The former Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta seemingly arrived on the scene fully formed as Lady Gaga and ever since girl found her game, she has played her heart out.  Music bloggers and critics compare her to Madonna, or call her Cher-esque.  Tabloids warn Christina and Mariah that there’s a fresh queen of pop on the block.  Elton John annoints her his new goddess.

And yet none of these analyses, nor all of them in the entirety, do justice to the gamechanging quality of Lady Gaga’s appeal, and the attraction she has for her fans, whom she has dubbed The Little Monsters.  Calling her the next Oprah would be closer to the mark, because she’s on her way, if she’s not there already, toward becoming a cultural phenomenon the likes of which her generation has not yet seen.

Here’s why:  Better than perhaps any pop culture persona of our time, she understands that her narrative belongs to her audience.  Instead of giving the Little Monsters an iconic persona they can imitate–as popstars like Madonna, the Beatles and Elvis did–Lady Gaga gives her fans a window to their own identities. Her repertoire is so dense with meta meaning, she evolves so persistently–getting on a plane playing one role, for instance, and getting off the plane playing another role–that her narrative is always fresh, she is continually being reborn before our eyes.

Fluent in the universal languages of spirituality, music, fashion, design, choreography, makeup, theater, fame, humor, honesty, hard work, sisterhood, branding, myth, equality, and improvisation, she speaks through all of them, often through many of them simultaneously, to connect with her  her audience.  What she says to them through these many languages always boils down to this:  “Look at me and find yourself.”

This is why the University of South Carolina teaches a course entitled Lady Gaga and the Sociology of Fame. It is why senior citizens, hotel workers, Russians, college students and young people all find her captivating.  We are all Little Monsters in search of ourselves.

Brands and organizations can learn a lot from Gaga:

Be true to your essential character, and you can play a thousand roles authentically.  Choose big themes and explore those themes energetically.  Express yourself in all kinds of languages, the more the better.   Always keep your narrative moving and evolving.  Don’t try to define what you are supposed to mean to your customers.  Instead, shimmer with meaning, just like Gaga, and let your customers know that in your brand they will discover some new part of themselves.