A brand worth living: hoping for new wave of celebrity brand ambassadors
This was no PR stunt. The 45-year-old had started to question where all his gear came from and whose hands had made it. This curiosity led him to pursue a number of business initiatives that blended his love of clean living, his sense of environmental responsibility and his innate style. Three years on, his decision has been vindicated as he boasts a thriving portfolio of brands that typify his approach to life.
Reflected values
One of Slater’s main brands is Outerknown (OK), a surf-inspired menswear label that eschews bright colours, bold patterns and overt logos. OK isn’t interested in what trends are in vogue, instead it cares about how the garments are made. OK garments are made from environmentally-friendly materials such as organic cotton, hemp, wool and recycled nylon made from recovered fishing nets. Even the tags are water-soluble.
Slater has travelled the world and surfed in most remote reefs and beaches, and, as a result, he’s witnessed the impact of human waste on the environment. It’s led him to stand up and proclaim that “it's not OK” to continue down the path of mass consumption – and he’s embedded eco-consciousness and sustainability as OK’s core brand values.
With all these sustainability credentials, it’s no surprise that OK is a member of Kering, a global luxury group that empowers fashion brands to “reach their potential in the most sustainable manner” to drive an eco-fashion revolution.
Slater’s other business ventures are also extensions of his values. The Kelly Slater Wave Co has created a man-made wave that will redefine the future of surfing, while the organic energy drink Purps reflects Slater’s passion for clean living.
A new wave
Slater’s brands and their values illustrate why, in my opinion, he represents a new wave of brand ambassadors. Their skin is truly in the game – they identify the change they want to see in the world and act upon it. They are real and they inspire. And, as a result, the brands they create or represent reflect their passions and values.
Street artist and activist Shepard Fairey (the brains behind the popular streetwear brand OBEY) is very much in this vein. What began as an “in-joke” sticker campaign directed at the hip-hop and skater subcultures back in 1989, has now shaped Fairey’s success and business ventures. His Barack Obama “Hope” poster led him to be labelled as “one of the most influential street artists of our time”, and his obsession with skateboarding inspired him to print artwork on skateboards and T-shirts – giving him a canvas for his populist views and, in the process, creating the OBEY brand. Today, OBEY is widely renowned for incorporating politically charged iconography into its designs, a fair reflection of Fairey’s own outlook.
Slater, Fairey and others have realised, just as “you are what you eat”, you are also what you wear and what you think. Just as the material objects we own can shape the identity we project, the things we produce, as business ventures and beyond, should also express our identities and passions – a lens through which the world can understand who we are. These new ambassadors truly live the values of the brands they associate with, making their products or services become authentic and believable.
(Don’t) brand it like Beckham
Slater using his celebrity to front his brands is nothing new. For decades, brands have been using the famous among us as walking advertisements and rewarding their pet celebs with self-titled clothing lines and products. Would Nike be the same company today without Michael Jordan? Marketers realise that consumers trust people more than logos, so use celebs to communicate directly with them. But with the transparent nature of social media today, savvy consumers can see what strings are being pulled behind the scenes – meaning celebrity endorsements may no longer appear authentic.
To appear more genuine, some experts suggest that celebrities should “party with the people” (take time to understand their brand’s audience) and promote the natural synergies between brand and celebrity endorser. But, as much as brands adopt such methods, I still feel that they fall short of Slater’s approach – living the values of his brands.
I’m pretty sure that David Beckham isn’t particularly passionate about how his skivvies are made, despite his long-standing relationship with Armani underwear. And, I’ve never seen George Clooney as a connoisseur of tequila – he recently sold his alcoholic side-project, Casamigos tequila, to Diageo for an eye-watering $1 billion. Although Nike might be getting closer by enlisting sporting icons like Roger Federer to model specifically-created apparel lines (utilising their clear passion for their sport), these sponsorships are starting to feel tired and sterile.
Businesses are frothing at the mouth to match a famous face with their brand – regardless of the “fit”. Many believe that consumers blindly buy into “celebrity” as much as they do, rather than valuing authenticity and passion. If Tom Cruise endorsed a line of dog food I’m pretty sure someone would invest. The celebrities themselves aren’t blameless either – think Kendall Jenner and Pepsi or Khloe Kardashian and Protein World. Rather than identifying a problem they are passionate about solving and using their influence to tackle the problem, many just accept any sponsorship or business venture as an additional revenue stream – their fame becomes monetised without consciousness or authenticity.
Pull of the tide
What Kelly Slater is doing inspires me and I hope it will motivate other celebrities to follow suit. I feel an affinity with Slater’s brands. I know that they are founded upon his passions. The life he actively lives. His brands represent what is most important to him (surfing, fashion, health and the environment), and his success lies in his ability to nurture this authenticity in the brands he creates. They don’t feel like PR stunts, sales pitches or money making schemes. They feel genuine.
