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Michael Jackson and Beyoncé built massive followings by disappearing strategically. Constant visibility kills mystery and bores people. Silence and selective absence create anticipation and keep your brand powerful.
Michael Jackson and Beyoncé built massive followings by disappearing strategically. Constant visibility kills mystery and bores people. Silence and selective absence create anticipation and keep your brand powerful.
Is there any examples of someone who's popular or someone who's doing a really good job of sort of a masterclass on how to use silence to their advantage? I think of various musicians like a Michael Jackson or Beyoncé. The thing that Michael Jackson understood before he even read the book was the importance of disappearing. That when you're too present, then people know you too well. They take you for granted. So he would disappear for several years in between albums. Nobody knew what he was doing and it made everybody talk about him, made everybody fantasize about him. Everybody wonder what's the next trick that Michael Jackson's gonna perform. Beyoncé will do the same thing. You don't have to post every day. You have to create some mystery around you. That is a form of silence. That is a form of disappearing. Because the whole point is, if people know exactly who you are, there's no fantasy element in anymore, and they're going to get bored with you, and they're going to turn their attention to somebody else.
