the gentle art of rebranding

Summary

In the latest episode of 'The Gentle Art of Rebranding,' presented by ZoeUnlimited, the video explores how K-pop star Lisa of Blackpink, despite her incredible success and charm, may have misstepped in her branding journey. The discussion highlights how Lisa's ventures into varied identities and cultural arenas have led to a fragmentation of her fan base and confusion in her brand identity. The episode analyzes the risks and lessons in rebranding for major pop icons and emphasizes the importance of a solid, coherent brand narrative. It also offers insights into how Lisa can refine her branding strategy to maintain her global influence and appeal.

Highlights

• Lisa's move to rebrand has encountered pitfalls, with confusion and criticism due to inconsistent brand identity. 😬
• Experiments with alter egos like Roxy, Kiki, and others have not managed to establish a strong distinct brand for Lisa. 🤔
• The episode discusses Lisa's impact on global culture and her potential to reclaim a coherent brand. 🌟
• The importance of aligning Western market expansion with maintaining her Asian fanbase is highlighted. 🌏
• Examples from other celebrities like Taylor Swift are used to emphasize the need for a strong, evolving brand narrative. 🎤
• Lisa's ventures into acting and other roles showcase her versatility but also cause a disconnect with existing fans. 🎬

Key Takeaways

• Lisa's brand has seen fluctuations due to cultural missteps and shifting identities. 🌍
• A strong and consistent brand narrative is crucial to sustain success. 📈
• Expanding into new markets should not ignore the existing core fanbase. 🌐
• Experimentation with different brand identities is valuable but must be anchored to a core theme. 🔄
• Reshaping a public image is complex and demands a strategic balance between innovation and loyalist expectations. 🎯
• Fans connect with authentic human stories, not just alter egos. 👫

Overview

In this insightful episode, ZoeUnlimited delves into the intriguing world of K-pop and explores the branding journey of Lisa from Blackpink. Known for her dazzling dance moves and charm, Lisa is not just any idol; she's a global phenomenon. The video takes a closer look at the critical transition points in her brand journey, where things might have wavered too close to 'cringe' for comfort. However, beyond the glitzy appearances, lies a complicated world of branding that needs fine-tuning.

The analysis digs into the concept of 'hot girl privilege' and scrutinizes Lisa's brand moves, stretching from her dominance on social media platforms to her attempts at carving a niche in the Western entertainment industry. Through multiple alter egos like Kiki and Roxy, Lisa's experimentation with her image is scrutinized. The question remains – has she come too far, too fast? Highlights also show how the swift transitions led to a fractured fan base, losing touch with her 'sweet' original identity that fans cherished.

Ultimately, the episode underscores the pivotal areas where Lisa can focus her branding efforts. Zoe emphasizes that success isn't just about trying different personas but understanding what resonates with audiences. From leveraging her international fame in smart ways to integrating her roots in new branding efforts, the path to reclaiming her sparkling brand identity is suggested in a detailed yet engaging manner. Lisa is continually evolving, and with strategic prowess, she just might remain an influential icon in global pop culture.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 02:00: Introduction and Lisa's Early Success The chapter titled "Introduction and Lisa's Early Success" discusses the concept of 'hot girl privilege' and how it applies to Lisa, suggesting that her success might be attributed to this concept. The conversation reflects on the cringeworthy moments associated with Lisa, implying a mix of admiration and criticism. The mention of a 'grammy' adds an element of recognition and celebrity status, while also questioning whether this makes Lisa a "badass."
• 02:00 - 05:00: Lisa's Branding Challenges The chapter focuses on Lisa, a prominent member of the group Blackpink, who is often seen as the ace of the group due to her exceptional dancing skills. Lisa has managed to establish herself as a formidable brand ambassador, having collaborations with high-profile brands such as Celine, Louis Vuitton, Bvlgari, Mac, Adidas, and Samson. Her influence and popularity are further demonstrated by her wins at the VMAs. Recently, she has also become a Victoria's Secret angel, marking a significant milestone in her career. Additionally, Lisa has her own signature drink, showing her diverse engagement in the world of branding.
• 05:00 - 13:00: Cultural Missteps and Fandom Fracture The chapter delves into the complex dynamics of cultural missteps that often occur in the entertainment industry, particularly highlighting a case from HBO's White Lotus. It centers on the issues surrounding a wealthy property owner, with assets not only in Seoul but also in Beverly Hills, who has established a management company. Despite her success, tensions have arisen, leading to a fracture within her fanbase.
• 13:00 - 15:00: Absence of a Consistent Narrative The chapter explores the theme of a missing cohesive story or message, using a humorous and somewhat critical tone to discuss the cultural shift in perceptions of certain musical and artistic styles. It references the evolution of K-pop and social media's influence, particularly emphasizing how certain styles that seemed appealing or trendy in the past may now be perceived as 'corny' or 'cringe.' The excerpt mentions the transformation of a popular K-pop figure, hinting at a fall from being highly admired to being viewed in a less flattering light. The narrative suggests a nostalgic look at past cultural trends and their impact on contemporary audiences.
• 15:00 - 18:00: Strategies for Rebranding This chapter delves into the complexities and strategies involved in rebranding, using Pop Princess Lisa as a case study. Despite her fame and appeal, her career is perceived to be declining due to a weak brand identity. It underscores the significance of strong branding, even for those who are already popular. It suggests that without a robust brand, even individuals with notable recognition can struggle in their careers.
• 18:00 - 18:30: Conclusion The chapter titled 'Conclusion' focuses on the concept of branding and how it applies not only to products but also to personal career development. Branding is presented as a strategic approach to shape perceptions, whether it be for a dream college, job, or personal relationship. The series intends to analyze pop culture icons through a marketing lens, highlighting their influence on young girls and emphasizing the importance of personal branding.

