The Celebrity branding of yesteryear mainly consisted of a celebrity almost obnoixously parading around with their name and face attached to some new fragrance, clothing line, or in Derek Jeter’s case a 24 hour Fitness center named Jeter24. The idea here is to directly use a public figure as a brand with little or no departure from the celebrity’s own image by including the famous moniker in the brand’s name.
There’s a new branding crew to hit Hollywood and their positioning strategies are much different. A bunch of celebrity clothing lines are popping up under aliases that sound more like existing stand-alone fashion houses. Justin Timberlake and Rachel Bilson both chose a Hodgepodge of old family names, like Proenza Schouler did, with William Rast and Edie Rose.
Andre Benjamin of Outkast chose Benjamin Bixby for his menswear line. Suprisingly, the line isn’t necessarily a direct brand extension of his Andre 3000 character. When someone with an existing image decides to blatantly use his or her name as a brand name, the consumer connection is immediate. Benjamin feels this can actually hinder the potential of a brands success when he told The New York Times, “ I think people will judge what I do a little harder than someone who was just starting out”.
The intent here is not to completely hide the celebrity affiliation but simply to avoid the flashy self-serving positioning.
The label-it-as-a-secret tactic can create a special kind of buzz. The public feels privileged to think they are in on inside information when the celebrity relationship is revealed—which it always is. That’s the tricky part of this backwards tactic—the way in which you create the awareness that the brand is celebrity-backed. If executed properly, is this a good way to leverage on a celebrity’s image? Is the place for the “_____ by Joe Celebrity” brands diminishing? Does this tactic evoke empathy due to the less public credit attribution? Maybe even a better sense of authenticity?
Posted by Heather Viggiani on October 2, 2008 12:46 PM
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