Science (and art) of 'manufacturing' celebrities

“High Visibility”
Irving Rein, Philip Kotler,
Martin Stoller
NTC Business Books


What do actor Al Pacino, actress Alicia Silverstone, televangelist Jerry Falwell, cager Dennis Rodman and painter Claude Monet have in common? Apparently, not much if we look at their respective professions. But actually, they share one thing in common – they are a product of a conscious effort at making and marketing and professionals into celebrities. This is according to a book written by outstanding marketing gurus, “High Visibility.”

Pacino uses a battery of publicists every time he has a movie to promote. Silverstone made strategic choices in her career starting from her first commercial for Domino’s Pizza. Falwell smartly chose to project his name and not a forgettable corporation, Liberty University.

Rodman dyed his hair and had tattoos on his body to project a man “out of control.” And Monet (surprise!?) was transformed from an obscure painter to a world-renowned impressionist after the Art Institute of Chicago packaged 159 of his paintings into a blockbuster exhibit that drew almost a million spectators.

This book justifiably disclaims two things: one, it is not a “Hollywood-insider-tells-all” book; two, it is not devoted to the socio-psychological implications of being a celebrity.

It is actually one of the best marketing books that recently came out from the professors at Northwestern University – focused on an interesting subject: celebrity making. Every chapter proceeds from such subjects as “sculpting the image,” “visibility premium,” “celebrity industry,” “building blocks of transformation,” “delivering the image,” “the voice of visibility,” and “sustaining celebrity.”

The book is entertaining and engaging, because it removes the veil of mystique and voodoo in creating, transforming and marketing a celebrity. What the three authors have succeeded in doing is to discern “science” form “art” of creating a Pygmalion out of a promising or even an initially unimpressive professional.

Trust the three marketing gurus to give us an insightful account of this industry that has managed to be in the shadows simply because the practitioners want to maintain an “industry entry barrier” – a ploy to discourage new entrants.

A quick look at the authors telegraphs to us that this is no ordinary hodge-podge account of an industry made up of celebrity creators, talent managers, publicists, transformation experts, movie star lawyers, and image makers.

Philip Kotler is a familiar name to marketing strategists in the Philippines for his visits to this side of the world and for his “Marketing Management” book that is required reading in out MBA schools. Irving Rein and Martin Stoller are known globally as public communication, pop culture and visibility according to the book’s jacket.

Up till this nook, what makes a celebrity has not been defined. This, the three authors took the bull by the horns. They began by saying that the Oxford Dictionary is not much help with this definition: “a person of celebrity,” “a public character.” It’s a wonder how Oxford violates the first principle in defining something – that is, not to repeat the word.

Quoting The Celebrity Register, this definition was attempted: “A celebrity is a name which, once made by news, now makes by itself.” This is actually an illuminating and witty one-liner. And yet, marketing professors as they are, they offer this precise, yet prosaic, definition: “Celebrity is a person whose name has attention-getting, interest-riveting, and profit generating value.”

The two definitions depict our ambivalence about this interesting industry. It is both romance and science, emotion-rousing and revenue-raising, marketing dreams and selling reality. And yet, it will benefit both the practitioner and the would-be celebrity to know that this business indeed has its own “logic.”

One illuminating chapter is the book’s account of the evolution of the celebrity industry – more a discussion of phases than a chronicle of historical stages. It traces its growth from the “cottage industry stage” – where the celebrity aspirant’s backing comes from family and friends, propelled by his/her own self-training – to an “advanced industrialization stage” where the would-be celebrity can count on a complex organization of researchers, product planners, image builders and coaching professionals. Interesting is the “industry structure” constructed by the authors, showing allied industries that support and earn from celebrities.

It is a joy to read a marketing book spiced with tidbits and insights into the lives, strategies and astronomical incomes of “stars” – all familiar names in the movies, law, medicine, sports and politics. Do you need to read this book? Listen.

“Celebrityhood is not merely a reward unto its possessors. It also helps to meet the crucial public need for icons, role models and reference persons.” If you agree, read on: You – like me – may be tempted to try “manufacturing” a celebrity.