Tracey Lincoln — the mastermind behind Beyonce’s ‘Renaissance’ social media presence — visits the Bass Fellows

by Taylor Marie Contarino

“What ‘content’ means is even changing,” explained Tracey Lincoln: storyteller, creator, strategist, and so much more.

A connoisseur of all things creative, her hands-on approach to this ever-changing media landscape is nothing short of remarkable. 

On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 2nd, Tracey Lincoln visited the USC Annenberg Charlotta Bass Journalism and Justice Lab as part of a “Lunch & Learn” series featuring iconic, innovative, and inspiring media trailblazers across the entertainment, journalism, and media spaces.  

Tracey Lincoln shares her knowledge with the Bass Lab over lunch.

Social-first entertainment is her philosophy. Lincoln has worked with the teams of the hit show Atlanta, the RENAISSANCE album, the Emmys, Hulu, and so much more. She’s carefully curated and conceptualized campaigns and events, adding her unique touch to every project. In her presentation, she reflected on multiple direct-to-social packaged concepts. One notable example of this work is the live Times Square listening party that she curated in honor of the release of RENAISSANCE. This is the same event that created #ClubRenaissance.

“How do we incite the hype beforehand?” she asks aloud to the fellows, describing the trailers she helped release in promotion of Season 2 of Atlanta. Lincoln’s innovative approach to her content allows the brands she works with to break through the noise of today’s saturated media ecosystem.

Lincoln collaborated with Instagram to use a unique font for Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE activation.

When crafting these promotional trailers, her approach was clear - she wanted to avoid rote repetition in her cross-platform activations. Creatively diverting from easy answers, she innovates in real-time across all avenues of her social media marketing work. For Lincoln, it’s important to diversify content across platforms, taking a unique approach to the perspectives and likenesses of different target audiences. The audiences on each platform may not be the same age, may not have the same interests, and may not even be the same people.

“Everything I do is what everybody else sees,” Lincoln describes, shining a light on how pivotal and instrumental social media has become for brands. Lincoln describes the intense pressure that exists in the social media marketing industry: a workflow that used to be secondary is now more intentional than ever. This intentionality is palpable in the way Lincoln has crafted Beyoncé’s modern virality. Her Instagram bio - which Lincoln refers to as “social real estate” - became an essential element of the RENAISSANCE campaign. “Her bio became a creative space…Even the links,” explained Lincoln.

Tracey Lincoln takes a parting photo with the Bass Lab.

Known lovingly by fans as “Parkeisha,” referring to her role at Parkwood Entertainment, Lincoln reflects on the RENAISSANCE era. “The whole big focus for this album was the fans,” explains Lincoln. “You are the visuals, baby,” she laughs. That quote has become a witticism within the Beyhive fan community. A unifying fan-to-fan connection was truly established through RENAISSANCE and was one of the first times the Beyoncé fandom had experienced some hands-on connection with their beloved muse.

Lincoln has been in the entertainment industry for the entirety of her career, and there is still so much ahead for the young 34-year-old. Recently, she worked on a campaign with Westbrook, Will and Jada Pinkett Smith’s company. Moving forward, Lincoln’s impact does not stop here. She has recently been named an executive at Imagine Entertainment, where she will continue piloting and trailblazing in the entertainment industry.