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Jessica Coston
Final Case Study
5/1/15
The Rebranding of Justin Bieber
Abstract
In recent years, Justin Biebers image has shifted dramatically. When he first came into
the public eye in 2007, Bieber was just 13 years old and quickly developed a reputation as a cute,
Canadian teenage pop star. His first album, My World, made a huge splash in the music
industry and started Bieber down a path of great success and enormous fame. However, in 2013,
Biebers image changed drastically when reports of the singers various behavioral scandals
began to surface. Since the beginning of 2015, Bieber has made efforts to repair his image and
reconnect with his fans. He set out on what many media outlets are calling an apology tour,
partnered with Calvin Klein as a celebrity endorser and has made several positive steps toward
recovering his brand. While he has a solid start, Bieber will need to continue reconnecting with
fans and making a new name for himself to repair the brand he so publicly tarnished.

Rise to Fame
Bieber was first discovered by his now-manager Scooter Braun and fellow singer Usher
when Braun came across videos of the Canadian 13-year-old on YouTube. In 2009, he released
his first album, My World, which included hits like One Time and One Less Lonely Girl.
In 2010, Bieber went on his first world tour and released My World 2.0, which included one of
his biggest hits to date: Baby (cbc.ca 2014). The release of Baby set in stone the fame of
Justin Bieber. To date, the music video for Baby has over 1 billion views on YouTube, making

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it the most-viewed YouTube video of all time, and was on the charts for 317 weeks, peaking at
No. 1 (statisticbrain.com).
Since the release of Baby, Bieber has released three more albums, gone on huge,
worldwide tours and has become one of the most-followed people on Twitter, second only to pop
star Katy Perry. There was even a 3D film made about Biebers life and career. In 2011, Justin
Bieber: Never Say Never was released in theaters, grossing $98,441,954 in box office sales
(statisticbrain.com).

Fall from Glory

Though his 2012 album, Believe, was a huge hit, becoming his fifth No. 1 album,
Biebers 2013 album, Journals, was far less successful. The album was released in
installments in a purely digital format with a song release every week for several weeks.
Journals sold relatively few copies, did not make the Billboard chart and received poor reviews
(nme.com). The failure of Journals was just the beginning of what became a hard year for
Bieber in 2013.
In April 2013, Bieber made what many perceived to be an offensive statement. After
visiting the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Bieber wrote, Truly inspiring to be able to come
here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber, in the sites guestbook.
This was the first of many incidents that tarnished the stars good name. Later that year, in July,
a video surfaced of Bieber urinating in a janitors mop bucket and spray painting expletives on a
picture of former President Bill Clinton. Bieber did apologize to Clinton after this incident, but
that was not the end of his behavioral problems. In January 2014, Bieber was charged with a
DUI in Miami and partook in vandalizing his neighbors house by throwing eggs at it. The

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egging of his neighbors house led to Bieber being put on probation, being forced to take anger
management classes and paying his neighbor $80,000 in damages (CNN.com 2015).
These and other incidents culminated to create an entirely different reputation for Bieber.
The singers public perception was so bad at one point that in January 2014, there was a petition
in favor of his deportation from the United States on the White Houses official website, which
received a total of 273,968 signatures (petitions.whitehouse.gov 2014). At this point, it was
obvious that the stars image was tarnished and needed repair. Biebers scandals continued
throughout 2014.
Unlike in the Rush Limbaugh case, Biebers actions contradicted his brand image,
negatively impacting the way the public and media viewed him for a long period of time.
Limbaughs image, however, was not affected in the long term when he made rude remarks in
regard to womens health issues on his radio show because his rude, radical comments coincided
with his shock-jock brand image. If an action, even if it is offensive, aligns with the image a
brand has a reputation for having, then the action will have fewer long-term effects on how the
brands publics view it and interact with it. If the action does not align with the image, more
effort will need to go into repairing the brands good name.
As we learned from cases like Tiger Woods, it is impossible to control your CEO at all
times, especially when the CEO is the entire brand. Woods, similarly to Bieber, once had a
wholesome, family-friendly image. He had a reputation for being a great golfer and a great
family man. However, after a long line of mistresses began revealing his darker side in a largerthan-life cheating scandal, Woods was forced to do major damage control and rebrand.
Bieber is currently facing similar hurdles. He has done a lot of less-than-admirable
things and in order to regain public trust, he will need to rebrand. Biebers key publics include