the gentle art of rebranding Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 how far can hot girl privilege take you oh my god Lisa Lisa Lisa Lisa Lisa yes the cringiest thing I've seen more cringey than anything else I would love to say [Music] grammy are you a badass oh oh yeah you
• 00:30 - 01:00 could kick ass mhm mhm I I think so if there was one person destined to be the idol it has to be Lisa the quote unquote Ace of black pink with killer dance moves major Hawker assets darling of Seline Louis V Tom buari Mac Adidas Samson winner of VMAs so welcome back of course now got her wings at Victoria Secret feels like a dream has her Aron drink tie up the world
• 01:00 - 01:30 we got it now at HBO's White Lotus owner of multi-million as of property not just in Soul but in Beverly Hills welcome to my cozy little house and even created her own management company but somehow there is a way way
• 01:30 - 02:00 to mess everything up quote Oh no this is so corny I don't think I've ever cringed harder make K-pop corny again I'm living bless her this is so cheesy this would have done numbers on Tumblr in 2014 sound like tick tocker turn musician actually I don't really sing I'm more like a dancer how did the most beloved Ace of black pink your favorite Idols favorite Idol fall from baddy to cringe should should we play some should we play some for din
• 02:00 - 02:30 ell said no sorry it's all marketing babe what is happening to Pop Princess Lisa is she pass her Peak and only sinking lower and lower get up get up and dance that's a mystery we will uncover today as your marketing besti who graduated top who graduated top 1% UCL business economics with a background in marketing we're going to explore how being hot and famous can still fail you if you don't have a strong brand and how you yes you
• 02:30 - 03:00 can use Simple marketing principles to build a successful brand to help you down your career because by brand I don't just mean slapping your name on an airan T branding is about how your dream College dream job dream boyfriend sees you and yes you have one I'm creating the series to analyze pop culture girl icons from a marketing perspective because of the power of influence they have over a generation of young girls Lisa looking right [Applause]
• 03:00 - 03:30 I'm starting an email list and if you want early access to this exclusive community of Trends insights deeper Dives make sure you pre sign up in the link in the description it's completely free but what is not free is that moment when you're deep into your work vibing to your playlist then bam you need to switch tabs or open a new window and suddenly your music stops your workflow stops oper browser has just solved that problem and took it to a new level with Opus floating music player you can
• 03:30 - 04:00 seamlessly Enjoy your music without interruptions whether you're browsing working or doing anything else your music is still playing in the background no more pausing tracks just to switch between tabs it's like having your own soundtrack while you do your thing and that's just a start you can also pop out your videos so if you're watching something while working with browsing you can keep the video in a floating window while you're do your thing no hassle just like the music player the video player stays with you wherever you go Opera also lets you fully personalize
• 04:00 - 04:30 your browser experience with beautiful themes like classic Aurora or even Midsummer pick your Vibe customize your browsers and make it truly yours it's all about giving you the smoothest most aesthetic experience while you work and play so why not level up your browser game even better Opera and Spotify have collaborated so you can now get 3 months of Spotify Premium absolutely free imagine no ads no interruptions unlimited skips and even the ability to download your playlist you can listen to
• 04:30 - 05:00 anytime offline whether you're at home at work on the go you've got the freedom to listen to anything anytime how great is that download Opera head to the sidebar to access Spotify and claim your 3 months Spotify Premium offer for free offer varies by country just click the link in the description and get started today but what was not free relisa three branding missteps God why would you tell first we need to understand how Lisa was truly the luckiest girl with every
• 05:00 - 05:30 single chance to build a billion dooll Empire famous then it all just stopped Lisa 1.0 was born to be an idol starting Dan at 4 she began competing regularly in Thailand at 13 she impressed the judges so much and became the only one out of 4,000 people to qualify in y's audition
• 05:30 - 06:00 with her life about to change just like her new legal name Lisa meaning the one to be praised debuted it as black pink the rest is history well black Pink's brand of global influence is no news to anyone black pink [Applause] here but instead of being swallowed into this massive group brand Lisa managed to
