How did a “MISTAKE” in branding delay Sabrina Carpenter’s success for 10 years?
Breaking down 6 key...
Video Transcript:
money can buy you pretty but it cannot buy you brand how did a mistake in branding delay Sabrina Carpenter success for 10 years so you're breaking up with me because I'm too blonde no that's not entirely true then what my boob [Music] you get ready I did it very mindful very cute see very demure if there was one person cursed from Fame it must be Sabrina Carpenter this by having an early start on Disney been in music for 10 years and owns the pretty privilege that mainstream pop culture favors there was still something that hid all her talent and Shine for over 10 years the curse a bad branding when I was at Sabrina Carpenter set at Coachella I made two huge mistakes first I mistu her as a Disney child actor who can maybe sing wow am I glad I somehow still ended up so close to the stage and shed the tear I say for L Del when she performed emails I can't [Music] send it was a beautiful moment second I did not know how big of a moment it was when she performed espresso on that stage for the very first time that undoubtedly became one of the biggest songs of the summer found myself singing I'm working late I'm a singer s with the song That Song Is My Jack and yes it was both my mistake in judgment and a branding issue which delayed her explosive success for 10 years I'm more like a cat I've got so many lives it took Sabrina Carpenter 10 years to Rebrand from just another kind of recognizable child actor from the Disney Factory to a serious pop singer trendsetter and a brand genius and you'll see why the time invested was worth it well well well hi I've literally never won one of these compared to counter studies like Jo joa am this wake up give me a good because the Sabrina 2. 0 we know today is the woman who makes a smoothie worth $23 wow that's so good gained 14 million new followers on Tik Tok in the last 30 days becomes a whole Pinterest mood board for hair lips blood fashion and got everyone's Tik Tok profile with her lip print that's the Sabrina Carpenter effect how did she do it as your marketing besy who graduated top 1% UCLA business economics with a background in marketing we are going to explore how a shift in brand finally unlock Sabrina Carpenter's Ultra success after 10 years of trying despite having a talent personality looks and how you can take inspo from her story and apply it to your dreams because branding is is not about putting your name on a smoothie if everyone put Sabrina's name on that smoothie 2 years ago good luck selling any branding is not about how you see yourself but how your future College Future boss future boyfriend sees you and I'm creating this 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 I'm in my Sabrina Carpenter era along with everyone else in the world thank you I wasn't even going for that look guys I'm so excited to talk about this because there has been so much good branding that surpr and carpenter has done and I'm just kicking out but there is a small caveat I will mention in the end that she should watch out for because no brand is impeccable so here's how Sabrina comforter broke the Disney curse let's take it back to Sabrina 1. 0 who's Sabrina Carpenter who is Sabrina Carpenter me believe it or not Sabrina's desire to be a music pop star started as early as 2009 in the next Miley Cyrus project a singing contest organized by # Miley Cyrus hi my name is Sabrina I'm 10 years old and I'm going to be singing the hold on Throw Down by Miley srus she didn't place first and thankfully did not become Miley 2.
0 but had a long journey ahead of her her first major acting role was in Girl Meets World which was accurately summarized by an IMDb review as quote certainly not one of the best of Disney's work but it is not so bad as well which is like a death sentence in Hollywood because there are way too many fairly good shows to be mid is to be forgotten ASAP and now there was a bigger problem although not a hit show Sabrina carenter's Identity or brand was infused with this immemorable character and that was how her brand existed in my mind up to her Coachella performance but what happened in these last 10 years Lots she released her first Can't Blame a Girl for Trying in 2014 a song even co-written by Megan Trainer a lot of people don't know that I wrote Sabrina Ginger's first song on Disney it was so cute even though it received good reviews the music had a hidden branding problem that followed her like a curse through her next music releases that all these songs packaged her as a team pop artist but guess who the teens want to listen to mainstream artists because they want to be perceived as cool and mature just imagine and Billy ish began her career by singing a team pop song rather than oceaniz would she be as big of a pop culture phenomenal at the age of 13 I don't think so and this was not anything Sabrina Carpenter could control in fact she was locked in a contract with Hollywood Records that really messed up her branding Direction and she had to make Five albums with them not a surprise none of them hit because they only furthered this strong strong but mid- brand of irrelevant ex Disney team pop girl until her slow and steady rebranding Arc Sabrina Carpenter is such a genius Sabrina 2. 0 these are my minions I don't know their names I don't want to know their names they are known as Chanel Number Two Chanel Number Three shanan number five I'm Chanel Number One Obby guys I am so excited to talk about this because everything hits I'm breaking down Sabrina Carpenter's Rebrand into six key success factors each especially the last is essential to her seemingly overnight success but truly took years of planning first visual brand in the digital age no matter if the product is audio or visual a brand needs a visual identity and this was crucial to Sabrina Carpenter going from just another forgotten Disney child to Trend Setter starting with colors we all know Taylor Swift for readed Olivia Rodrigo for purple it's such a simple but powerful branding technique for Sabrina Carpenter the color blue became her signature color starting her cotella performance last soft launched her short and sweet album short and sweet I mean come on look at that with the colored vinyl too but she began exploring the side of the color wheel as early as the emails I can't send album in 2022 why this is so important will become clear when we go into her endorsement and Partnerships and eventually