Personal branding for visual artists – The importance of a brand identity for amassing brand equity

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School of Business | Bachelor's thesis
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Date

2021

Department

Markkinoinnin laitos

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Mcode

Degree programme

Markkinointi

Language

en

Pages

25 + 7

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Abstract

This literature review examines how visual artists may increase their brand equity as professionals via personal branding. There exists a romanticized stereotype of the starving artist who uses their talents and social and cultural capital only to satisfy aesthetic or intellectual needs, rejecting, at least partially, a capitalist society. However, artists also accrue symbolic capital, which can be used for economic gain in the world of business. To understand the multiple factors that play into an artist’s brand, a brief explanation of the dynamics of the art market is provided. When discussing the notion of personal branding for visual artists, special attention is brought to the importance of creating a strong brand identity as it acts as the cornerstone upon which the rest of the brand is created. The notion of a brand identity is examined both through Aaker’s brand identity model as well as through Kapferer’s brand identity prism. While these models have originally been conceived for corporational purposes, they can be adapted to work in favour of a visual artist, as visual artists operate in an entrepreneurial manner. To explore how an artist’s brand identity can be used to amass brand equity, both Aaker’s brand equity model and Keller’s customer-based brand equity model are utilised. Since however, the artist’s brand is manifested in their unique artworks of volatile and socially agreed prices that depend on tastes and attitudes, Keller’s customer-based approach emphasizing emotional attachment, is preferred as a primary framework for analysis in this thesis The meaning of authenticity for an artist’s brand is also examined briefly, as consumers nowadays are in search of authenticity in regard to the brands they associate with. The various forms of authenticity that affect artists’ brands to better understand what it even means for artists to be “authentic”. For artists to succeed they must have a positive level of brand equity to ensure that customers (art buyers) will choose their brand. Strong brand identity and favourable brand positioning are prerequisites for accruing brand equity. This brand identity must be integrated into the overall marketing efforts, and it is conveyed to create true touchpoints with the target audience. Here the brand essence of an artist which is linked to the authenticity of an artist plays an important role. So far there has been a lack of research into the marketing of artists in general. For this reason, frameworks that have been originally created to be used by corporations are adapted to fit the subject of this thesis. Further research into the branding of entrepreneurial individuals who work in a networked manner would be therefore beneficial. As successful artists possess a certain level of celebrity, more research into the creation of celebrity brands is necessary. So far, most marketing-related research regarding celebrities discusses brand endorsements. The few research papers that do discuss celebrity brands have done so via case studies, that don’t allow for nuanced generalisable deductions.

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Thesis advisor

Blakaj, Hedon

Keywords

branding, brand equity, brand identity, personal branding, art market

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https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202201301502

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[kand] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ (Open Access)