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Britney: The Good and the Bad - A Timeline of PR throughout her career

Britney (continued)

Collaborative Project: Summary of Britney's Good and Bad PR throughout her career

Summary of Britney's Media Life: Good PR and Bad PR

As we all have seen over the past couple of years, Britney Spears has been all over the tabloids. She has impacted Public Relations both in a positive ways and negative ways as well. When her name comes to mind negative thoughts run through people’s heads, this is because of the way that she portrays herself. Shaving her entire head, out of know where, does not bring a positive image to mind. The way situations are handles and dealt with draw the line between good PR and ad PR. On the negative side Spears brought the negative attention to herself by shaving her own head in a hair salon. This leads the public to make assumptions to what she was thinking, and the months of controversial behavior before this incident do not help her image. Some said that this was her giving a sign that she was in need of some help. That is a hell of a way to ask for help and support! Not only did this draw everyone’s attention to her, but it also made some wonder why she would do such a thing. Was it to cover up any drug use that was going on, that could have been tested through hair samples? When issues are not addressed properly it leads to assumptions being made, which leads to bad Public Relations. She should have addressed these issues behind closed doors to avoid the image that she has painted for herself.

The press behind Britney would continue to get worse as her downward spiral to a deranged pop diva continued. Britney Spears was locked in a psych ward as word spread to tabloids, after a meltdown that ended when she was strapped to a gurney and rushed to a hospital. Britney Spears was considered a "special needs" patient and was held at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for at least 72 hours in a wing where suicidal patients are treated, sources would go on to report. Apparently, Spears had initiated a confrontation with the cops when she refused to return her sons to ex-husband Kevin Federline. Late in 2007, Spears had lost all visitation rights to her sons Sean, and Jayden, after a number of events had ruined her image further. There was no proven fact that Spears had threatened to kill herself, but reports had stated that Brittany was becoming increasingly suicidal after the set of events that took place the year before.

Another example of bad Public Relations was the custody battle for Spears and Federline’s children. Spears lost custody of her two children after driving with her sons in CA without a valid driver’s license, and for failing to submit a drug test. This leaves another negative image on the celebrity. This is exactly the point that we are trying to make, that if handled correctly this negative image would not have been so out of control. The unraveling of Spears’s image all started after the marriage of her and ex Kevin Federline. "Britney knows that she needs help and is already going through counseling, she knows what needs to be done and is slowly re-building herself step by step." These are the statements that reflect her. Issues need to be addressed otherwise they will all build up against you. You have to take responsibility of your actions, not try and cover them up. Public Relations is all about how you portray yourself to the media or an audience. During this time period Britney Spears did a very poor job portraying herself to the media, and the media thrived off of it, tarnishing her image.

The young star has not always been this way. Starting from a child in the Mickey Mouse club, the star was a sensation. Makin millions of dollars from a young age, never mind the millions of fans she picked up along the way. She was a growing attraction and idol for all young people. Up until a few years ago she was on top of the industry, making millions and having thousands of loyal fans to follow her. As she grew older she became more daring and transformed into the teen everyone wanted to be. Britney broke out of her shell, and started to do as she pleased, which did not look the best when it came to PR. After making a few decisions that have tarnished her image and lost millions of fans Britney is on her way back. She is making a full recovery from the bipolar disorder and receiving treatment. Britney has settled with Kevin Federline about her custody issues, and is back in her children’s life. Although she shares custody with former husband Kevin Federline, she sees her children as much as possible and is trying to set a good example for them. She is turning around to the best of her ability, and the fans that she still has are following her more than ever. From what we have seen through the press and PR Britney is doing the best to clear her name and turn her life around. Will have to wait to see what happens with the future and see how the star handles her business this time around.

Rae - Britney: Good PR (today)

For many years now, Britney Spears has been known as “crazy, out of touch with reality, and unstable.” She went through many years of trouble including: divorce, custody battles, and hospitalization. Today Britney Spears is shown in a different light and is once again one of the biggest pop stars in the world.

