Okay, so we were talking about branding earlier this week...here's a prime example of when branding goes bad.
Very, very bad.
Here's a link to Miley Cyrus' controversial new video "Can't Be Tamed" that premiered last night on E. You might have to watch through a movie preview or two, but it will play after that.
http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/miley_cyrus/index.html
I'm speechless. I'm trying to find intelligent words but all I have is "OMG!"
Two years ago, the name Miley Cyrus conjured the image of a cute teen star with a shaggy blonde wig and the alias of Hannah Montana. Disney Pop Princess, fresh-faced girl with a decent voice.
One year to six months ago, you would have heard the Miley Cyrus and thought about a pretty, brunette teenager, growing up and stretching her vocal limits along with her maturity and attempting to reach new heights in country as she goes on "The Climb" of a lifetime. (Sometimes the stretches fell flat, along with her tone, but hey, I can't sing great either, so who am I to judge?)
Now we have a crazy, overly sexy pop singer in leather with half naked dancers, a mildly simulated orgy and an incredibly scary bird outfit. Seriously? And was she even singing? The voice digitilizer or whatever you call it was taking over. I can't help but think this screams "the next Britney Spears". Someone might as well just hand Miley a razor now because she's zooming right down the same "shave my head in a random public meltdown" road.
Sigh.
How did this happen? Blonde family-friendly pop singer to maturing, naturally pretty brunette country singer to feathered, sex-ed up minor with a techno voice?
Let's learn a lesson from Miley, here, dear authors. Branding is important. I know an author changing brands might not be as public or dramatic as a singer like Miley switching venues but it still matters. Readers and fans alike become used to a certain type of performance. They trust that performance. Just like all these mothers are now mourning the loss of their safe little Hannah Montana for their kids viewing pleasure, readers mourn the loss of being able to trust a certain delivery from an author.
Remember it's okay to branch out and try new things one baby step at a time, like Erynn advised Monday, but let's leave the psycho-ness to the professionals, mmm-K?
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I saw the video, and it just makes me sad. She's headed down a dangerous path.
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness, that is so sad to see what she's become! i really liked your post and think we do need to be careful about not venturing out too far.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great illustration for the never-ending debate among AQers.
ReplyDeleteAre you stuck with the genre you first publish in? And to what extent?
Thanks for putting it out there in such a visual way.
What is it with Disney stars going haywire once they get out into the big part of Hollywood? It's like they advance to college and go crazy. I mean think about it: Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, now Miley Cyrus. Just, wow...
ReplyDeleteI'm echoing Julie here - she's definitely headed down a dangerous path. And thanks for showing us a real-life example of branding, Betsy! So very sad...
ReplyDeleteWell, I am kind of... disturbed. The lyrics are so self centered. i understand the whole "don't try to change me" but the rest of it "I have to get my way or I'm going to blow up" wow. Not to mention the dancing and costumes.
ReplyDeleteI think the Disney stars go crazy when trying to get into the adult industry because they want to shed the reputation of being sweet little innocent kids. I wish they wouldn't, if they just grew up and didn't do outrageous things they probably would keep their original fan base.
You're so right Tiffany! It's sad. As a mother, this just PAINS me. And supposedly her parents and boyfriend are PROUD of her? Ugh. I just wanna slap some sense into her and then hand her a Bible. Whatever she is looking for is in there, not in stage lights, costumes,and push up bras.
ReplyDeleteCatwoods Blogger, to answer your question, you are never "stuck" with your genre - as Erynn coached Monday, you need to pick one genre and run with it a LONG time when you are first starting out in the publishing world. Let your readers know you and your work, build a fan base. Then take baby steps toward a new genre that catches your attention. Don't be a one hit wonder in 2-3 different genres. It's confusing and most of the time publishers won't allow it anyway. At least not traditional publishers.
Even with authors like Susan May Warren, as I mentioned in a comment on Erynn's post, their brand is the same even in the genre is not. Remember, brand and genre are not the same thing. Brand is what comes to mind when a reader hears your name. Genre is the type of novel classificaiton. I know this is a little confusing.
Any more questions?
Eww. Very disappointing for Miley. What a way to ditch your fan base.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I'll add to this. When you're first starting out with writing, it's important to explore all sorts of genres to find out what excites you most as the writer. Sometimes we don't discover what we like until we begin writing something we don't like. Yes, definitely as you establish yourself it's important to think about brands and the like, but I think sometimes we veer off course by focusing on branding too soon. Let yourself play and explore. That's okay. And look deep in yourself. What do you personally enjoy reading? Sometimes that's what you're supposed to write. :)
ReplyDelete