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In the case of visual artists, the product they create is inextricably linked to their identities, personalities and career histories in terms of how the art is produced, presented, consumed and positioned and valued in the market. Although artists' branding initiatives are considered relevant to branding and marketing theory, identifying how these are constructed and managed and identity negotiated through this process is an area that needs further development. This research therefore uses a multi-stakeholder approach to branding theory to examine contemporary artists' careers to understand how value is added to their 'product'. Qualitative analysis of artists' biographies and career histories in the London art market illustrates how value is co-constructed through relationships in a temporal manner that must be strategically managed.Finola Kerrigan is a senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Birmingham, where she teaches and researches marketing and consumption, specifically in relation to arts and culture.

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This paper reports on findings from a study which investigates our digital identities. Through examination of the process of constructing biographical films derived from users' social media (SM) data, we progress understanding of the digital self. Building on dramaturgical understandings of performance of self, we challenge the dominant views which argue that SM users operating as their 'authentic selves' can be empowered by having the potential for contemporaneous multiple selves. Through the introduction of the concepts of SM leakage and multiple temporal selves, we note the challenge of living with these digital self-representations which are sustained over time. We propose strategies for dealing with temporal shifts, as well as dispensing with the notion of the separation of these selves.

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