I never thought I’d be writing about Paris Hilton in my blog, but her recent incarceration and dramatic release from jail was ripe with too many lessons for marketers and brand managers to just let this go. After watching the Larry King Live interview this week, my colleague suggested that I comment on the Paris Hilton brand and what could be done about it, if anything. Hence, this post.

First, if you believe, like I do, that a brand is simply "a promise made and a promise kept…consistently over time," it’s clear that the Paris Hilton brand was/is a pretty negative one. Her brand promise is basically, "I am a rich, spoiled, self-centered, air-head who can live by a different set of rules than anyone else." Needless to say, Paris attracted a lot of attention (much like a car wreck does), but engendered little support or empathy (which she sorely needed when her jig finally was up and she was sent to jail, do not pass go).

So, her much anticipated release from jail created a major opportunity for Paris to seize the moment and take a stab at resuscitating — more accurately, rebuilding — her brand. She had the chance to turn it into something that would be sustainable, and that she and her family could be proud of. It was actually a big opportunity for her, and at first it appeared as if she was attempting, in a positive way, to capitalize on that re-branding opportunity. Paris’ appearance just as she departed the LA jail (little make-up, Heidi hair braid and demur demeanor), was pretty effective in terms of this brand re-engineering project. So far so good.

The Larry King interview the evening of her release from jail should have been the centerpiece of her brand re-launch. King is nothing if not a softball interviewer, the friend of celebs everywhere for handling them with kid gloves covering velveteen fingers. The guy never met a celebrity he didn’t love nor want to pump up. As such, it was so much more surprising that Paris really did such a poor job in the King interview. She said some of the right things about wanting to do something for the women she met in jail, the ones who have no prospects and no hope (and no trust fund to keep them in Chanel and Champagne like young Paris). She showed a hint of humility and humanity.

But, she then proceeded to blow it completely by whining about her punishment "not fitting the crime." It quickly became clear that her high minded words were insincere (probably penned by a PR person), and that she really had not learned much from the ordeal. Too bad, it was a major lost opportunity for her to seek and find redemption. It would have been the start of creating a positive Paris brand that she could then use in a variety of productive ways (i.e., acting, a fashion company, the hospitality industry, given her famous name, e-commerce, branded products, media, etc.). 

The American public loves to build up celebrities and then tear them down just as quickly. (Indeed the building up part really is just to enjoy the fall from grace, which can be pretty spectacular in our celebrity obsessed media culture.) That said, as mean-spirited as people can be when it comes to witnessing the embarrassing swan dives of the powerful and famous, the public is surprisingly willing to give the disgraced a second chance. Redemption is a very powerful value and emotion in the American psyche (why do you think a mediocre film like "The Shawshank Redemption" is such a classic?). People give others that critical chance at redemption because they understand deep down that they could end up in the gutter themselves, and they would want that helping hand out of the abyss.

It was thus surprising that Paris and her brand team did not capitalize on this opportunity to redeem their brand. By contrast, do you recall how Martha Stewart handled her re-introduction into free society? Stewart paid an even bigger price — she went to a real prison for several months — but came out smelling like a rose. Now, it’s not that Martha ever admitted doing anything wrong (she maintained her haughty innocence to the bitter end), but she did not try to convince anyone that she was wronged. She did her time like a trooper, said mostly the right things about changing her life for the better, and went back to work. No whining, no allusions to finding religion (and then not being able to remember a favorite Biblical cite), no insincere promises about changing her life to help women in need. Polls taken after Stewart was released showed a strong uptick in her popularity. People were pulling for her, willing to giver the Domestic Diva a second chance. And, ever the smart and strategic marketing/brand practitioner, Martha took that chance and ran with it.

Some brands are probably just beyond redemption. This cynical marketer/blogger thought for a fleeting moment that the rich brat famous just for being famous might even do the right thing and rebuild her brand — and her life — in a positive new way. But, to paraphrase the parable about the Scorpion begging the frog to let him ride on his back to cross the river, and then stinging the frog midway, drowning them both, "It’s just in her nature."

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