 For the North American release on 13 March 2012 , Columbia Records executives used social media to shape its marketing campaign . Columbia Records co @-@ chairman Steve Barnett and his team decided to reverse the usual pattern of releasing a single on radio . Instead the label mounted a four @-@ month marketing campaign aimed at building a fan base through social media before a single was ever released or played on the radio . The social media campaign asked fans to sign petitions and to enter video competitions to win a concert in their town . The campaign was a success as One Direction 's Facebook followers in the United States rose from 40 @,@ 000 to 400 @,@ 000 . " What Makes You Beautiful " sold more than 131 @,@ 000 copies in its first week , even though it had yet to be played on the radio . Radio programmers were flooded with calls from fans . Johnny Wright , who managed New Kids on the Block , Backstreet Boys and ' N Sync , said : " Now they are calling the radio station , and the radio station is scratching its head , saying , ‘ We don 't even have that record yet , ’ . It 's almost like the return of The Beatles . I call it hype , but it 's positive hype because it 's all real . It 's not manufactured . No one paid these kids . " 