• 06:00 - 06:30 stand out in this Mega Powerhouse brand of all it girls as the it girl to become the favorite of the [Applause] favorites as someone who listened to black pink since their debut I can attest that Lisa stood out to meet the most at the get-go she just had that acre factor and this insanely confident
• 06:30 - 07:00 presence that make girls naturally like her and then I I just got in and then yeah she flew over yeah to a country where she couldn't speak the language with this Leisa magic It Is by no surprise that she is not only the most followed black pink member on Instagram but also the most followed K-pop artist and the most followed K-pop soloist on Spotify achieved the most Feud music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube by a solo artist and has the Golden Touch to turn anything cool and she was
• 07:00 - 07:30 Unstoppable from being chosen by Seline Louis Vuitton Mac Samson Adidas to bagari to her western expansion with collaborations with all the big names Megan the stallion Rosalia DJ Snake to now DOA cat I want to team up with DOA cat really yes that would be so good how did this bulletproof brand of aspiration full of talent looks discipline suddenly lose its appeal to become quote unquote cringe let's dissect the three burning
• 07:30 - 08:00 missteps that are literally trashing this billion dooll golden brand and how Lisa could reclaim her throne again the cracks of this seemingly perfect brand began with Lisa 2.0's first mstep cultural misalignment so like how's the US like is there any like different culture or like it's very different actually before we even talk about the Smoking Gun that shot this brand into pieces we have to first point out the
• 08:00 - 08:30 most obvious limitation of a successful brand which is the rise of hate jealousy scrutiny the bigger the target gets but Lisa's Ultra brand Halo also came the burning question is she deserving of all this or is it just hot girl privilege one clear demonstration of this is her 4 vmes nomination in 2024 with Rockstar coming out June 28th but the eligibility cut off window at June 20th the entire on in English but nominated for best K-pop and of course got way more
• 08:30 - 09:00 scrutiny when Lisa actually won over BTS junk cook NCT stray kids new jeans txt while the only Redemption opportunity the award live performance did not go so hot as well with billboard ranking it 16 out of 16 as the worst performance neens are pissed at Lisa performance was a little lackluster with like low effort lip syncing her mic isn't near her face or her mouth shape isn't matching quote Lisa a solo turn at the 2024 VMAs felt
• 09:00 - 09:30 like a swing and a miss when a brand is under Fire like this it needs to be ultra cautious to protect the brand image but quite the opposite happened to Lisa before we talk about the much anticipated alter egos let's take it back a bit to Crazy Horse just a few months before in 2024 the Crazy Horse is a parisan cabaret and strip club known for its stage shows with Burless sets that sometimes involve magic dances and nudity which within the cultural context
• 09:30 - 10:00 is not inappropriate however we need to take a moment to understand Lisa's fans who are likely in their early teens and 20s somewhere as young still in elementary school who are attracted to the cuteness of Lisa or iGo in K-pop culture when your cute and wholesome cool big sister suddenly takes on a highly suggestive role that could be
• 10:00 - 10:30 misunderstood as quote unquote promoting sex establishment it can absolutely be shocking with the feeling of a betray of trust because a brand creates loyalty through consistency just like how every time you buy a bag of Oreos you know exactly what they will taste like but if one day you bite into a sour one that tastes like vinegar you'd probably not buy from that brand again same with Lisa especially given how how most of her fans come from
• 10:30 - 11:00 Asian culture that highly values modesty this creates a huge brand Market mismatch where for the first time her massive Global fan base sees a misalignment of value that shattered the super Halo of an idol don't get me wrong Lisa is a natural performer and killed the crazy horor performance it may have made headlines the Western audience may have cheered but it created a huge brand dissonance another extreme example of this is JoJo with the Bobo being the
• 11:00 - 11:30 influencer for 8-year-old children for over 10 years suddenly started her karma era doing all questionable things such as swearing carrying x-rated toys and being drunk I'm drunk as right now instead of easing the audience into a rebranded Persona thus leading to misstep number two fandom fracture Growing Up So hee like he's my friend unlike other soloists who carefully maintain fan Unity post group activities
• 11:30 - 12:00 Lisa's decisions whether intentional or not led to a split some blinks felt that Lisa was moving too fast towards the Western Market neglecting the core fandom that originally propelled her to success in a sense it's exciting to see Lisa pursue all these additional projects as she grows her International influence but it shouldn't come at the expense of losing her existing fans for instance her collaboration with powerful pop girls such as Rosal Leah Roat and Ray is the right path to build positive