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his fans, who he calls Beliebers, his record label, Island Records, and now Calvin Klein, the
brand he recently began endorsing. To regain the trust of Beliebers, Bieber will need to restore
some of the good image he had in the past while maintaining the more adult image he has
worked to achieve. By doing this, he will secure a positive brand image and hopefully, album
sales. In doing this, he will keep both his record company and his new partner brand, Calvin
Klein happy. He has already taken steps in this process in the form of an apology tour, social
media use, particularly with Vine, and his mutually symbiotic relationship with Calvin Klein.

The Apology Tour

On Jan. 28, 2015, after an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Bieber posted a
video apology on his Facebook page. The one-minute-and-42-second video featured the singer
in his bedroom with dim lighting. In his apology, Bieber said that he was not proud of the way
he had been acting for the past year and a half, saying, Im not who I was pretending to be. He
emphasized how hard growing up can be and said that he wanted people to know that he really
does care about his fans and people, in general. The video received 5,236,888 views and 379,854
likes. This was what I would consider a successful apology.
Unlike the video apology of Lululemons CEO, Chip Wilson, Biebers apology seemed
genuine and relatable. When Wilson made a video apologizing for his inappropriate comments
on womens body types, it was not well-received. Wilsons apology seemed scripted and poorly
targeted, as he did not apologize to the people he offended, but rather to the people he wanted to
please. Biebers apology had the opposite effect because he appeared to be genuinely interested
in regaining the respect and trust of his publics. The video seemed to be spur-of-the-moment and
he used language that made him approachable. By talking about the difficulties of growing up

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and discussing how he felt awkward and judged while on Ellen, Bieber gave his apology video a
quality that is very important to brand recovery: relatability.
The next stop on Biebers apology tour was another appearance on Ellen. In February
2015, the singer visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show yet again and discussed the apology video he
posted after his last appearance. He once again said that he was not proud of his past
transgressions and said that he is looking forward to his future personal growth and that he is
glad to have the publics support in the new chapter of his life. Ellen was a great platform for
Bieber to make a public, televised apology. First of all, Bieber and DeGeneres have an extensive
history together. Biebers first appearance on the show was back in 2009, when he was just 15
years old. Since then, he has made about 15 more appearances on the show. DeGeneress
viewers have become accustomed to Bieber being on the show and he has become a staple in the
shows celebrity affiliations. Based on Bieber and DeGeneress Facebook accounts, they share a
similar demographic. According to Biebers account, the majority of his Facebook followers are
women between the ages of 18 and 24, while The Ellen DeGeneres Shows account says that
most of its followers are women between the ages of 18 and 34. Twitter is also a connecting
factor between Bieber and DeGeneres. They are both on the top-10 list of Twitter accounts with
the most followers. Bieber is at No. 2 with 63,115,023 followers, while DeGeneres is at No. 9
with 42,740,361 followers (friendorfollow.com). Given their history, similar demographics and
large Twitter presences, Bieber and DeGeneres are likely to have overlapping publics, making
The Ellen DeGeneres Show a great platform for Biebers rebranding efforts.
Biebers most recent apology tour stop was the Comedy Central Roast of Justin Bieber.
On March 30, Bieber allowed a large group of comedians and other celebrities to roast him on
national television, giving them permission to point out and make fun of his music, personality

