Sunday, March 16, 2014

On Nadine Labaki - the brand.

 She made the transition from behind to in front of the camera for Coca-Cola light...
 And made shiny silky hair important for movie directing....
 Then she summed up the spirit of a whole people for Johnny Walker.... (because alcohol is important on set)
 She was one of the faces on the posters of Lebanese film festival...
There was also in a campaign for Olay for delaying wrinkles.... (if gives you better shots you know)
And now she is representing Brave Heart....
And she does movies and acts in in them too. And in other people's movies. In between being the face of brands and ads that is.
There is no denying her talent, but you see - many other Lebanese female directors have talents (would anyone have thought about Randa Chahal for Olay?) - but what Mrs. Labaki has is also beauty and charm which certainly makes her appealing to brands trying to target women of certain socio-economic classes or women who want to emulate themselves against a successful film director and actress who also juggles being a wife and a mother at the same time.
It is to note, that apart from Lebanese film festival, the talents of Nadine Labaki have no common link with the intrinsic characteristics of the brands unless one includes that she is a beautiful woman as such. So in essence she is now a brand on to herself. One which associates itself with others but retains the chameleon aspect which would make her fit with even more of those.
I do wonder though how much this marketing flexibility can still be of use to brands in the long run - if she is compatible with everyone could this mean she is conceptually compatible with none? "Si c'est a tout le monde, donc c'est a personne" (if it is for everyone therefore it is for no one).
Nadine Labaki is an excellent director, a good actress, but a superb marketeer of her own brand which she sometimes uses to fit with others.... albeit briefly.



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