 

            Britney’s comeback began in January of 2008 when her father, James Spears, obtained the legal right to control all of her assets and money. He was also in charge of her career and personal life. James is even considering giving up this right in November after Britney is finished her current tour. Many have said that James “saved Britney’s life.”

 

Sources:

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Britney-Spears-Conservatorship-to-Come-to-an-End-117270.shtml

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2008-02-04-spears_N.htm

 

            After the conservatorship began, Britney Spears has been trying to put herself in positive aspects of the media. The first thing she did was give to many charities. Britney donated to UNICEF and Idol Gives Back. She even visited a middle school in the Bronx to donate to the school’s music program. This allowed for the public to see that Britney was no longer in an unstable straight of mind. She was able to donate her money to those who need rather than spend it on the previous things she was buying, such as her extravagant shopping sprees.

 

Sources:

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1574175/20071113/lohan_lindsay.jhtml

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2008/04/10/britney-spears-idol-gives-back/

http://blogs.tampabay.com/juice/2008/10/britney-spears.html

 

            Britney’s people also decided that they wanted to show Britney as a well-fit mother.  Britney previously went through a nasty divorce and custody battle.  She even lost custody of her two children for a period of time. Britney had to prove that she was in fact a good and deserving mother.  She has promoted her mother skills to OK! Magazine and was quoted as saying, “I would die for my boys if that’s what it took to prove I loved them. I’d do anything for them.” Britney has been photographed with her children at parks, broadway shows, and hotels. Today, Britney has 50/50 split with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. She also has an extended agreement and is allowed to have her boys for majority of the summer while on tour. The promotion of Britney being a stable mother shows her fans that she is no longer selfish and thinks of her children first.

 

Sources:

http://www.theinsider.com/news/572880_Britney_Spears_Kids_Exposed_on_OK_Magazine

http://www.okmagazine.com/2009/06/no-more-kid-split-for-brit-in-summer-14902/

 

            Since Britney’s personal life was beginning to get back on track, it was time for her professional life to follow. Britney began to record her sixth studio album in 2008. The album, Circus, was promoted by a hotline where fans could leave messages for Britney and some even had a returned call by the pop star. Britney did many live performances including Madonna’s “Sticky Sweet” Tour.  Britney also promoted the album by a 60 minute documentary called “Britney: For the Record.” The documentary addressed her public meltdown and her comeback. The producers made Britney out to look sad and lonely as if she was trapped in her own little world. This documentary, released two days before her album debut, showed Britney in a completely different light. It showed her as a real person and a mother, not just as a broken old pop star. The documentary added a lot of excitement for Circus the album. The album later inspired a huge concert tour known as the same name. Billboard Magazine nominated the tour for “The Best Concert of the Year”. It has sold out in many countries.

 

 

Sources:

http://rosymediastudies.blogspot.com/2009/03/britney-spears-album-promotion-circus.html

http://www.piercemattiepublicrelations.com/2008/12/celebrity_pr_britney_spears_pr.html

http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/06-10-2009/0005041553&EDATE=

http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/06/20/britney-spears-back-in-the-studio-says-producer/

http://www.britneyspears.com

 

Britney seems to be on top of her game today. Almost like when she first broke into the scene in 1999.  Without help from her PR team, publicist, and crew Britney would not be where she is today. Her career and personal life took such a hard hit by her unstable actions, Britney’s team had to be excellent to get her to where she is now.

Vilma - (Intro) Why PR is good for celebrities

Public Relations in the Field of Music

            According to Ferguson Career Guidance Center, musical field public relations counselors’ main function is to create a positive image of his or her artist.  Creating a good image is essential for the artist career.  The public relations counselor first task is to evaluate people first impressions about the artist. If the artist receives negative feedback ; his or her public relations counselor is in charge of changing the public perception by rebuilding the client image. In order to accomplish this, the public relations counselor must outline a campaign for his or her client, and this might vary according to the demand of rebuilding the client image.  The P.R counselor must know how to write press releases, organize press conferences, compile press information, and plan parties. P.R counselor must be familiar with the media by having a big list of media contacts to call upon and use when they need the press to be present for their clients.

