How Managing A Brand Is Tough Even At The Top

You know I’m always trying to get you to think about new ways to expand your brand and make money doing your craft, but it’s tricky business – even at the top. AND – without planning, the screw up is major and costly when you’re trying to manage a public brand.

A little over a week ago, Katy Perry’s concert movie “Part of Me” was released in movie theaters nationwide. Everyone expected this natural princess of pop to follow in the footsteps of fellow music industry phenomenon Justin Bieber, whose film “Never Say Never” raked in a whopping $73 million last year, according to Entertainment Weekly. Instead, “Part of Me” limped through its first weekend, earning a paltry $7 million (it sounds like a lot of money, but costing $12 million to MAKE the movie means they’re in the red).

There are a number of reasons that could possibly explain this opening weekend faceplant for “Part of Me.” The Entertainment Weekly article mentioned above surmises that fan base demographics work in Bieber’s favor. In other words, Katy’s fans are a bit more “grown up” and not as prone to go watch a movie about her rise to fame. There’s also the 3.8 out of 10 rating on renowned movie site IMDB, which would suggest even people who made the decision to see the film decided it wasn’t all that good.

But whatever the reason, something more important is at play here: someone, ANYONE on Katy’s team could’ve and should’ve seen this coming. But they were probably in too far when they realized. And this is why I always stress the importance of PLANNING to upcoming artists. Even if you have millions of dollars and plenty of fame at your fingertips, it’s not a given that everything you do will rake it in. And it’s even more important to foresee missteps that move your career backward instead of forward, and not let your ego come to roost.

Katy Perry has broken a Billboard charts record even Michael Jackson never touched, bagging six number ones off a single album. So, we know people LOVE Katy Perry. The question is, why did she and her team think that making this movie would be a good idea? And HOW on earth did this slip up when so far she’s had the Midas touch on everything she’s done?

Maybe it’s time for Katy Perry to take the next step and evolve as an artist – rather than making movies. Or will she stay stuck as the aging pop princess? (A niche she needs to transcend soon.) Hopefully she is now taking note to avoid future autobiographical feature film efforts. What do you think is her next best step in her career? What do YOU think will move her forward now? Share in the comments below.

©2012 Cari Cole, Vocal Mag, Inc. All Rights Reserved.