group of consumers. It is also essential to ascertain what impact Madonna’s
brand endorsements could have on the brand equity of the two brands and on
Madonna’s own personal brand as a celebrity.
Celebrities are getting wise to the branding leverage their star strengths
and powerful appeal provide them and are also more inclined to use this in
branching out in their careers. They now understand the importance and influ-
ence of personal branding and are exploiting and extending it to commercial
branding. As a result, several celebrities have ventured into the fashion and
accessories businesses and more are on the way. Examples include Jennifer
Lopez, Sean Combs, 50 Cents, Eminem, Sadie Frost, Gwen Stefani, Pamela
Anderson and Jessica Simpson who all have clothing or accessories brands.
Others are Kylie Minogue who owns a lingerie brand, Victoria Beckham who
recently began designing jeans and Elizabeth Hurley, who launched a
swimwear brand in 2005. In addition, the list of celebrities that have launched
perfumes named after them is steadily increasing including Jennifer Lopez,
Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Celine Dion, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Jordan,
Naomi Campbell, Jessica Simpson, David and Victoria Beckham, Antonio
Banderas, Donald Trump and Cindy Crawford, among many others.
The fashion business ventures of celebrities could also affect the brands
they endorse in terms of image and competition. For example Sara Jessica
Parker, who featured in the extensive global advertisements of Gap in 2005
was also the model in the advertisement for her own fragrance shortly after-
wards. Also, Jennifer Lopez who appeared in Louis Vuitton advertisements in
2003/2004 (Figure 5.23) has
also featured in the adver-
tisement of her own branded
fragrances before, during
and after this period.
These product and brand
launches result in an
increased and steady source
of revenue income for the
celebrities and is also a way
of increasing their visibility
in the already cluttered
celebrity market. However,
chapter 5 163the art of creating and managing luxury fashion brandsFigure 5.23 Jennifer Lopez
for Louis Vuitton (2004). The
celebrity has also appeared in
several advertisements for
her own branded fragrances
before, during and after this
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