• 12:00 - 12:30 associations in Global Music love the baddy Rebrand but with too little connection to the previous brand the sweet cute brand of Lisa that many fans felt connected to are fading away leading to Old fans feeling alienated while not yet establishing a strong enough Connection in the Western Market AKA an awkward limbo meanwhile hardcore Lisa STS distan themselves from black pink frustrated by the group's black of activity and perceived favoritism which
• 12:30 - 13:00 is a huge waste of Leverage because a big part of blackpink's appeal was their close Dynamics with each other which don't need to be scrapped just because the girls are going solo this division diluted Lisa's overall support system where Jenny and Jesus fans remained integrated with black Pink's larger fandom Lisa's base became increasingly fragmented making it harder and harder to sustain momentum
• 13:00 - 13:30 additionally newer fans who discovered her through her solo Ventures weren't sure what Lisa's new brand was supposed to be leaving her with an inconsistent and Confused audience which leads to her biggest branding crisis should should we play some should we play some for them ell said no sorry third the absence of a narrative every icon has a Story Taylor Swift is The Mastermind Rihanna is the
• 13:30 - 14:00 rule breaker and Jenny is the Untouchable human Chanel but what is Lisa the dance machine the Thai Superstar well it seems like she might not even be sure with the roll out of so many alter egos Roxy Kiki Vixie sunny and Speedy are we confusing because most fans are and the general reactions are lukewarm at best quote get the teenager out of her team this is a terrible concept quote Lisa's alter os are just sad quote cringiest thing I've ever seen
• 14:00 - 14:30 her team never cemented a compelling narrative Beyond she's Global and when you don't Define your brand the public defines it for you well you've heard of me good I'm Vixie the one you like to call the villain only bades allow it's just so cringe I'm busy living in my villain era I like the idea of exploring different alter egos as a fun way to test out new branding ctions but despite
• 14:30 - 15:00 many years known as blackpink Lisa Lisa herself as a soloist does not have a strong enough brand yet with a series of experimentation further confusing others as to who she is outside of her old K-pop Idol identity don't get me wrong objectively speaking the streams sales and everything are solid numbers with Born Again hitting charts such as number six on global Spotify but the numbers are one thing and sustainability is another with the increasing alienation from her supporters more and more disappointment after each rebranding
• 15:00 - 15:30 move the scary question is how long will these numbers remain thus let's talk about what is needed to save this billion doll a girl brand first finding identity right now Lisa is way too many things at once which is not a bad problem to have kind of like how she's being associated with too many luxury houses instead of being seen as the Ambassador for one but a
• 15:30 - 16:00 brand known for everything is also a brand known for nothing where you would not do a full face graduation makeup from Walmart or get your wedding dress from tar experiment but always with a strong brand anchor that fans could come back to and more importantly experiment with identities that don't clash with each other for example Taylor Swift is always evolving in her different eras as a love story Girl crazy X folklore soft
• 16:00 - 16:30 girl Revenge reputation Baddie but always with the core identity of a friend who understands your emotions and challenges in different stages in life Lisa needs to tell her story not just by playing characters in her music and Beyond like she's a badass she's a villain humans connect with humans not alter egos second expansion with preservation tapping into the Western Market does not mean the need to forgo all the brand cache in the pre previous Asian market which is why I think the
• 16:30 - 17:00 White Lotus role no matter how big or small is a good step forward in her branding by retapping into Lisa's roots and Asian culture while slowly easing into the Western media influence Lisa isn't over she's just in her Rebrand era but in the world of Pulp culture a comeback isn't just about Talent it's about strategy if Lisa wants to reclaim her throne she needs to stop playing the muse and start being The
• 17:00 - 17:30 Mastermind with such a track record of being a magnet of charm and aspiration I see great potential in Lisa to create a unique brand of her own to prove that she is not just a pretty face just a member of black pink regardless I admire her courage to experiment as it is the only way to grow so share this episode with someone you love to grow and love L together this is your marketing Bes Zoe unlimited episodes are available on all podcast networks Apple Spotify YouTube have a wonderful and amazing day I'll
• 17:30 - 18:00 see you next week [Music]