The Power of Branding

Blog 5

Branding in Pop VideosBlog 5

Lesson Objectives• To understand why branding is

important• How to sell a brand with artists

such as The Spice Girls

What are the purposes of Pop Videos?

-Markets an image-Helps to creates a brand “a name/term/design that distinguishes one product from another”-Encourages people to buy the record…buy into the brand ‘Viva Forever’

Who’s who?!

Formation of The Spice Girls• In the mid-1990s, family management team Bob Herbert,

Chris Herbert and Lindsey Casbon set about creating a girl group to compete with popular boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s.

• In February 1994, Heart Management placed an advertisement in The Stage trade magazine

http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7075850

Introducing The Brand• After the girls were put together, they quickly begged for a

showcase. At the showcase, they were noticed by Simon Fuller.

• He became their manager, but the girls had only written 6 songs. One of these was “Wannabe” How long did it take to write?

• The song was a real contrast to anything out in the charts. It went in straight to number three and within a couple of days went to number one.

• The branding of The Spice Girls was instant. Each group member was given a branded image.

Image of The Spice GirlsAs the branding was innovative for a girl group, it became their image and was incorporated within each music video.

Their clothes were carefully chosen for their first appearance on American TV:•Victoria in a sophisticated slinky black number •Emma in a bunchies•Mel B in her leopard-skin trousers•Geri in tight dress•Mel C in her favourite Liverpool shirt bottoms

Wannabe

Selling The Spice Girls• The Spice Girls were sold to us as a group of good friends, having fun and making top-

selling singles. They were actually a carefully selected group of strangers chosen, from hundreds of girls. Everything about them was under the control of men or corporations.

• ‘Ginger Spice’ almost didn’t make it into the group, because she looked older than the other girls and had ginger hair. She became a role model for the stereotyped ginger haired girls.

• Spice World (1997) “Why do people stereotype us all the time?”

• Target audience were young girls. The band were relatable to this audience and introduced ‘girl power’ http://www.tubechop.com/watch/7075947

• They quickly appealed to the male market by introducing sex appeal. “Say You’ll Be There”

• Marketing brand was referred to a ‘phenomenon’ on the news and made £100 million pounds in less than a year.

Creating a Brand• Often artists or groups are sold as a brand and the music video

acts as a product of the brand, in the hope that the audience will be inspired to “buy into the brand”.

• For some artists the ‘image’ is of greater importance than the quality of the product. The Spice Girls and JLS are a good examples of this. The Spice Girls had endless merchandising and sponsorship deals. The were involved with Pepsi and Walkers advertisements and even Barbie-style Spice Girls dolls.

• Other times it is the song and the meaning of the song that is sold, and the artists ‘image’ has little to do with the sale of the song. Adele is a good example of this.

Selling The Brand on TV

Spice Girl Documentary

Spice Girls: Giving You Everything Documentary•https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c2y2xEZjUs

Piers Morgan interview with Geri Halliwell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1g-49itJBE

Blog 5

• Write a blog that discusses why branding is important and how music videos (Wannabe) are used as a platform to sell the brand• Critically analyse a second Spice Girls video or a video

from a different artist. How has the branding been successful?

Blog Checklist• Define the term branding. What does it mean?• Why is branding important?• Brief background on The Spice Girls• How were The Spice Girls branded? Was it successful? Why? • Would the girl group have been as successful without the

heavy branding? Why?• How did it relate to the target audience?• How was their brand marketed within their first single

Wannabe?• Analyse a second music video – focus on the branding.