Rihanna and Her Super Bowl Halftime Show

Rihanna just wrapped up a 13-minute live performance at State Farm Stadium during the halftime break of the US Rugby Super Cup. Unlike famous stars who have performed, Rihanna has been hidden for six years, and this is her first live performance in all that time.

From a business perspective, performing at the Super Bowl Halftime Show, every minute, every second is money and clever advertising campaigns. More specifically, Rihanna's appearance at this year's show also marked many "firsts" that made the show’s value even more significant. Let's see who will have a satisfied smile when the last lyrics of the song "Diamonds" resound on the stage flying in the sky of Arizona.

Source: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Apple

After a decade of ups and downs, Pepsi stopped sponsoring the Halftime Show in May 2022. Apple Music became the next sponsor with a $250 million multi-year deal. Because it is the "launching" stage, Apple has made this event even more monumental and impressive. It's understandable since this is the first time a music-related company has sponsored this show. Now that glory belongs to Apple Music and Rihanna after days of painstakingly planning their promotions.

To achieve today, Apple did not view Rihanna's concert as mere entertainment but viewed it as the way Apple launched a new product. The keywords will always be Prediction, mystery, and revelation.

Speculation has been going on since Rihanna posted a picture of her holding a rugby ball on Instagram on September 22, 2022. Since then, the world began to "flame" and put all speculations on her appearance at the Halftime Show. It didn't take long. Apple Music released an official teaser about Rihanna's appearance at the show, revealing that the event's global press conference date is February 9, 2023.

And on the night of February 12, 2023, the "product" of Apple Music was officially launched and created a global media wave. Apple also took advantage of promoting its products throughout the time before the show. For example, they let fans sing along with Rihanna through new features in Apple Music Sing, allowing downloads of Rihanna-themed wallpapers on Shazam and launching Halftime Hype Radio.

Fenty Beauty

Perhaps no one is betting on whether or not Rihanna will bring Fenty Beauty to the stage because it's so obvious. In the middle of the performance, the female singer flaunted her makeup without any extra moves with the product from the brand she founded. She also wore a new liquid lipstick, “MVP," released during the live show.

As reported by Wwd, the analysis shows that Rihanna earned $5.6 million in "Media Impact Value" for the Fenty Beauty brand in the first 12 hours after the show. According to Launchmetrics, the show also helped raise $2.6 million for the Savage x Fenty clothing business. Social analytics firm Brandwatch said mentions of Fenty increased by 717% on digital platforms like Twitter and TikTok following the performance.

But to achieve this, Rihanna and her team took ten years to build a cosmetics empire. This proves Riri's enthusiasm and seriousness in doing business, which sets Fenty apart from some beauty product lines from celebrities facing many scandals in the market.

Rihanna returned to the stage with a custom suit by British designer Jonathan Anderson (creative director of LOEWE). Flights inspire the costumes, and the setting for Rihanna's Halftime Show is also floating in the sky. LOEWE received many compliments for creating the polished breastplate as a highlight for the overall.

Rihanna also wore a pair of low-cut sneakers from the MM6 Maison Margiela and Salomon collaboration. Overnight, Google searches for bright orange sneakers “Cross Low” spiked 4,000 percent, according to Google Trends data.

Meanwhile, Savage X Fenty's fashion lines were assigned to legions of backup dancers to wear. The dancers don white hooded jackets and perform choreographies that open their shirts to reveal pieces from the lingerie brand. This immediately reminded fans on social media that the dancers' sports bras, shorts, and mesh tank tops were available.

At the same time, how Rihanna chooses to wear a tight show outfit also says a lot. YouTuber Jake Paul took to Twitter and stated that the singer is "cool" despite her revealing outfits. Meanwhile, conservative commentator Candice Owens wittily said that in his memory, Rihanna was the first female Super Bowl performer to try not to wear revealing clothes.

Rihanna's Musical Career

Although the Halftime Show often attracts the biggest names in the music industry to perform, there is no actual remuneration for the artists. An NFL spokesman told Forbes in 2016 that it does not pay the artists, instead taking on the production costs of the repertoire.

Many artists even spend extra money to make the performance as impressive as they want it to be. It is yet to be known whether Rihanna will spend more money to build the flying stage, but the value she receives is much greater than money.

According to a Nielsen report and streaming data from NBC, last year's Super Bowl was watched by 112.3 million people. And so far this year, Rihanna's Super Bowl halftime show has garnered 118.7 million viewers.

At the same time, the Halftime Show is also an opportunity for Rihanna to bring the stage of super hits throughout her career, such as Umbrella, Diamonds... Through the number of viewers and searches for old songs, it can be seen what Rihanna has. This affirms the female singer's aura and influence on the music industry.

For an artist, there is nothing more important and impressive than when their music is still well received after a long time of not performing.

Open a new business for pregnant women.

In addition to applying powder, Rihanna also announced that she was pregnant with her second child on the Super Bowl stage. The image of Riri carrying a pregnant belly on stage and full of energy and strength when performing can be the new model of an expectant mother of the world in the coming years.

According to media experts, the news of her pregnancy, confirmed by the singer's representative shortly after the performance, could also herald a new era of business for Rihanna. In early 2023, she is said to have trademarked Fenty Kids, a product line for babies and children that includes clothing, accessories, and shoes.

If this information is accurate, it is normal how Rihanna runs her career. The female artist has always wanted to do big, impressive things and integrate them seamlessly into all aspects of life.

Halftime Show 2023 is over, but Rihanna is just soaring to new heights in her career.