• by Seana Mulcahy , October 16, 2006

Quite often I speak on branding online. In many presentations I'll ask the audience or group to think of a powerful brand. In many instances the bulk of them say the same things such as: Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Coke, Pepsi, Microsoft, Apple, etc.

When I follow up by asking why these are powerful brands, I don't get too much fodder. Typically, these names are what comes top of mind. Many remembered recent television commercials that triggered their answer.

Nowadays I wouldn't disagree with some of the answers, but I'd add more (some of which have heavy online spends): iPod, Hummer (H3 specifically), Mercedes, Disney World, Orbitz, eBay, Google, Yahoo, Monster.com, Dell, etc.

Another truly explosive brand these days is Paris Hilton. I know you may cringe when I say that. In fact you may be entirely sick of seeing her in the tabloids, with her pop vocal hits, reality TV show and clothing and fragrance lines. To me she is a "brand"--a current one at that. By that I mean, let's see what happens with her in 10 years--who knows?

Let's face it, celebrities are not only influential, they have the cachet to become a brand. A celebrity endorsement could also make or break your brand. Do you think these are good or bad celebrity endorsements (of course I'm making some up): Anna Nicole Smith for Trim Spa, Lara Flynn Boyle for the USDA meat campaign, Ty Pennington for the Sears line of Craftsman tools, Elmo for Green Beans, Angelina Jolie for lipstick, Mel Gibson for beer, Tiger Woods for Nike, Venus and Serena Williams for Puma...

We've seen positive and negative results from such associations. For instance, take Kate Moss. A picture of her snorting cocaine was plastered all over British, then U.S., tabloids. She had deals with Gucci, Yves St. Laurent, Burberry and H & M at the time. H & M decided to stay with her (for her slated promotion of its new Stella McCartney line) if she would come out about her addiction. Wow, that's pretty risky, don't you think?

I'm always intrigued when celebrities come out with their own product lines, campaigns and charities. Lance Armstrong's Livestrong effort grew super big in an instant. Everyone was wearing yellow rubber bracelets with the word LIVESTRONG on it to support cancer research.

I was really blown away recently by the hugely popular band U2's lead singer Bono. Have you heard what he's up to yet? If not, you'll begin to see it everywhere. Bono teamed up with Bobby Shriver, chairman of DATA--Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa--to create and promote RED.

Bono hopes that profits from the venture will generate a "sustainable" flow of money to support the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria. Bono and Shriver have personally solicited the likes of American Express, Gap, Armani and Converse, to be launch partners. These partners have designed such products as a red Amex card, T-shirts with words such as inspi(RED), cool Bono-esque red sunglasses from Armani, a red Motorolla Razr phone (clad with Bono ring tone), etc. On average RED partners are agreeing to donate 40 percent of the sale of their customized wares to RED.

According to a RED fact sheet, RED is not a charity or campaign, but an economic initiative that aims to deliver a sustainable flow of private sector money to the Global Fund.

So can a celebrity make or break a brand? Better yet, can a celebrity create his/her own brand? Well, this author gives the green light to RED.