Bieber brand on verge of creating dis- beliebers
Anne Frank gaffe could point to marketing meltdown
Puerile pop star Justin Bieber’s latest gaffe at the Anne Frank House museum in Amsterdam is pointing to an unsettling downward spiral and a one- way ticket to Nowheresville, experts say.
The 19- year- old Canadian singer’s European tour has been a buffet of boneheaded gestures and antics. On Saturday, he wrote in the guest book at the Anne Frank Museum: “Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.”
Frank is the famous young Jewish girl whose diary has become renowned the world over for its courage. She died in a German concentration camp in 1945.
Bieber’s comments were greeted with instantaneous outrage for their cluelessness and breathtaking lack of sensitivity. But the troubled singer’s antics and miscues are also pointing to a market meltdown.
Over the past month, Bieber has lashed out at photographers; been hours late for concerts; cancelled shows in Portugal; been subject to possible assault charges in a dispute with a neighbour; and had his pet monkey confiscated by the Germans.
Forbes. com says the singer’s numerous lucrative marketing deals could now be in jeopardy.
“The love affair with both his fans and business executives appears to be in jeopardy,” writer Larissa Faw said in her column. “There are a number of cautionary Bieber tales bubbling up from corporate offices ( including) missed appointments, misguided brand extensions, lost or delayed product design approvals.”
Forbes — citing market research firm E- Poll — also reports Bieber’s appeal has plummeted as he blunders his way through Europe.
E- Poll said the number of parents with children under 18 who disliked the pop star jumped by six per cent while teens who dislike him was up by 10 per cent. The poll covers the time between May 2012 and March 2013.
And his vaunted cuteness level has also dropped by five per cent. The poll revealed larger drops in his charm rating, down 12 per cent. Worse, 20 per cent of teens would not recommend his music to a friend.
As Bieber tries to make the jump to adult star from teen heartthrob, the road ahead is filled with landmines. “The big question is how fragile is the brand,” E- Poll’s Gerry Philpott told Forbes. “If they are tied to a cleancut wholesome celebrity, then I would advise them to look at this situation very carefully.”