MARKETING AN ARTIST

BEYONCE/SASHA FIERCE

Beyonce - Crazy In Love

'Crazy In Love' featuring Jay-Z is the music video in which 'Beyonce' died and 'Sasha Fierce' was born. This new star persona meant that a brand new marketing campaign needed to be done in order to promote this star persona. Beyonce then went on to release a new album called I Am Sasha Fierce in which unfortunately did not do well. She later "killed off Sasha Fierce" and became 'Beyonce' again.

This is a screen shot from the music video 'Crazy In Love'. 'Beyonce' is in a car in which Jay-Z burns. This is representing the "death of Beyonce" and the "birth of Sasha Fierce."

Later, 'Sasha Fierce' walks over to join Jay-Z during his verse.

This is a magazine cover from when Beyonce killed off Sasha Fierce. Since she claimed she didn't need her no more because she was fierce herself, her star persona consisted of both Sasha and Beyonce.

This is a colour photo of Sasha Fierce. This is unconventional of Sasha Fierce's style as all photographs of her are in black and white. Her costume denotes her wearing a ripped leather jacket. The leather jacket looks like a motorcycle jacket. Stereotypically, a motorbike is mans vehicle in which connotes that Sasha is vicious and is subverting the usual representation of a female by wearing a biker jacket. The front design on the jacket displays a fire and the collar of the jacket is shaped like a blazing fire. The rips on the jacket connote Sasha's birth as in the 'Crazy In Love' music video she was born in the fire in which Beyonce died. Sasha's hair is a warm golden colour connoting the temperature of the fire. Also, her make up is dark but simple. The smokey eyes also connote the fire.

This is a poster promoting Beyonce/Sasha Fierce's album I AM... SASHA FIERCE. This poster is split in two connoting Beyonce's split personality. A black and white theme was a visual motif throughout the album promotion and marketing Sasha. The left hand side of the poster is Beyonce and the right hand side is Sasha Fierce. This split allows the audience to identify the difference between the two star personas. Beyonce is more natural, sweet and angelic looking whereas Sasha is more fierce, aggressive and devilish looking. Beyonce's costume is plain and simple whereas Sasha's is extravagant and aggressive. The typography also conforms to the black and white theme and it is the same font throughout the promotion package.

This is a poster provided in the album digipak. As you can see, the black and white theme is displayed again. Sasha's costume displays her wearing spikes and a robotic glove. The robotic glove is a intertextual reference to Michael Jackson as he used to wear one glove on his hand. Her hair is always in a large puffy quiff with the rest of it straightened down behind her back. Her hair is full of volume which connotes the bold personality in which Sasha Fierce holds. Her make up is also a visual motif in the promotion campaign. It is always a smokey eye look with dark bold eye brows. The background is black connoting the dark side of Beyonce being Sasha Fierce.

Sasha's performance in this displays her as looking sweet and innocent however her make up juxtaposes this. Her make up is a lot more heavy in this poster. Her eyes are highlighted with two bold, dark eye liner lines bringing them to life. Her quiff is more tamed down and her outfit is more tamed down too. This allows the focus of the poster to be on her eye make up. Reinforcing this is the use of lighting. Sasha is being spot light from the right hand side in which causes a shadow on her arms and bottom half of her body. This encourages the black and white theme. Black has connotations of strength and authority which reinforces the power of Sasha's persona.

This is another poster promoting the album. In this the audience can clearly see the difference between the two star personas. The background for Beyonce is a calm, beautiful beach. This contrasts with the background of Sasha Fierce which is a dark, gloomy, cloudy beach with vicious tides. Beyonce has her hair down naturally and it is wet reinforcing the nature of it. Sasha Fierce has her hair in her signature quiff. The make up shows the most difference between the two star personas. Beyonce's is more natural and simple looking whereas Sasha's is more bold, fierce and dark looking. The costume also contrasts massively with one another. Beyonce's is more plain and simple whereas Sasha's is outrageous and extravagant.

This is me imitating a Sasha Fierce style. My eye make up has been done with smokey eyes and bold eye brows as Sashas are done. Also, my hair is bold, crazy and full of volume. I originally had a quiff in this photograph however it would not style correctly due to my fringe. My lip colour is a natural beige which is what Sasha wears. Also, my performance denotes me as being powerful with someone pulling my chain as if I need to be tamed. This is similar to Sasha's star persona as she is represented to be fierce and powerful however needs to be tamed. I have also editing the photograph to give it the black and white theme.

This is another poster from the Sasha Fierce promotion campaign. The black and white theme is still relevant in this however using photoshop, the red slit in the dress is in colour making it stand out. The slit looks as if Sasha has been sliced down her chest and she is bleeding. Her facial expression denotes her to be in pain but hiding it which connotes the red slit. The hair style is in its visual motif style for the audience to identify that this is Sasha rather than Beyonce. The make up is also following the smokey eyes style. The dress is weirdly shaped however this is the kind of costume in which Sasha wears. The typography is the same for this. The typography is bright, capitals, bold and in white. White signifies purity and innocence which juxtaposes with Sasha's fierce persona. Lighting displays Sasha being spot light which reinforces Sasha as a powerful individual standing on her own.

 This is a screen shot from the homepage of Beyonce's official site. In the main image, Beyonce is typed in the typography that displays Beyonce's star persona rather than Sasha Fierce's. Also, the photograph is in colour rather than black and white. This makes Beyonce more dominant and superior in contrast to Sasha Fierce. Beyonce is dressed in leopard costume and lying on a leopard print blanket which connotes her animalistic persona.

This is a screen shot from the site promoting the album I AM... SASHA FIERCE. It gives fans/audience an option to purchase it directly regardless of the country they are in. You can also listen to samples of the songs on the album. This is a convention of a marketing campaign.

BEYONCE (SASHA FIERCE) - SINGLE LADIES

This is the first song in which Beyonce (Sasha Fierce) released off the album I AM... SASHA FIERCE. The black and white theme is evident throughout this music video. Also, the puffy quiff, straight hair and smokey eyes is displayed throughout the video allowing the audience to identify with Sasha Fierce. Also, the prop of a robotic glove is worn throughout this entire music video. That robotic glove is a visual motif for Sasha Fierce as it is how the audience know it is her. There are no costume changes in this music video and Sasha's one costume is a black leotard. The colour black connotes her power and authority. This music video is a performance video to which conforms to the star persona of Sasha as all her music videos are performance videos.