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and most importantly, his past transgressions that led to his currently flawed brand image.
Celebrities that participated in the roast included roast master Kevin Hart, Will Ferrell,
Shaquille ONeal, Snoop Dogg, Martha Stewart and several others. With such big names
involved, the roast brought in huge ratings. With 4.4 million viewers at original air time, The
Roast of Justin Bieber became the third most-watched roast in Comedy Central history, falling
behind only the roasts of Jeff Foxworthy and Charlie Sheen (variety.com 2015).
This Comedy Central event could really help Bieber in his rebranding efforts. Not only
does it show his willingness to own up to his mistakes and laugh at himself, it gave him yet
another opportunity to publicly apologize for his wrongdoings. After all of the jokes and laughs,
Bieber took the time to get serious and again apologized for his behavior over the past year and a
half. He said that he was not prepared for a life of fame when he first started at 12 years old and
that he has done things hes not proud of, saying, The things that I've done really don't really
define who I am. I am a kind-hearted person who loves people, and through it all I lost some of
my best qualities. For that, I'm sorry.
While it could be perceived that Bieber is being genuine and truly trying to repair his
relationship with fans and mend ties with his record label, some may perceive the apology tour to
be disingenuous and self-serving. One comment by comedian Hannibal Buress that ended up not
making the cut for the final roast is an example of how Biebers efforts may be negatively
perceived. Buress said, Actually you should thank me for participating in this extremely
transparent attempt to be more likeable in the public eye. And, I hope it doesnt work
(latimes.com 2015). So, while the apology tour may be seen as a positive thing, it could have
been a risky move, as some people may think it was nothing but a publicity stunt, which could
further damage the brand he is trying to repair. Honesty and genuineness are very important in

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public relations, so it will be vital to Biebers rebranding that people believe in his changes and
think that he will be a better version of himself in the future. If the public perceives his
rebranding efforts as self-serving and insincere, then his apology tour was in vain.
However, I think it will work in Biebers favor that the platforms on which his apologies
took place were well-suited for his personality and profession. After his similar brand crisis,
Tiger Woods held a press conference where he delivered an apology to all of his key publics.
While Woodss and Biebers apologies were similar in the way that both of them seemed honest
and sincere, they greatly differed in delivery. Woods is in a much more rigid profession as a
professional golfer, so his publics would expect a more sophisticated apology. Also, most people
would agree that the nature of Woodss wrongdoings were more severe and thus prompted a
more serious apology. Because of his more relaxed profession and less serious allegations,
Bieber was able to have more fun with his apologies and deliver them in ways that his publics
would best be reached. Avenues of apologies should suit the party issuing them, and I think
Bieber successfully found avenues that suit him.

Vine Activity
Social media has also played a role in Biebers recent rebranding. The singers activity
on Vine, an app that allows users to post only six-second videos, has helped cast him in a
positive light. Bieber has had a Vine account since the middle of 2014, so he has been posting
Vines since before his recent rebrand started. To date, he has posted 80 Vines, appeared in many
Vines posted by other users and has accumulated 3.7 million followers. His early Vines were not
incriminating and showed him doing fun, normal things with his friends like playing sports,

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playing music and having a good time. However, as of January 2015, his Vines became even
more wholesome and began to play a role in his rebrand.
In the early days of his Vine activity, I think the app served as a great way to stay
connected with fans, even in the middle of some of the scandals that led to his tarnished brand
image. Despite his poor decisions in his personal life, fans were granted access to Biebers
normal, human side. They could see his friends, what he liked to do, his sense of humor and his
musical talents, to remind them of his good qualities, even while he was going through a rough
patch.
Since the beginning of the year, however, Biebers use of Vine has, like all other parts of
his public life, become a part of his rebrand. Since Jan. 1, he has posted Vines promoting Calvin
Klein, promoting Comedy Centrals The Roast of Justin Bieber and showing him with his
family. So, not only have his new Vines promoted the other parts of his rebrand, they have
shown his softer side by depicting him spending time with his family and playing with his
younger siblings.
Social media has similarly played a role in the reworking of other brands as well. Miley
Cyrus has gone through a rebrand similar to that of Justin Bieber in the past couple of years. She
too made a transition from child star to adult star. Cyrus used social media, in the form of
Instagram, to aid her reimage. She opened her account around the time of her infamous VMA
performance with Robin Thicke, and her first post was a provocative picture of herself, which
promoted the new image she was trying to portray. Similarly, Bieber has used Vine as an outlet
to express the person he now wants to be. He has portrayed himself as more of a family man and
has made a greater effort to connect with fans. We also saw a similar use of social media in an
attempt to rebrand potatoes. In an attempt to give people a more positive perception of the health

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of potatoes, Pinterest was used to show healthy ways to eat potatoes in moderation. In a similar
way, Biebers use of Vine shows his followers a good side of him, despite the negative
perceptions they may have of him.