            Counselors must be used to work under great pressure; there are always constantly deadlines to meet, events to attend, and things to do. All counselors must be willing to work behind the scenes without expecting public recognition.

 

Salary

A public relations counselor can earn from $23,000 to $175,000, and in addition he or she can also earn 10% or 15% of his or her client income.

 

Advancement Prospects

A P.R counselor working in the musical field will always get more responsibility and more challenging clients.

 

P.R Counselor Skills and Personality Traits

 P.R counselor must have excellent writing skills, and also he or she has to be creative in order to come up with great ideas for his clients a publicity. He or she must be musical industry savvy to create effectiveness in the campaigns.

http://www.fofweb.com/Careers/default.asp?ItemID=WE34

Ashleigh - Britney Spears – Throughout Her Entire Career

  Starting out by making her first TV appearance in 1992 on Star Search, Britney moved on and became well known when she became a member of The Mickey Mouse Club in 1993 and 1994 along with other stars such as Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake. To follow, Britney signed a recording contract with Jive in 1997 and instantly became a hit. I, among many other young girls became immediate fans of Britney’s music. At that time I was only nine years old and being that I was an aspiring singer myself and performed in everything from local community shows to off-broadway shows in New York City, I was hooked. Britney Spears was an inspiration to all young girls and became an instant pop icon. Britney began her successful career with her first hit album …Baby One More Time and followed with Oops!... I did it Again. Britney used PR by promoting her CDs, selling merchandise, and touring to get more and more people to fall in love with her music.

 

Then around 2006 and 2007 everything changed for Britney and her life fell apart. After giving birth to her second son, filing for divorce from her husband, and shortly after her aunt died of cancer; Britney went to a drug rehabilitation center and tried to get her life back on track. Eventually, as many witnessed, Britney then shaved her head and began getting a lot of negative attention from the media. All of the good PR that she had when she first began her singing career was ruined by her actions. Britney then was not granted full custody of her two children after her divorce and was forced to undergo random drug and alcohol tests until she got her act straight. She was also forced to undergo psychiatric treatment and was involved in incidents where she attacked the paparazzi with an umbrella and was also involved in a hit and run accident. Soon her father was given control of all of Britney’s assets. Basically, after having great PR in the beginning of her career everything failed. Her life completely changed and Britney only displayed bad PR, losing many of her fans. I mentioned that I was a huge fan of Britney Spears. She was the first person I ever went to see in concert and after she began to seemingly go crazy, I was no longer a fan.

 

Then, Britney made her comeback! In 2008 Britney began to attempt to have good PR by guest-starring in CBS’s television show How I Met Your Mother, and then opened the MTV Video Music Awards for the third time. Then on September 15^th Jive announced that she would be coming out with her sixth studio album, Circus. She came out with hits such as Womanizer, Circus, and If You Seek Amy. She then went on tour and even declared her support for same-sex marriages to help positively promote herself.

Now, Britney is back and is better than ever. Because of all her recent positive actions, she has gotten most of her fans back, including me. According to an article entitled, “Britney Spears’ Fans Remain Loyal,” one of her fans still believes, just like I now do, that Britney continues to be a pop icon. “I think she’s better. She has just reinvented herself. Despite the troubles in her life, she came back out on top, has gotten her life straight, gotten her kids straight and now she’s gotten music straight,” said Amy Lawhead, a Britney Spears fan. “I think she’s definitely come out better in the end.”

Heather: Britney – beginning (Good PR)

            Britney Spears started her career at a very young age.  Having already performed on the well-known “American Idol” of the 1990s, Star Search, Spears searched for something more.  After auditioning for the Mickey Mouse Club at 8, she was denied because of her young age; however, when she re-auditioned at 11, she was accepted and unfortunately only participated until age 13 (the second season of the Mickey Mouse Club) because of the cancellation of the show.  The show introduced her to many soon-to-be stars, and future boyfriend as she would soon realize: Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez (of Nsync), Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell (“Felicity”).

