usually never dictates who makes it and who doesn't. It is more concerned with who has the strongest drive and ambition.
I hope this helps a bit, best wishes on your essay!
