Sunday, April 26, 2009

CELEBRITY BRANDING

Although we’ve worked with numerous celebrities over the years on behalf of clients, we’ve chosen never to represent celebrities directly. But, it certainly would make sense. Celebrities are consumer brands as much as any packaged good is and, like an automobile brand, for example, they need to maintain a relevant point of distinction or ‘why to buy’ over time. (Above is a photo of me with Olympian Michael Phelps, who trains with PureSport, the most scientific sports drink on the market and one of our clients. It was taken after we took Phelps to MTV to do an interview that we secured for him to discuss PureSport.)

This is why the new Denise Richards “fun bags” video that’s been making the rounds (so to speak) on the Internet made me cringe. Already suffering from a severe case of irrelevancy in today’s entertainment market (and all who follow the Dynabranding principles or marketing know we are all about relevancy), Richards has decided to release a silly, five-minute, double-entendre video to (I am guessing?) display her skills as a comedic actress and try to get some acting work. Instead, the video comes off as a desperate and irresponsible (since kids are involved in the prank) attempt to make herself relevant again. It might have been a good strategy if Richards were trying to interest Playboy in featuring her fun bags, but she's already posed for the magazine. So, unless this was a stunt designed to prime the market for a new line of Denise Richards bras, whoever counseled her to do this video was, well, a boob.

While I’m on the topic of celebrity branding, can someone please help Jennifer Aniston? Sadly, she is well on her way to becoming the celebrity brand synonymous with ‘victim.’ A modern-day Debbie Reynolds. I just can’t understand why—given the Brangelina situation, which she has allowed to define her—anyone would advise Aniston to star, over and over again, in victim-themed movies like “The Break Up, “The Baster” and “He’s Just Not That Into You.” Who in the world is advising this poor woman? Unless this is part of a larger strategy designed to help Aniston own all of Hollywood's woe-is-me roles, these are ill-advised career choices. Aniston is lovely and talented and has the potential to be one of our most beloved comedic actresses but she needs to focus on reshaping and rebuilding her brand. My advice? First, she needs to determine what the Jennifer Aniston brand represents. The girl next door? The quintessential best friend? Second, she needs to start choosing relevant movie roles. Third, like all true brand leaders, she needs to stop talking about the competition--no more interviews about Brangelina.

1 comment:

  1. Carla,
    Great post. Enough already! I blogged on a similar topic a few posts ago: http://tinyurl.com/cryvxg

    I wouldn't rep any of these people either, but I'm thinking their PR folks could use a good Carla Boot Camp.

    Well done.

    Best,

    Ashley

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