MILEY CYRUS: DOES EVERYONE NOW GET A SLICE OF THE PIE?
I woke up this morning curious if a marketing scheme was behind Disney’s latest “quintuple threat” Miley Cyrus’ PR “crisis.” Was it a scheme to expand the star’s audience and wallet just before she turns 16? A trick to make her just old enough to be marketed to adults? Maybe, just maybe the recent photo shoot for Vanity Fair magazine was a “coming of age” ritual designed by her and her team and not a mistake?
Generally, brand positioning for a mega brand like this is a machine of people (publicists, managers and marketing executives) planning every single move with the motivation dollars in mind. Like it or not, let’s face it, kids and tweens are more mature now than ever. They are exposed to body image, sexuality and violence every day, so a hot shot of their idol in a prestigious, classy publication such as Vanity Fair could be viewed by some as cool and independent.
Many will in fact be turned off, but the banning of Hannah Montana in households isn’t a reality, regardless of her changing image. Just last week I spoke with a friend/client who owns a very hip and trendy business, and he told me how upset he is that his 11-year-old imitates Cyrus by having a boyfriend. But she watches… and while Dad was insistent in trying to convince his daughter that he should be her only “boyfriend”… suffice it to say, he didn’t win that argument.
Could it be that Miley’s marketing machine just canonized her as a “big kid,”?
Ronn Torossian
April 29th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
The fact that Miley Cyrus posed for Vanity Fair, and that Annie Lebowitz was the photographer is so telling. This was no mistake, no mere accident; Miley’s clothes did not just fall off during some lapse of awe at the marvel over the famed photographer.
A celebrity photo shoot is not a casual thing. It takes time, effort and so many changes of scenery and attire, that to say Miley didn’t know what she was in for, is a preposterous notion for someone who has amassed such fortune and fame as she has.
She and Billy Ray both knew and expected the “fallout” and subsequent launch of a new career as a teen sex symbol and star for a new generation.
Disney has done this over and over with little Brittney who grew up, Christina, Justin and many others who got to old and physically outmoded for the nine year olds. To capitalize on the next age groups, this was clearly a well thought out strategy to do it, jump back in shock, apologize for and then monopolize their top earner.
May 1st, 2008 at 10:02 pm
i love your blog , mO antolin (asw)
July 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
omg