Blog 7: Creating a brand

The aim of creating a brand is to:

Advertise
Illustrate a song
Appeal to a visual audience
Expresses an individual’s emotions
Tells a story
Market an image

In the mid-1990s Bob Herbert, Chris Herbert and Lindsey Casbon set about creating a girl group to compete with the mainstream boy bands that dominated the pop music scene in the mid- to late-1990s. They placed an advertisement in The Stage trade magazine asking if any 18–23 years old had the ability to sing and dance. As well as being streetwise, outgoing, ambitious, and dedicated. 

The spice girls clothes were all chosen for their first appearance on Americasn TV, on purpose:

• Victoria in a sophisticated slinky black number
• Emma in a baby-pink dress
• Mel B in her leopard-skin trousers
• Geri in red hot pants, top and bra
• Mel C in her favourite Liverpool shirt and tracksuit bottoms 

The Spice Girls were sold to us as a group of friends, just goofing off and making top-selling singles together.  Although in fact they were all strangers, who were picked after hundreds of auditions for a reason. They had endless merchandising and sponsorship deals, and were involved with everything from Pepsi ads to Polaroid ads to Barbie-style Spice Girls dolls.Everything about them, including their Scary/Posh/Sporty/etc. nicknames was under the control of men or corporations. Geri Halliwell “Ginger Spice” almost didn't make it into the group, because she looked older than the other girls. She used the male gaze in order to get into the group. 

Lady Gaga and Adele are two different types of artists. 

Lady Gaga who used to be a stage performer, was noticed by Akon through her vocal abilities and helped her sign a joint deal with Interscope Records and his own KonLive Distribution. Gaga rose to prominence with her debut album The Fame with global chart-topping singles such as "Just Dance" and "Poker Face".


Gaga is remembered by her flamboyant and diverse contributions to the music industry via her fashion, live performances, and music videos. June 2014 she is one of the best-selling musicians of all time. Her achievements include five Grammy Awards, 13 MTV Video Music Awards, and 11 Guinness World Records. She regularly appears on Billboard's Artists of the Year lists and Forbes' power and earnings rankings, and was named one of the world's most influential people by Time in 2010. 

Adele started singing at the age of four, that she became obsessed with voices. Adele states that the Spice Girls had a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, saying that they made her who she is today. West Norwood is where Adele's first record, "Hometown Glory", written when she was 16. She later became interested in R&B artists such as Aaliyah, Destiny's Child and Mary J. Blige. Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon where she credits the school with nurturing her talent. She is soulful artist with meaningful lyrics, compared to  Lady Gaga.