Diving Into Miss Aquamarine – (The Addison Rae)
By: Samantha Hirschhorn
Addison Rae’s Been Transforming and Realigning.
Through the release of her latest song, Aquamarine, which dropped with — dare I say — one of the most iconic music videos of 2024, Addison Rae truly secured her spot as a 21st-century it girl. My question is, how did she move from TikTok creator to celebrity stardom? And have we just witnessed the birth of a pop star destined for a legacy of fame?
In 2020, Addison Rae gained popularity — among many others — when she went viral on TikTok for creating dance videos. During the years following, many of those creators oversaturated the media space with their plethora of brand partnerships and projects, which led to the fizzle out of their fame. The social media stars that were once the hottest commodity had suddenly become “cringy” to the public eye. Addison Rae was the only one to escape this fate, which has sparked intrigue among marketing professionals, who have all weighed in with their theories as to why she was able to break away from the social media influencer mold and secure a spot for herself in the celebrity circle.
A marketing tactic used in conversation around Addison Rae’s popularity is called “The Halo Effect”. The Halo Effect was created in the 1920s by American Psychologist Edward Thorndike. The concept explores a specific cognitive bias in which one single aspect of a person can affect someone's thoughts or judgments about the person's other characteristics. When a marketer can create positive emotions associated with a brand, the Halo Effect can be triggered, influencing the audience to perceive the overall brand identity as positive. It’s speculated that Addison Rae transformed the negativity surrounding her brand by mimicking the social media approaches of celebrities who are known for having an aura of mystery. Addison Rae combatted the oversaturation of her media presence by taking a step back, which allowed her to create an elusiveness surrounding her, eventually re-emerging into the media world with an entirely new aesthetic.
To cultivate her engagement while maintaining her newfound aura of elusiveness, it’s theorized that Addison Rae has implemented the “Rubber Band Theory” into her marketing strategy. The Rubber Band Theory was introduced by relationship expert Dr John Gray to explain why men often pull away from the people they are dating or in a relationship with. Through this theory, it’s proven beneficial for the partner — when pulled away from — to maintain the space because like a rubber band, when space is made from pulling away tension is created. The further the stretch is, the harder it will snap back together again. Addison Rae may have created this rubber band-like relationship with her audience. Instead of dropping a series of singles and promoting her music with an overload of content, she leaves a space between her media activities. This gap allows Addison Rae to be intentional with what she posts, curating content that's of high quality and representative of the version of herself she desires to be perceived as. It seems that Addison Rae has found the right amount of space needed to build tension and desire from her fans, explaining why, when she does drop music, the support is sensational
Marketing professional Coco Mocoe believes that Addison Rae was capable of effortlessly entering into the mainstream zeitgeist — breaking away from her TikToker reputation — because she has mastered the concept of “social proof”. Coco Mocoe believes that there are three steps to achieving long-lasting online fame: trial and error, repetition, and social proof. She explains that many social media influencers only repeat the first two steps. They create a variety of content and when one is perceived positively, they repeat that style until their engagement slows down. Then they start experimenting again until they find the next format to repeat. She emphasizes that to become more than just a social media star social proof is necessary. Social proof is a psychological concept coined by Robert Cialdini in 1984, explaining the phenomenon where people adopt the actions and opinions of others to “behave correctly”. Addison Rae built a reputation of prestige for herself by cultivating third-party perspectives of her. She was spotted by paparazzi, attended red carpet worthy events, associated with celebrities such as the Kardashians, was interviewed by magazines, and in collaboration with reputable music artists such as Charli XCX. The key was that she wasn’t speaking directly to her audience telling them how cool she was, the press was doing the talking. This helped her achieve the social proof needed to be viewed as worthy of a spot in the mainstream limelight.
Regardless of what marketing tactics got her here, the icon Addison Rae is present and she's on fire. And I for one am eager to see where she and her team of brilliant creatives are planning to take her next. Is Miss Aquamarine en route to becoming the next greatest pop star? Or, will she be crowned 2025's fashion it girl? Her next transformation and ultimate realignment remain to be seen. Perhaps her own words say it best: “The world is my oyster, and I’m the only girl.”