Calvin Klein
When discussing how to market the new BMW i3, we talked about the benefits of
celebrity endorsements and the importance of choosing a celebrity that fits your brand. The
Bieber-Klein partnership was somewhat unexpected, but it has turned out to be the perfect
match. Calvin Klein clothing ads have always had a reputation for being edgy, risky and up-todate with pop culture. Bieber perfectly personifies those three elements. He is a young star with
millions of fans across the globe, he has recently become a controversial figure in pop culture,
and his newly changed physical appearance consists of tattoos, slicked back hair and a muscular
physique. Bieber has provided Calvin Klein with a lot of publicity and has helped the brand
upkeep its tendency to work with Hollywood bad boys. The clothing brand had a very similar
relationship with Mark Marky Mark Wahlberg in the 1990s. At the time, Wahlberg had quite
the reputation for being a troublemaker. Prior to his rap and acting careers, Wahlberg was
arrested several times for drug charges and even spent a couple years in prison for assault
charges (huffingtonpost.com 2014). In 1992, Wahlberg partnered with Calvin Klein and his
iconic ads drew a lot of attention to both parties. Both Wahlbergs and Biebers ads were done in
classic Calvin Klein style. Both featured young, attractive models posing for provocative, blackand-white photographs and videos. Since the January release of Calvin Kleins ad series
featuring Bieber, the singer and clothing company have received comparable recognition. Bieber
has fully taken on the role of celebrity endorser and has promoted Calvin Klein products in all

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facets of his public life. Bieber has used Vine, Facebook and other social media sites to promote
Calvin Klein, and he even gave Ellen DeGeneres a package of Calvin Klein underwear for her
birthday on national television.
The partnership between the brands has done more than simply provide both parties with
publicity, however. Biebers relationship with Calvin Klein has provided him with a platform on
which he can associate himself with a positive brand while maintaining the more adult and
mature image he has created in the past couple of years. While Bieber may need to rebrand to a
certain extent to remedy the negative perceptions fans and the media have of him after he made
some poor choices, he should not aim to revert back to the image he had at the beginning of his
career. He is now 21 years old and needs to portray an adult image without all of the scandalous
behavior and run-ins with the authorities. By working with Calvin Klein, Bieber has
successfully associated himself with a brand that is mature and well-respected. The Miley Cyrus
rebrand also used the method of celebrity endorsement. Cyrus also wanted to make the transition
from child star to serious adult musician. She partnered with MAC Cosmetics to promote their
line of Viva Glam lipsticks and glosses. She too was able to associate herself with a mature
brand that she could have a mutually beneficial relationship with.

What Now?
To continue his rebrand, Bieber needs to get back to the roots of why people first fell in
love with his brand: music. He has already started releasing new music, such as his new
collaboration with Skrillex and Diplo, Where Are Now. So far, he has used social media to
promote his new music, but eventually he will need to release a new album and go on tour to

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reconnect with fans. However, the next tour he goes on should not be a traditional, moneymaking endeavor. His next tour should incorporate community relations all along the way.
As we learned in the Hallmark case, it is important to actually go to fans and show them
you care. When Hallmark wanted to improve their brand image and encourage people to buy
more greeting cards, they went on the road and visited towns where there were high
concentrations of their key demographics and talked to people one-on-one to connect with them.
Bieber needs to do something like that. Instead of doing a fast-paced tour where the performer
does a show and immediately travels to the next stop to play another show two nights later, I
would recommend the Bieber management team planning a tour where Bieber could play a show
and then stay in the city for an extra day or so to interact with fans and children in the
community. To do this, I would recommend Bieber partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of
America and NAMM, an instrument manufacturer, to become a part of their nationwide
afterschool music program (namm.org).
The Boys & Girls Clubs of America has chapters nationwide. This would work in
Biebers favor, as he has large fan bases in most major American cities. Bieber could visit major
cities like New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Miami, Seattle and others. All of these
places have at least one, if not several, Boys & Girls Club chapters. By taking time out of his
touring schedule to visit these clubs and work with the children by teaching them basic music
skills, he may foster new interest in his music among children and improve the way the general
public sees him by giving back to the community and the people that helped him achieve his
goals. He could do more than just spend a couple of hours with the children as well. Many kids
that spend a lot of time at Boys & Girls Clubs chapters come from lower income families and
may not be able to afford the experience of seeing a large, multi-million dollar pop concert

