Brand development and marketing communications plan for the stand-up comedian Ray Zambino

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a branding and marketing communications plan for the stand-up comedian Ray Zambino. The questions asked in this study were, what are the most common themes that arise in relation to brand building and marketing com- munications in the Finnish stand-up scene in particular, what are the key elements that set the brand identity for the stand-up comedian Ray Zambino, and what is this brand’s target audience?, and using knowledge of the Finnish context and the brand identity of the performer Ray Zambino, what are the most efficient ways of marketing communica- tion to convey this brand to its target audience? Firstly, a literature review was conducted to give a solid theoretical framework. Qualitative interviews with four industry professionals were then conducted. These interviews were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis gives context to the Finnish scene. This context was then applied to identifying and developing the brand of Ray Zambino by utilising the classic branding models explained in the theoretical framework. These models were Kevin Keller’s brand pyramid, Philip Kotler and Kevin Keller’s brand aspects, and David Aaker’s theories on brand identity. After the brand identity of Ray Zambino was developed, a target audience could be determined using psychographic and demographic market segments along with information from the interviews. A marketing communications plan was then made that was informed by all the previous knowledge. The results show that the biggest factor for the marketing communications plan was social media and that you can identify and develop a personal brand using traditional models with some caveats. It was discovered that if you are both a personal brand and the product being sold then every piece of communication from you becomes a brand communication. Ideas for future studies include tracking the brand equity generated by this branding in a real life context by interviewing audience members and comparing personal branding models with classical branding models then using surveys to determine which one is the stronger brand in the eyes of the public.