I was at the Michael Buble’ concert a few weeks ago when he came to San Diego. It was a wonderful concert. He really let his personality, not only as an entertainer, but as a human being come through his performance. Several times Buble’ drew us in by mentioning how he had grown up with a vision and passion to entertain audiences with his voice. Buble’ said he really appreciates his life and always tries to stay completely present at concerts to really take it all in. It was charming and I completely “got” him.
I always associate the Michael Buble’ brand and image with that of a retro crooner. The natural comparison is to the likes of Frank Sinatra and his crowd such as Dean Martin and other big band era musicians. In fact, if you just Google Buble’ and Sinatra, you will find entire blogs dedicated to their comparisons. It is a hot topic for those into Buble’s style of music. From my business eye- it is a great thing and it obviously sells well. In fact, the Buble’ concert I attended in San Diego was sold out to a 14,000 crowd of fans of all ages.
This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Buble’s brand and image. As I sat there looking around with my ever-present branding/image business mind I noticed something fascinating. I have been to many concerts in my life. The most recent was jazz trumpeter, Chris Botti, at the end of June. The Botti concert fan composition was homogenous in make-up- most everyone was between the age of 30 to 75, mostly caucasian and married.
The Buble’ concert fan composition was something I have not seen in a long long time. Next to us sat a gentleman and his wife in their 70′s. Behind us sat four screaming girls (a bit too much screaming for my taste) in their late teens/early 20′s. In front of us sat an entire row of skater-boarders in their mid 20′s. Next to them sat a young couple in their 30′s out on a date. What’s more, as we entered the venue outside, I saw many people arrive on their Harley’s wearing leather pants.
What this tells me is that Buble’s image and personal branding is diverse enough to draw on multiple target markets. Many in my business may say Buble’ may not have lasting power because he doesn’t target just one niche area. However, I disagree. The fact that Buble’ can draw on multiple target markets means that his branding and image strategy is highly effective and versatile. Who wouldn’t want to attract multiple niche’s successfully? After all, the teens will grow up to become adult fans and his style will adapt to rebrand as necessary.
So why try to change a great thing, Michael Buble’? What was perplexing was that as Buble’ spoke on-stage it was clear to me, as a personal branding and image strategist, that Buble’ was trying very hard to change his image and branding to move away from the association/brand of Sinatra. He even tried to draw a distinction in so many words when he brought up how he is often compared to Sinatra. In a further effort, Buble’ would switch gears and speak to the youth crowd. Several times he used the “f” word. He encouraged teens to scream and if someone told them to sit down, Buble’ said that the teens could say “f-you because you paid a lot of money to come to see me”.
I was really baffled. If Buble’s camp had done their homework, they would have seen from the statistics that he is already drawing a varied crowd. By getting on stage and using the “f” word, Buble’ is risking rebranding his image toward a teen/youth market that may not be able to afford him and associate him to Sinatra as well. Why not use the Sinatra brand and strategically distinguish yourself to the crowd who remembers Sinatra and loves the Buble’ voice via a side niche, say maybe that you sing more modern songs and have a “fresher look and image”?
What does this mean for you? Look at your personal brand and business image and see who you appeal to most. Is there any similarity you have to a brand/business image that once was successful to which your target market associates with still? How can you genuinely take your assets and differences and capitalize on this brand association by being memorable? There’s no need to re-create the wheel, just adapt it.
Wish you a fabulous brand and image,
Katy
