'Spoilt blonde bimbo wannabe pop/porn star'

Last night saw a rare insight into the life of a truly global brand.  A brand with so many different dimensions and characteristics, so many different personalities and 'faces', a brand so exposed and so public. Or is it actually a brand so aware and so ingenues; a brand in control.

Some call her a blonde bimbo, a wannabe pop-star with no talent, an amateur porn-star, and in some cases even stupid. With a net worth reaching the 100's of millions, you may even have heard her being called a spoilt rich kid, with no value for money and no desire or need to have her own income. However, this 'spoilt blonde bimbo wannabe pop/porn star' has more going for her than what first meets the eye.

Take a few moments to digest the following. Paris Hilton is a astute, intelligent, decisive, confident and very aware young lady. With her own personal net worth of approximately $100 million she's shown her ability as a successful and powerful business women. She's used her perception and public image in ways most wouldn't even dream of. Her imagination and ability to grasp the moment and use it to her advantage is like that of a shrewd business head. She has clothing lines, perfumes, movies, albums, toys, make-up, jewellery and more. Her vision to differentiate, counter and expand her brand is not that of a 'spoilt blonde bimbo', but that of a wise and powerful intellect.

She knows her brand very well, but she knows her audience even better. She knows what they want to consume, and has the ability to play upon it. She has the ability to utilise her nature, and character in growing and pushing her brand forward, while constantly remaining in complete control.

So is it so ludicrous to suggest, she's not misunderstood, she's just very clever.

Brand Barbour Branch Out

The latest must-have fashion item is the Barbour jacket. They used to be the preserve of outdoor loving aristocrats and rugged farmers but now Barbour jackets have started to pop up in the most unlikely of places; and on the most unlikely of people.

Alex Taylor, lead singer of the Arctic Monkeys and described by the NME as “the coolest man on the planet", wore a Barbour Jacket when the band played at Old Trafford. Kate Moss and Sienna Miller donned the waterproof at the Glastonbury festival and Amy Winehouse, Alexa Chung, The Feeling, Editors and Kasabian, to name but a few have all been seen wearing them.

So why is the Queen’s favourite wax coat suddenly so rock ‘n’ roll?

Part of the appeal for fashion folk is the fact that it’s so functional, comfortable and durable. Made of premium quality materials and fabrics, and stitched to perfection. Barbour Customer Repair Service is always available to their consumers and using this service will ensure their jacket’s life be long and rewarding. And now, there's an added spice to that most traditional of noble brands.

Barbour have now woken up to the potential of their brand, not merely as an aristocrat throw on, but as a fashion essential rooted in values of quality and preserve.  A product valued for it's effective functionality, combined with a stringent customer service policy, and now on the shoulders of everything 'cool' and 'trendy'.  With a new more fitted, fashion conscious range, Barbour is now finally, slowly and gently, allowing it's wings to spread.

The only thing I sit and wonder is, can Barbour really serve both distinct set of markets successfully, without one behavioral change effecting another...

Kerry in final cut...?

Can anyone remember the talented, happy, vibrant, magazine adorned days of Kerry Katona..? Well nor can I. This once upon a time pop sensation has seen more ups-and-downs than Bill Clintons trousers, but even he's managed to re-emerge with a credible and almost respectable image of late. With new images of Kerry Katona surfacing all over the media showing her undignified and simply unacceptable approach to self medication, I wonder are her days as a 'usuable' public figure finally over?

We've seen Kerry in magazines, billboards and TV at every stage of her rather peculiar journey, from the highs of pop stardom, to the lows of depression, to the highs of her ability to overcome her issues, to the lows of addictions. Throughout that period Kerry's been able to utilise herself effectively, and in both good times and bad she's used that image to sell her brand, whether its for Iceland or MTV. However with the recent images emerging of Kerry snorting copious amounts of cocaine in her bathroom, surely she's put the final nail in her demise as an advertising and branding asset for good. With Icelenad looking to pull out of their contract with Katona, and her shows ratings dwindling by the week it's difficult to see how even another re-brand and freshened approach would help her bounce back once again. No doubt the PR spin will once again be out in force and a new 'makeover' forecast for the coming months, but now it's honestly felt the brand that is Kerry Katona and all it represents has finally hit rock bottom, maybe not so much with this one action alone, but the culmination of everything involved and her ability to repeatedly become the talk of the town, for all the wrong reasons.

Kerry Katona we do wish you well, but from Adland, I think we'd rather just watch from afar.