After the Mickey Mouse Club, Spears’ vied for something higher, more media-related: singing.  She traveled to New York City and started to audition for pop bands and record demo tapes, which eventually led her to her deal with Jive Records.  Jive Records, along with song-writer and producer, Max Martin, produced the essential beginning to Spears’ career with her pop phenomenon hit, “…Baby One More Time.”  Besides being the start to her career, the music video to “…Baby One More Time” began her reputation as a teenage sex symbol, with her skimpy Catholic schoolgirl outfit, which appealed to both her female and male fans.  According to Spears’, the alteration of the outfit was all her idea: "It was my idea because at first we were wearing boring Catholic outfits and I didn't want it to be boring and cheesy. I mean we were dancing and I wanted it to be edgier."  Because of this “edgier” side, Spears’ gained the image of the “irresistible, sexy girl-next-door.”(Source: http://www.getback.com/musician/bio/britney-spears/313336)

In 1999, when her album debuted, “…Baby One More Time,” it shot straight up to No.1 on the Billboard Charts.  It remained as No.1 for months and simultaneously reached gold, platinum and double-platinum.  At this point, Spears’ was viewed as the next Madonna.  “I want to conquer the world,” Spears’ said in a CNN interview at 17, when she first began her turbulent journey on the road to fame.

Soon after her boom to fame, Spears’ was drawn into the PR world.  She shot a campaign for Tommy Hilfiger, signed a developed deal with TriStar TV to star in three episodes of “Dawson’s Creek,” and appeared in countless famous magazines such as “Newsweek,” “Entertainment Weekly” and “Rolling Stone.”  At this point, Spears’ viewed herself as a role model; she said: “It's inevitable because I'm out there so much.  You have to watch what you do ... because you want what you do to be really wonderful."

(Source: http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9903/24/britney.spears/)

            From then on, Spears’ became a mogul, and in some cases a product of a PR machine.  In 2000, she signed a three-year licensing agreement with Famous Fixins to manufacture the “Britney Spears CD Bubble Gum,” which was supposed to be a novelty item in conjunction with her upcoming tour at the time.  Part of the proceeds from her bubblegum would go to her charity of choice, which was The Giving Back Fund.  Famous Fixins had worked with several other famous celebrities, such as Sammy Sosa and Derek Jeter to offer a promotional product that would help benefit the person’s charity.

            In 2002, she was coined No.1 on Forbes “Celebrity 100” list, which combines earnings and media exposure to calculate the entertainer’s status.  Spears stole the light from Tom Cruise, who had been No.1 previous year.  However, although Spears’ didn’t financially prevail over other stars, what she lacked in income, she made up with magazine covers, TV and Radio appearances, web hits and overall media coverage.

(Source: http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=11828)

(Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434389/20000225/spears_britney.jhtml)

            To continue Britney’s “sex symbol” persona, her music videos became more risqué.  From her second album, “Oops! … I Did it Again,” singles “Oops! I Did it Again,” “Lucky” and “Stronger” showcased her sexuality in the tight red jumpsuits, belly shirts and short skirts.  With every video from then on, Spears’ line was drawn even further, where no limits were given and sexy was an understatement.

            Incorporate link with PR events: (http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1434383/20000420/spears_britney.jhtml)

            Aside from being a part of the same show, “The Mickey Mouse Club,” Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake formed a more than friendly relationship.  Dating back to their days as young dreamers, their relationship started to grow.  Justin and Britney, both on-the-rise stars, became a hot commodity in the late 90s.  Said to have been a couple for around ten years, Britney and Justin experienced many things together.  They were viewed as the “it” couple of the time and were the focus of all media exposure.  From magazine covers to interviews, the couple became an instant obsession.  Not only did fans adore their innocent love affair, but the media thrived on a couple “who had so much power and influence.”  After their sudden and unexpected break-up in 2002, Britney had to deal with a large amount of bad publicity.  As she always told interviewers and media sources, Spears’ was set on saving her virginity until she was married; however, Justin admitted in an interview that they had slept together during their relationship.  This began Spears’ journey into bad publicity and seemingly countless events of disappointment following.  She wasn’t viewed as the innocent schoolgirl anymore, but had a whole new persona attached to her.

(Source: http://hubpages.com/hub/Justin-and-britney)