Rihanna’s Rebranding Gets It Right

You’ve probably heard about R&B singer Rihanna’s spectacular rise and fall last year. Poised to become the most successful female pop star of the decade—five No. 1 singles, nine Grammys, a CoverGirl endorsement deal—she gained notoriety of another sort instead. At age 20, she was a victim of domestic violence, then stayed silent about it for nine months, during which time nude photos of her were leaked. Gone were the favorable press and long-term fans.

So orchestrating her comeback was no simple matter. As an article in Advertising Age put it, “Rihanna’s return to the pop stratosphere last month was a lot more challenging than it should have been. After the pop princess with a string of No. 1 hits and telegenic good looks appeared in the tabloids battered and bruised following a domestic disturbance with her ex-boyfriend, she couldn’t rely on a new album to reboot her career.”

She worked with Steve Stoute, the founder and CEO of Translation, a music marketing agency, who has aligned Beyoncé and Jay-Z with brands. He set out to restore her position as a global pop diva and present her as a role model for teen girls despite her initial silence.

Stoute told Ad Age that his assistance is “brand work” and said: “With brand work you gotta run a marathon. You can’t just put out a single, sweep an issue under the rug and get out of it through popularity.”

His first priority was Rihanna’s first interview after she broke her silence. Amanda Silverman, Rihanna’s longtime publicist, told Ad Age, “We wanted her to talk and for the music to come so much later.”. She added that Rihanna “is her [own] best spokesperson.” The first interview was with Diane Sawyer on “20/20.”

Even though her comeback album and its singles haven’t been a blowout success, Rihanna’s star is rising again. The “20/20” interview drew 8.18 million viewers (and the show’s best ratings with the 18-to-49 demographic in three years), and she kept the deal with CoverGirl—no small feat in this age when brands are (understandably) skittish about aligning with celebrities who may self-destruct.

There’s even a social responsibility angle to this story. After Rihanna appeared on “20/20,” calls to domestic violence centers went up 59 percent overall and up 72 percent among teen girls.