Billboard Conference: Branding Power

Report on the Branding Power panel from the Billboard R&B Hip-Hop Conference by Brooke A. Fleming.

Thursday, August 4th
10:00am - 11:15am

BRANDING POWER: Marketing experts and corporate reps discuss strategies for aligning urban artists with corporate America. This panel will also explore how to pitch companies for sponsorship and how to effectively use a successful corporate partnership to raise an artist's profile.

Moderator:
Erin Patton, President, The Mastermind Group
Panelists:
Edward P. Foy Jr., CEO, eFashion Solutions, LLC
Hiriam Hicks, CEO, Artist Factory
Solomon Smallwood, Madison Smallwood Financial
Munson Steed, CEO/President, STeed Media Group/Rolling Out Urban Style Weekly

So you want to be famous! Well who exactly are you, and what makes you different from all the other artists that try to sell me a C.D.?  That's where branding comes into play.  As Solomon Smallwood stated, branding is how you define yourself, your label.  It's the identity that's put into the minds of consumers.

Every artist has to appeal to his or her own audience and, in order to do that, each artist has to have distinctive characteristics that attract people to him or her. The problem with branding is that, although the artist might try to appear a certain way to his or her target audience, who they are is truly defined by what the consumer thinks. So even if you feel you're punk, you might just be hip-hop.  A brand is an attitude and a perception.

The panelists agreed with Munson Steed that there are four necessary things needed to create an artist's brand:
1. Commitment
2. Passion
3. Planning
4. Execution

The panel members suggested that in order to get an artist to the next level it's important to align their brand with associations. Never over exploit your brand just for a check. It's important never to do that because you may lose your fan base and sometimes those loyal fans may never return. Hey, let's face it, a lot of us have to keep all the fans we have.

Okay, so the industry has Usher, we have Beyonce and we have Lil Jon. We don't need you to mimic these people. Another important part of creating your brand is being innovative, don't downplay who you are to try to make money. Know your value, who are you and how much you are worth.

I want to leave you with a few tips given by Munson Steed:
1. Read. Everything you want to know is in print
2. Find out why you're doing what you're doing. If you don't know, then how will your fans?
3. Create a mastermind group. Find people who believe in what you're doing and want to help you in any way they can.

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