I hope Slater is the beginning of a new wave of brand ambassadors. But in this society of unstoppable mass consumption, will his efforts instead be washed away by a tide of inauthentic, superficial influencers and sell-outs?
Yeezy does it: is Kanye West a marketing genius?
Viewed alongside the multiple controversies that have dogged West in recent years, it appears to be just another chapter in the headline-friendly Life of Kanye. He has been labelled a genius by a host of peers from Nicki Minaj to Tesla founder Elon Musk and TIME magazine has dubbed him one of the world’s 100 most influential people. He has also come in for significant criticism. Taylor Swift has accused him of “character assassination” and even President Obama has weighed in, labelling him a “jackass”.
Kanye West divides opinion, but there’s no denying that he’s a household name. His notoriety is a result partly of his professional success – and partly of his unprofessional behaviour. Despite his polarising personality, Kanye sells out stadiums and his latest album just went platinum. So can we learn something from Mr West?
Egotistical or misunderstood?
From fighting with paparazzi to storming out of awards ceremonies because he didn’t win, there seems to be no limit to what West is capable of doing to damage his reputation. Perhaps his most notorious outburst – and arguably the start of his “era of controversy” – was his altercation with Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV video music awards.
During the following seven years, the list of people offended by West has continued to grow. He has compared himself to Jesus, labelled George Bush a racist and said he has to dress his wife Kim Kardashian every morning so she doesn’t embarrass him. It’s little wonder West has a reputation as a showbiz diva, despite being an accomplished musician and producer. Whether you’ve heard his music or not, it has become “cool” to hate Kanye.
Part of a plan?
West’s brand of notoriety means he is never far from the newspapers, celebrity websites or Twitter’s trending topic list. And if that publicity gets even just a few intrigued music fans to sample his work, then it’s working. But it’s important to note that at the time of Kanye’s initial Taylor Swift clash, he was already a multimillion-selling artist with three chart-topping US albums. His fame and standing with his fans were relatively safe. Perhaps too safe. Maybe Kanye thought it was time to shake up his brand.
Kanye West appears to have adopted the mantra of “all publicity is good publicity”. Alongside his album sales, West’s social media stats suggest that his controversial reputation isn’t holding him back. He boasts more than 25 million Twitter followers, who hang onto his every tweet. Extensive monologues such as his recent tweets about the state of online music streaming become global news and attract tens of thousands of retweets. And the star gained more than a million Instagram followers within 24 hours of creating an account in September; he has now racked up nearly two million fans.
Regardless of West’s erratic behaviour his dedication to his craft – whether it be his music, his fashion line or any other endeavour – cannot be disputed. West was in a near-fatal car accident in 2002, but just two weeks later he was back in the studio recording his debut album and even wrote and recorded his 2002 hit Through the Wire with his jaw still wired shut. Considering West is this dedicated to his music, shouldn’t he be at least a little bit conscious of how he appears to the media and how that will affect his success?
On brand
If this constant stream of controversy is all part of a master plan, it certainly fits in with Kanye West’s personal brand. His music often takes on provocative issues; on his seventh studio album Yeezus he tackles America’s history of racism in Blood on the Leaves and New Slaves. He’s not afraid to push boundaries in his art or in his communications. His fashion line is another example – it’s far from conservative and was even described as “migrant chic” by Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
West’s own fashion choices have landed him in hot water too, but he has hinted that fans should look at his persona as an extension of his art. He was criticised for wearing a confederate patch on his bomber jacket in 2013 and when asked to comment he said: “React how you want… any energy is good energy.”
In an interview with W Magazine, when asked how seriously the world should take him he said: “You should only believe about 90 percent of what I say. As a matter of fact, don’t even believe anything that I’m saying at all. I could be completely fucking with you, and the world, the entire time.”
So is it all just an act?
Tried and tested
Whether you believe West’s public image is a carefully curated persona or that the man genuinely is an egotistical diva, he isn’t the only example of a prominent figure tapping into this ambiguity to fuel their personal brand. Think Donald Trump, Jeremy Clarkson and Miley Cyrus.
But what works in highly charged, subjective environments like music, entertainment and politics can spell disaster in business, where brands rely on integrity and trust. Whether a straight-laced company in a highly regulated industry like banking or a playful and edgy consumer brand, businesses are accountable to the public they serve. Their customers are their lifeblood. There is little margin for error – and certainly no room for unwarranted controversy.
For me, there are definitely lessons to be learned from the life of Kanye. About how – and how not – to market your brand. I’ll be watching him carefully.
Maybe he is a genius after all.