It's A Matter of Resurrection or Death

If brands are like people, there's a cautionary tale in this week's consummate flame-outs of two once-powerful brand personalities: Michael Jackson and Mike Tyson.

Why do some celebrities -- and, by extension, some brands -- make successful comebacks and others don't?

As you watch the irreversable plunge of those two stars from the zenith of their brand appeal, we've got to recognize that their falls from grace (and permanent relocation to a particularly hellish pit of celebrity infamy) have as much to do with breaking the Laws of the Purple Cow as they do the Laws of the State.

As Seth Godin states in a recent post:

to create a Purple Cow... you must embrace the fact that it won't last forever. It might not last very long at all.

In other words: change or die.

Jackson and Tyson have spent the last 15 years proving this concept. Not to diminish the seriousness of their crimes, alleged or proven. But the point is that some celebrities manage to resurrect their brands even after epic missteps while others disappear in the ruts they carve. Why?

Celebrities who have successfully/constantly reinvented themselves — that is, their brand -- either with/without failure/prosecution/substance addition/etc., etc.:

Martha Stewart
Johnny Cash
Aimee Mann
Ahmad Rashad
Radiohead
Donald Trump
Burt Reynolds
Jesse Ventura
Arnold Swarzenegger
Ice Cube
Beck

What have these brands done that the losers have not? Change. And, oh, by the way, deliver a remarkable "product" at each turn.

You might argue that Tyson and Jackson did change. Right -- by making grotesque charicatures of themselves. Tyson devolved from street kid with big dreams and bigs fists who achieved great fortune and the relative dignity of the moniker "Iron Mike" to a rapist, cannibal, monster and overall colossal loser. Jackson evolved from Thriller to alien life form.

Those changes don't count for Jackson, Tyson or any brand, because they're just the natural outcome of bad habits. Jackson and Tyson hit the point of no return a long time ago because they kept trying harder and harder to squeeze juice from the dried-out/played-out fruit of their former successes. Instead of admitting the end of the former glory and trying something new, unusual, different, exciting, they became anachronisms, clichés, embarassing (but fun) to watch.

Both failed to recognize the jig was up a long time ago. That's a big problem any kind of brand, whether, you're a celebrity or a business.

Brands that have made successful comebacks:

Pabst Blue Ribbon
Martha Stewart Living
Volkswagen
Apple

Hmmm. Kinda hard to think of many good comebacks in brands, isn't it? Now why do you suppose...?