Nadia
Aug 28th, 2007, 05:53 PM
Marketing's child: Beyoncé
With links ranging from Pepsi to couture, she has become a commerce superstar
By John Wenzel
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/18/2007 05:31:25 PM MDT
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2007/0817/20070817_111113_beyonce_200.jpg
Beyoncé occupies a special perch atop the pop culture landscape, gathering fans, sales and critical kudos with a smooth, powerful voice that slices through the fog of most R&B divas.
Her multiplatinum albums (50 million sold, counting Destiny's Child), Grammy Awards (10), acting gigs ("Dreamgirls," "The Pink Panther") and sundry artistic aspirations reinforce her queen status. But they also reveal a particular facet of her ubiquity: Like
McDonald's golden arches or the familiar blue oval of the Ford logo, 25-year-old Beyoncé Knowles has become a brand.
The former Destiny's Child leader will prove just how powerful that brand identity is when she plays the Pepsi Center on Wednesday. In terms of visibility, she blows artists like Christina Aguilera, Fergie or Ciara out of the shark-infested R&B waters.
It's important to note the distinction between brand and icon. They have much in common, but brands imply commerce, whereas icons can be musical, religious, literary, military - whatever the context.
The artist-as-brand concept is neither new nor unique to Beyoncé. Hip-hop impresarios P. Diddy, 50 Cent and Beyoncé's own boyfriend, Jay-Z, also fit the mold, branching from music into producing, acting, finance, philanthropy and fashion. Much like the definition of "brand," the mere mention of these artists creates expectations and associations.
Let's face it: No one ever said brands couldn't have a personality. In fact, most benefit from one.
And to an extent, all pop stars and mass-media celebrities can be viewed as brands. They act as symbols of Hollywood commerce, outstripping whatever product or service they formerly offered to represent their ideals more abstractly. Just as McDonald's golden arches mean more than a burger and fries, and just as Elvis (and all the lunchboxes and T-shirts he adorned) came to stand for hip- swiveling freedom in the repressive '50s, artists-as-brands like Beyoncé represent more than melody and sentiment; they represent cold, hard cash.
It's the same with "punk" bands like Fall Out Boy, which stand more for a toothless, marketable form of teen angst than any sort of real revolution (see the band's Circuit City "back to school" commercials).
Beyoncé's brand status springs more from her talent than clever niche marketing, but her image is nonetheless used to sell products from Pepsi to her prêt-à-porter fashion line, House of Deréon, which she operates with her mother/stylist, Tina.
"In our lifetime, Beyoncé will be a classic, like how people talk about Aretha Franklin," electro-dance diva M.I.A. told New York magazine recently.
Bold words, but they obscure Beyoncé's marketplace profile. The mini-fluff over her spill at an Orlando concert on July 24 illustrates the obsession with her image. She didn't skip a beat after falling face-first on a flight of stairs, but after the song she implored people with camera phones not to post the incident on YouTube. (cont...)
With links ranging from Pepsi to couture, she has become a commerce superstar
By John Wenzel
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated: 08/18/2007 05:31:25 PM MDT
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site36/2007/0817/20070817_111113_beyonce_200.jpg
Beyoncé occupies a special perch atop the pop culture landscape, gathering fans, sales and critical kudos with a smooth, powerful voice that slices through the fog of most R&B divas.
Her multiplatinum albums (50 million sold, counting Destiny's Child), Grammy Awards (10), acting gigs ("Dreamgirls," "The Pink Panther") and sundry artistic aspirations reinforce her queen status. But they also reveal a particular facet of her ubiquity: Like
McDonald's golden arches or the familiar blue oval of the Ford logo, 25-year-old Beyoncé Knowles has become a brand.
The former Destiny's Child leader will prove just how powerful that brand identity is when she plays the Pepsi Center on Wednesday. In terms of visibility, she blows artists like Christina Aguilera, Fergie or Ciara out of the shark-infested R&B waters.
It's important to note the distinction between brand and icon. They have much in common, but brands imply commerce, whereas icons can be musical, religious, literary, military - whatever the context.
The artist-as-brand concept is neither new nor unique to Beyoncé. Hip-hop impresarios P. Diddy, 50 Cent and Beyoncé's own boyfriend, Jay-Z, also fit the mold, branching from music into producing, acting, finance, philanthropy and fashion. Much like the definition of "brand," the mere mention of these artists creates expectations and associations.
Let's face it: No one ever said brands couldn't have a personality. In fact, most benefit from one.
And to an extent, all pop stars and mass-media celebrities can be viewed as brands. They act as symbols of Hollywood commerce, outstripping whatever product or service they formerly offered to represent their ideals more abstractly. Just as McDonald's golden arches mean more than a burger and fries, and just as Elvis (and all the lunchboxes and T-shirts he adorned) came to stand for hip- swiveling freedom in the repressive '50s, artists-as-brands like Beyoncé represent more than melody and sentiment; they represent cold, hard cash.
It's the same with "punk" bands like Fall Out Boy, which stand more for a toothless, marketable form of teen angst than any sort of real revolution (see the band's Circuit City "back to school" commercials).
Beyoncé's brand status springs more from her talent than clever niche marketing, but her image is nonetheless used to sell products from Pepsi to her prêt-à-porter fashion line, House of Deréon, which she operates with her mother/stylist, Tina.
"In our lifetime, Beyoncé will be a classic, like how people talk about Aretha Franklin," electro-dance diva M.I.A. told New York magazine recently.
Bold words, but they obscure Beyoncé's marketplace profile. The mini-fluff over her spill at an Orlando concert on July 24 illustrates the obsession with her image. She didn't skip a beat after falling face-first on a flight of stairs, but after the song she implored people with camera phones not to post the incident on YouTube. (cont...)