A brand can be representative of a company, a product, or a person/people, and how the consumers view that particular “product.” It could be a personal brand, like perhaps Lady Gaga, it could be a cult following for a product, like Nugget play furniture (don’t look it up but I know you will anyways*), or a company who has a very present and relevant social media account, like Slim Jim’s or Scrub Daddy.
In order to develop a brand, a company needs to first decide who/what it is, and the market they are aiming for. They also need to determine what kind of identify they would like to present to the public; if they want to be comedic, professional, or cool, they need to figure out how to market that.
Arts companies present many unique opportunities to create a brand, but also present a set of challenges. Companies with their feet in the arts (weird analogy, felt right) don’t always have a physical product to sell. Lots of these companies sell an experience, rather than a product that you can buy in a store. For example, a festival could have a more difficult time creating a brand than a shoe company, but with some creativity, these companies can create a unique brand to market to their customers.
For artists, it is important to build a brand from the beginning to make yourself well-known and easily assessable. An artist that comes to mind is Oliver Tree. If you’ve ever seen him, he’s quite an odd fellow, who makes some interesting music. His bowl cut, razor scooter, and the 4 colors he wears comprise his MO- easily identifiable and easy to consume. Now I’m not saying you need a 3-story razor scooter like Mr. Tree, or a dress constructed of Kermit the Frog plushes like Miss Gaga, but it certainly helps you stand out- pink hair just doesn’t cut it anymore (I’ll keep on dying mine pink though).
If you think you can’t write your senior thesis on Lady Gaga, think again. And if you don’t think it can be educational, think even harder. The Study of Lady Gaga’s Brand does a fantastic job of defining the importance of branding in the music/art industry:
“Strong brands start conversations and build communities based on a relationship with and trust of the brand; they encourage the consumer to adopt the desired view of the product, service, or corporation. Brands are, however, not solely limited to products, goods, or services.”
This paper cites an article that attempts to dissect how and why her brand is so successful:
“Out.com said: Each one sees in Gaga a reflection of him or herself, picking from her array of looks and melodies and messages those that appeal to them. Gay, straight, misfit, mall rat, teen, tween, or twink, look at Gaga and you’ll see yourself.” (Stein & Michelson, 2010, para. 14)
Gaga creates a sense of community within her brand. She refers to her fan base as “little monsters” which helps fans of all backgrounds feel together and like they are part of something bigger than themselves. Similarly, two of my favorite YouTube commentary personalities refer to their audience as “Little Stinkers” (Drew Gooden) and simply “Greg” (Danny Gonzalez). It might seem like a simple and mundane effort at creating a brand, but you can’t call it stupid if it works. Creating a community behind a brand is not effortless in any means. The creator must consciously and constantly maintain the brand and the identity behind it.
I took the liberty of compiling a list of (2) companies/people/products that have, in my opinion, revolutionized online branding:
Scrub Daddy (aside for the absolute madness it must have been to create a Board of Trustees for a brand with daddy in the name) and the larger-than-like Scrub Daddy they created as a marketing stunt: Massive Scrub Daddy (7.2 million views)
A random tiktok-er making 20 year olds excited about Hot Wheels again: Hot Wheels TikTok (12 million views)
San Diego Zoo allowing unique access to animals we don’t get to see everyday: Here Comes the Boy (their entire account has amassed 27 million likes)
*If you do choose to look it up use this link, https://thesubscriber.medium.com/nugget-after-dark-is-a-weird-place-1d453ef0f187, much more appropriate than if you were to straight up google “Nugget After Dark”
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