her own brand launches that the association with blue will remind everyone of her which is why the Awan collab smoothie was Blue the viral product blue lip balm which is such organic and smart marketing and how it appeared in her music video the Samsung campaign she did to the viral espresso ice cream she launched in a blue tub first of all this is so genius in beating all the regular merch for artists ice cream is such a commonly loved item that not just Sabrina carpenter friend but everyone can enjoy it is so unbrand not just to her personal color but the his on espresso with over 150 million plays on YouTube Billboard's number one global son of the summer for 2024 it also uses sensory marketing where the sun espresso evokes the pleasant Sensations tied with our smell and taste associations with coffee and priming through which a subconscious reaction to stimuli influences our conscious decisions to new stimuli tying your brand through a song to something super common like an everyday espresso creates that subconscious association between the two that a every time you have coffee you're conditioned to think about Sabrina Carpenter B when she releases an ice cream collab in the flavor of espresso you're already Prime with the pleasant Sensations that existed in your head when you listen to the music and despite being a musician it is totally unbrand for her to do such a fun collab versus a Deo launching mattress and popcorn and there could be so many fun brand launches from just espresso alone like a scented espresso eyeshadow palette espresso flavor lip gloss a perfume would be in such high demand she was like a sh of espresso she's like being bathed in sunlight she's incredibly energetic and enthusiastic and continuing the topic of visual brand her second key success Rebrand factor is Nostalgia Nostalgia marketing creates a positive emotional Feeling by using familiar ideas to associate a brand with something for which consumers have fond memories for example Charlie XX bringing back the Bratz dolls Nintendo bringing back the childhood moments with the switches and Sabrina Carpenter geniusly made that nostalgia part of her visual identity with a 50s aesthetic and embracing the hyper feminine look that did not exist in her early albums and quick note on her audio brand too it really took five albums before finding her signature feminine and flirty voice if you listen to thumbs or suei it's a completely different tone than the softness in her espresso feathers or taste but it's not feminine for the sake of feminine Nostalgia for the sake of nostalgia Sabrina Carpenter adds her own flavor to it with her cutout heart costume perfectly curled hair distinguished from her prior eras her huge flush of blush and of course the iconic chunky platforms not only did this new brand completely erase the cookie cutter Disney kid but also made her a trend Setter it is very smart to not go after Trends which Sabrina Carpenter has tried in the past for example tapping into the Y2K aesthetic but tapping into Trends will always make you one step behind and hard to differentiate she doesn't doesn't conform to Trends she defines them which is why being retro both visually and in her music makes her stand out in her own way in an industry that is becoming more and more fast-paced and [Music] techno and Nostalgia is just one form of associations what is a brand it essentially is everything and anything that something is associated with and we already touched on the many things Sabrina Carpenter is associated with including coffee and the 50s Nostalgia but what about people and Brands that's also a gold mine in polishing her new brand starting with people put lots of trauma lots of trauma insecure very insecure you kill me we'll talk about the iconic Jenna Ortega collab and kiss in a bit but who did Sabrina Carpenter open for prior to her major album release this year Taylor Swift of course she was wearing her iconic blue set no doubt but can't we also talk about who else opened for Taylor Swift in the past icons like Ed Sharon Camila Cabo and so on meaning there's a new shiny Swift stamp of approval on Sabrina Carpenter's new brand as her old brand of just another forgotten Disney child gets washed out and replaced by a serious artist speaking of which playing at coala was a crucial move in in her Rebrand where people like me were still so caught up in her Ultra strong old brand got to see her as a a competent vocalist B an adult now not a Disney child C her personality and how she Trend sets with her style and her strategic partnership associations made her all the more into an iconic new woman first Kim skims the brand itself is associated with confidence femininity and sexiness and the campaign was so beautifully and creatively done chef's kiss to the creative team and strengthens the sexiness of Sabrina's brand without the need to do something so terribly drastic like Miley Cyrus just to Pivot away from the Disney child star brand second Prada Beauty just yes I've never seen a partnership that makes more sense the whole viral please please please song and taste music video integrated the products so well and this partnership further puts Sabrina to the Forefront as now an icon and Beauty third Marc Jacobs as someone to be seeing in the new lens of a pop culture icon rather than child star working with culturally relevant brands in fashion is so key fourth her own perfume wow I cannot think of a product that fits her more perfectly because Sabrina 2. 0 now has aspirational status AKA having traits that other people want for example her cute a spicy and sexy personality I like how her and her team position the price points to be only in the 10 20s 40s it perfectly allows her young female fans to afford connect and support her and also just a note on her regular merch even a Sabrina Carpenter shirt is not just a shirt but flirty fun and blue there's the butt Che I never want to wear anything else I've never bought merch before but I saw this t-shirt and I knew I needed to have it how cute is this it just makes me so happy to see the level of care that her and her team puts into every single project they touch and how much they do care and put the time into things rather than just a cash grab so good so key to building trust which is also done through fourth social media as you can see here there is major spike in Sabrina Carpenter's follower and like count on Tik Tok where over the last 30 days she gained 14.
7 million followers and on certain days got over 2.