Social Media Branding: How Kelly Rowland Is Creating a Brand in "Dance R and B"

Social Media Strategy and Branding: How Singer Kelly Rowland Is Creating a Brand in "Dance R and B"



To begin the article let me say that I don’t know Kelly Rowland and I don’t know her branding strategy. What appears in this article are only my observations and opinions. Of course, if Kelly, herself, reads this article, I would love to work for her and I hope that she will hire me.

The first thing that Kelly did in creating a brand for R & B dance is that she repositioned herself. Kelly Rowland has a well known brand, but it is a brand in a lower age demographic than Young Urban Professional. She knows that she can’t be a significant brand if she stays in this demographic. She knows that she has to move up in demographics from kids to middle-class young urban adults. The importance in this repositioning can be illustrated from an event in the American Civil War.

The battle that changed the paradigm of that war was the Battle of Gettysburg, and that was decided because a Union General, John Buford repositioned his brand (his army) to compete in a higher demographic to create a pre-eminent brand (win the battle). This is best illustrated in the movie "Gettysburg". Sam Elliot played the part of General Buford. General Buford was the first Union general to appear on the scene at Gettysburg. He was winning a small skirmish, but General Buford realized that a major battle was going to be fought and he realized that the winner of that battle would be the army that controlled the hills around Gettysburg.

General Buford repositioned his brand (his army) by moving to a larger demographic (the Big and Little Round Tops around Gettysburg) that actually controlled his genre (that would decide the ultimate winner of the battle). The Battle of Gettysburg was won because a general originally retreated, in order to win the larger battle. This is what Kelly Rowland is doing to create her branding of R &B.

Kelly has a great brand in R & B, but she knows that she will never become the pre-eminent brand in that music space until she moves to the larger and more lucrative dance R & B. In this space, it is Rihanna who has the leading brand. Kelly has decided to position herself against Rihanna by consistently, and stylishly, embracing THE EDGE. Something has to be said about material and material strategy. The demographic that Kelly is pursuing, young professional 22-34, has people who are either married or in a strong, committed relationships. These are people in which sex is a very important part of their life. The singers themselves are in this age bracket and are experiencing the same life experiences as their demographic.

Music communicates the life experience of the listener and a strong brand will only be developed if a singer’s music and lyrics reflects the life experiences of the listeners. Married and committed people make love and a musician will not have a brand in this demographic unless the lyrics reflect this. As the Reverend Billy Graham has said many times in his sermons on television, sex is not wrong. It depends upon the context. In the context of the demographics of Urban R & B, sexual and edgy lyrics are not wrong, in themselves.

Rihanna and Kelly approach content strategy from two different directions in creating their respective brands. Rihanna’s lyrics are edgy, but she softens the edge in her videos. Kelly has decided to embrace the edge and in both her songs and in her videos the content is edgy. Edgy, but with a twist. Kelly’s "Motivation" video has blatant edgy content. Kelly makes no apology for this. She says the video is "uber sexy". The video is a dance video, with many beautiful dancers, male and female. It is extremely visual----classy, stylish. The male dancers, in particular, have extreme "six pacs", which are getting a lot of attention in the comment section of YouTube, both from male and female respondents. The male dancers is the vehicle that Kelly has decided to use in creating brand. The male dancers, and their classic six pacs, are the means by which Kelly positions herself against Rihanna.

In her demographic, the men and women who comprise Urban R & B are men and women who are interested in their body image and many in this demographic attend gyms. The presence of "six pacs" is a positioning tool that Kelly uses. The women love the six pacs and the men want them and the dancers are a role model for them---the men who watch the"Motivation" video desire the six pacs the dancers have.

Rihanna’s songs are edgy---but she has decided to take edge off through her video. Her videos border on sexual farce and fantasy. This is a big difference in how each of the dancers has decided to create her brand.

Kelly’s brand is edgy, but is very stylish and immersive. People want to look at this video. "Motivation" is actually a duet with Lil’l Wayne, a rapper who has a reputation for explicit lyrics. She uses Lil’l Wayne to create a brand for herself in two groups. In her prior"life", Kelly’s music is a brand for younger people. Kelly has a strong brand among younger listeners. The material in "Motivation" is mature subject matter and is not designed for younger watchers. The mere presence of Lil’l Wayne would communicate that to parents. Lil’l Wayne’s presence creates a brand for her new R &B position. Kelly uses Lil’l Wayne as her own censorship vehicle.

Kelly wants to move into a Black, Urban demographic. Lil’l Wayne does this for her. Lil’l Wayne is not a major part of the song, but he does make significant contributions. To create her own brand, Kelly has Lil’l Wayne appear by himself in the video. This is a significant. "Motivation" is her song---she doesn’t let Lil’l Wayne hi-jack the brand from her.

This is in contrast to Toni Braxton. A few years ago, Toni wanted to do what Kelly is attempting. She sang a duet with Trey Songez, "Yesterday", but Trey occupied too great a presence on the video. He hijacked Toni’s brand. Kelly creates her own individual brand in her use of Lil’l Wayne.

Kelly’s album strategy is done to create brand. At the present time, Rihanna’s "Loud" album is selling very well. Soon, Jennifer Lopez is going to come out with an album. A major part of Kelly’s demographic is Spanish. Kelly’s album would never sell if Jennifer Lopez were around.

Right now, there is a crowded field. If Kelly were to drop an album, it would sell poorly, and that would destroy Kelly’s brand. Kelly knows this. She is employing a General Buford strategy. She is retreating in one area, to brand from a position of strength. She is releasing individual songs through YouTuble and iTunes, and other sights, like F.Y.E. record stores. Her music is being sold and she is making money. She is creating a strong brand in R & B Dance. This is in comparasion to Ciara. Last Christmas, Ciara dropped an album in a crowded holiday field and it diluted Ciara’s brand.

If Kelly is going to create a world class R & B brand she is going to have embrace Social Media. At the present time, her social media strategy is weak. How should she change this? This will be the subject of my next article.



Dean Hambleton

dnhambleton@gmail.com

www.ezinearticles.com/dean_hambleton

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