Fabricating celebrity brands via scandalous narrative: crafting, capering and commodifying the comedian, Russell Brand

Abstract

© 2015, © 2015 Westburn Publishers Ltd. Abstract: Most marketing researchers with an interest in the mythic machinations of celebrity culture assume that being implicated in a scandal is detrimental to long-term brand-building efforts. However, our premise is that this assumption is often misguided. We argue that celebrities who court scandal sometimes find that the media coverage it precipitates – especially when the spun narrative is compelling – can significantly increase their brand value. To support our assertion, we begin by reviewing the literature on celebrity scandal. Following this, we illustrate how the creation of a scandalous narrative can fuel a celebrity career. To do so, we investigate the colourful career of the comedian-cum-revolutionary, Russell Brand. We conclude that, when combined, the 3Cs of his scandalous narrative – crafting, capering and commodifying – present, in combination, a viable means of gaining entry into the upper echelons of celebritydom

Old Practice, but Young Research Field: A Systematic Bibliographic Review of Personal Branding

“…In order to resolve terminological confusion, "human brand" could serve as a general term for the brand that results from a personal branding process, independent of class. In this sense, a human brand is an intangible asset linked to a person, which Authenticity Thomson, 2006;Morton, 2012;Gander, 2014;Moulard et al, 2014Moulard et al, , 2015Lunardo et al, 2015;Mills et al, 2015;Philbrick and Cleveland, 2015;Kowalczyk andPounders, 2016 Differentiation Labrecque et al, 2011;Parmentier and Fischer, 2012;Carlson and Donavan, 2013;Chen, 2013;Gander, 2014;Cocker et al, 2015;Mills et al, 2015 Visibility Harris and Rae, 2011;Labrecque et al, 2011;Morton, 2012;Parmentier and Fischer, 2012;Elwell, 2014;Gander, 2014;Philbrick and Cleveland, 2015 Social media Hearn, 2008;Gehl, 2011;Labrecque et al, 2011;Chen, 2013;Elwell, 2014;Lindridge and Eagar, 2015;Gandini, 2016 Narrative identity McAdams, 2011;Belk, 2013;Elwell, 2014Attachments Thomson, 2006Carlson and Donavan, 2013;Chen, 2013;Loroz and Braig, 2015 Co-brands and stakeholders Close et al, 2011;Parmentier and Fischer, 2012;…”

“…Distinction does not necessarily have to have positive connotations. Even negative "bad boy" or "bad girl" images (Carlson and Donavan, 2013), the refusal to comply with societal conventions, or even scandals may lead to differentiation (Mills et al, 2015) and attention.…”

“…Authenticity represents a crucial ingredient for human brands as it affects attitudes toward branded individuals positively, which in turn is a critical component used in consumer judgments and decision-making (Mills et al, 2015). The understanding of what authenticity of a human brand means exactly is predominantly 2fold.…”

“…Furthermore, target groups and categories represent two indispensable dimensions in traditional branding (Keller, 2013). However, abstract terms such as "customer" (Gehl, 2011), "consumer" (Carlson and Donavan, 2013), and "audience" (Mills et al, 2015) are widely applied in personal branding but it remains nebulous as to who is meant by this. Similarly, the term "target market" serves as an undefined focus for numerous activities in human brand positioning (Shepherd, 2005), except for the art market (Schroeder, 2005), the music market (Lindridge and Eagar, 2015) and the job market (Zamudio et al, 2013).…”

How Social Media Changes Today’s Marketing Strategies

“…In order to promote a variety of products and services through social media; viral advertising allows global brands or their marketers to use those channels and reach much more targeted customers [14]. Measured by number (in millions) of active users * In the last 12 months, platforms have not released updated user data, data may not be obsolete and accurate * * The MAU data and data use from publication by third parties are not shared on these networks.…”