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production. To add to his community outreach, Bieber could reserve a certain number of seats at
each show on the tour and give the tickets to kids at the clubs that he visits.
In some cities, Bieber could even work with organizations outside of the Boys & Girls
Club to give his community outreach efforts a more local context. For example, while in New
York City, Bieber could work with the Harlem chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, but
also visit the Harmony Program, a local organization that stresses the importance of music
education and uses music in an effort to change the lives of children in the New York City
community (harmonyprogram.org). By working with local non-profits, Bieber would seem more
genuinely interested in helping the communities he is visiting. In the Bloomberg Pouring on the
Pounds campaign case, I learned about how an organizations can partner up and promote
positive lifestyle changes while improving brand images. When major soda companies like
Coca-Cola and Pepsi partnered with the New York City mayor to promote drinking soft drinks in
moderation, it helped improve the brand perceptions of soda manufacturers. Bieber partnering
with music education programs would do the same thing for his brand. Instead of being known
for his poor choices, Bieber could develop a reputation as a charitable young star with a passion
for sharing music.
If Bieber were to take on a community relations project like this, his management team
would need to organize a media relations arrangement as well. When we discussed the Pink
Flight and Air New Zealand, we discussed how the flight was promoted on a niche media outlet.
To target the particular segment of the LGBT market it was designing the Pink Flight for, Air
New Zealand promoted the flight on Logo, a television channel designed for the LGBT
community. Similarly, Bieber should promote his community relations tour on a niche media
outlet to best reach his fans. MTV would be an excellent outlet to promote his community

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relations efforts. MTVs viewership between the ages of 12 and 34 is 91 million strong and
growing; its viewers median age is 21 (parentstv.org). Biebers key demographics are about the
age and because MTVs viewers median age is 21, he could potentially target the more mature
audience he is hoping to capture as an adult musician. Right now, a large percentage of his fans
are teenagers, so marketing his community relations tour to a slightly older demographic may
help him create a positive brand image in that segment of the market.

Conclusion
Justin Bieber has made great strides toward a renewed and refreshed brand image.
Through his apology tour, social media use and partnership with Calvin Klein, he has planted the
seeds for what he wants to be the next chapter in his career. By partnering these efforts with a
strong presence in the communities of his fan base, Biebers music career could potentially come
back stronger than ever. Though he has made mistakes, he has laid the groundwork for what
could be a long, well-respected music career in the future.

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References
About Us | Harmony Program. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://harmonyprogram.org/about/
Boys & Girls Clubs of America. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
https://www.namm.org/affliates/boys-girls-clubs-america
Deport Justin Bieber and revoke his green card. (2014, January 23). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/deport-justin-bieber-and-revoke-his-green-card
Justin Bieber Statistics. (2015, March 23). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://www.statisticbrain.com/justin-bieber-statistics/
Justin Bieber's new album 'Journals' fails to make Top 40. (2014, January 7). Retrieved May 1,
2015, from http://www.nme.com/news/justin-bieber/74759
Justin Bieber's troubled timeline - CNN.com. (2015, January 20). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/28/showbiz/gallery/justin-bieber-2013/
Kissell, R. (2015, March 31). Justin Bieber Roast Ratings: Third Most-Watched Ever for
Comedy Central. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/justinbieber-roast-ratings-second-most-watched-ever-for-comedy-central-1201463608/
MTV Music Television Profile. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/campaigns/Skins/MTV Music Television Profile.htm
Marcus, S. (2014, December 11). Mark Wahlberg's Assault Victim Forgives Actor, Wants Him
Pardoned For Crimes [UPDATE]. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
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Saad, N. (2015, April 1). Hannibal Buress' 'transparent' Bieber roast joke is cut, so he shares it.
Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mghannibal-buress-justin-bieber-roast-transparent-joke-20150401-story.html
TIMELINE: The life and times of Justin Bieber. (2014, September 2). Retrieved April 30, 2015.
Twitter: Most Followers. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2015, from
http://friendorfollow.com/twitter/most-followers/