Break From the Pack: How to Compete in a Copycat Economy

3. The Madonna Effect and the Willie Nelson Principle: The Power of Calculated Reinvention

Learning from Madonna

Whether or not you're a Madonna fan, there's no denying the fact that, as an artistic enterprise, she's been spectacularly successful. Not only has she sold 140 million albums over the past 25 years, but she's also garnered mammoth sales from concerts, movies, books, and videos. In November 2005, when (according to the Drudge Report) she "stole the show" at the MTV Europe Music Awards, Robbie Williams—who won Best Male—said: "She's an absolute legend and makes us all look like amateurs."

All this in spite of the fact that she's not a particularly great singer, dancer, actor, or writer. Yet as one critic wrote recently, Madonna "still ...