Original Article
Brand communications in fashion
Correspondence:
Angela Carroll
Leeds University Business
School, University of Leeds,
Maurice Keyworth Building,
Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
E-mail: ac@lubs.leeds.ac.uk
146
categories using celebrity
endorsement
Received: 12th September 2008
Angela Carroll
is a Senior Teaching Fellow at Leeds University Business School. Teaching and researching in the areas of branding and
advertising, she has a particular interest in fashion marketing and branding.
ABSTRACT Brands have evolved to represent much more than the traditional
markers of quality, trust and reliability to consumers. Brands have become embedded
in the consumer psyche and offer consumers the opportunity for self-expression,
self-realisation and self-identity. This effect is particularly strong in fashion categories.
Barriers including cynicism and increasing advertising literacy threaten traditional
approaches to brand communications, which have traditionally relied on verbal
communications and storytelling. Celebrity endorsement is recognised as a potentially
potent tool in communications, with celebrities viewed as more powerful than
anonymous models and campaigns tending to verbalise the meaning of the celebrity
in relation to the brand. This paper examines the use of celebrity endorsement in
communications for fashion brands against the backdrop of a turbulent branding
environment. The paper is conceptual in approach, drawing upon a range of literature
in the area of branding, celebrity endorsement and fashion marketing. A shot from
the 2004 Mui Mui print campaign featuring Maggie Gyllenhaal and the 2005 print
Versace campaign featuring Madonna are used as illustrations. The analysis concludes
that a new approach to celebrity campaigns has been adopted in fashion branding,
reflecting the need to move away from traditional campaigns and to focus more on
visual signals rather than written cues. The need for an alternative approach to brand
communications using celebrity endorsement is highlighted. This also reflects
limitations of traditional theoretical models used to explain the endorsement process.
The paper offers an original and contemporary insight into celebrity endorsement
and fashion marketing.
Journal of Brand Management; (2009) 17, 146–158. doi:10.1057/bm.2008.42;
published online 19 December 2008
Keywords: celebrity endorsement; branding; fashion marketing; advertising; marketing
communications
DEVELOPMENT OF BRANDING turers and a rich source of information to
Brands have come to be regarded as impor- consumers. The benefits of branding are
tant marketing components to manufac- well documented. To the manufacturer,
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
www.palgrave-journals.com/bm/

brands offer a means of identification for
ease of handling and tracking, legal protec-
tion1 and the ability to be distinctive.2 In
addition, branding is a sign of quality and
can be used to secure competitive advan-
tage and increased financial returns and
high customer loyalty.3 For the consumer,
the brand functions as a means of identifi-
cation, reduces search costs, effort and per-
ceived risk, thereby facilitating a shortcut
in decision making, and represents a guar-
antee of quality and reliability.4–6
Products evolved into brands in order
to create differentiation in increasingly
competitive markets by offering customers
something extra over and above the func-
tional attributes and associated potential
benefits. Thus, the term ‘added value’ was
used to distinguish products from brands.7
Traditionally, this term focused on rational
and economic features such as quality,
consistency and reliability, with consumers
prepared to pay that little bit extra for a
brand. Brand names thus became hallmarks,
which resulted in consumers placing trust
in brands and forming bonds with manu-
facturers.8 Increasing competition, coupled
with the perceived potential benefits of
branding to manufacturers and an increased
volume of brand-based advertising, resulted
in a proliferation of choice for consumers
in many markets. Consequently, the scope
for differentiation became limited, and it
could not be assumed that consumers were
interested in a product because of some
combination of basic ingredients.9 The
emphasis shifted to symbolic, emotional
features that generated more socio-psycho-
logical associations in the minds of con-
sumers.10,11 This was recognised as applying
particularly to brands in the mature stage
of their life cycle, identified by Murphy4
as the ‘image stage’ where functional advan-
tages have been eroded and symbolic values
become more important in differentiating
the brand. Therefore, it was recognised that
a brand image could be ‘grafted’ onto the
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
Brand communications in fashion categories
product through advertising in order to
create memorable and ‘immortal’ brands.12
Differentiation could be achieved over time
by, for example, lifestyle advertising.5 Thus,
increasingly there was no information about
the product, only the type of people who
might be inclined to use the product.13 It
thus became accepted that developing,
communicating and maintaining a brand’s
image is critical to the long-term success of
a brand,14 with the core activity of
many companies transformed from the
production of things to the production of
images.15
BRANDING FROM A MANAGERIAL
PERSPECTIVE
Traditionally, branding was viewed prima-
rily as a marketing function within the busi-
ness. Increasingly, however, it has come to
be viewed as being at the heart of business
activity, embedded throughout the organi-
sation,11 and as an asset that needs to be
correctly managed.16 Related to this, the
concept of ‘brand equity’ has evolved, which
stresses the potential stakes invested by
companies in brands.17 Discussions high-
light both the strategic importance of brands
and the potential pitfalls of inadequate
brand management. As a result, a number
of models that conceptualise the brand
management process have been devel-
oped.16 Keller18 emphasises the need for a
structured approach based on sound research
in order to manage brands strategically and
to generate optimum value both in terms
of asset valuation and marketing efficiency.
To achieve this effectively, value for the
brand has to be created and managers must
have the knowledge and expertise to exploit
this value by developing profitable brand
strategies. Creating value and building
brand equity requires managers to develop
favourable, strong and unique brand
associations via an integrated approach.
Underpinning this process, however, is the
147
 Carroll
assumption that consumers develop brand
knowledge, the dynamics of which must
be understood by practitioners if strategies
are to be effective. Keller18 defines brand
knowledge as comprising brand awareness
(brand recognition and recall) and brand
image, which is reflected in the favoura-
bility, strength and uniqueness of the cluster
of associations held about the brand in con-
sumer memory. Therefore, the significance
of brands can only be seen through the eyes
of the beholder.6 The consumer plays an
important role in the building of powerful
brands that in effect are coproduced by
firms and consumers.1 Brand equity
becomes customer-based, to which the task
of managing the constellation of meaning
associated with a brand is key.17 Equity is
thus measured less in relation to quantita-
tive benchmarks and more in relation to
customer perception. If consumers have
high awareness and favourable associations
towards a brand then equity is positive.
Branding strategy becomes less about
market share and more about minds and
emotional share.19 Therefore, from a man-
agerial perspective, branding is a critical
core component to success and requires a
strategic, structured and integrated approach.
Effective management of brands requires a
long-term customer-based perspective, and
critical to this is an understanding of the
relationship between consumers and brands
in order to build favourable, strong and
unique associations.
BRAND AND CUSTOMER
RELATIONSHIP
To explore the link between brands and the
consumer psyche, Belk20 considers the con-
cept of the extended self, which comprises
self (me) and possessions (mine), suggesting
that unknowingly, intentionally or uninten-
tionally we regard our possessions as reflec-
tive and as part of ourselves. They provide
a mantle that enables individuals to present
148 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
themselves and garner feedback that may
be less forthcoming from others who are
reluctant to respond so openly to the unex-
tended self. Consumers therefore turn to
brands less as bundles of utility but more
as badges that convey social meaning and
that have the power to generate social
acceptance.21 Indeed, O’Shaughnessy and
O’Shaughnessy22 assert that consumers seek
positional products to signify group mem-
bership and to mark their position. Thus,
brand consumption has evolved into a
process of self-reference, self-identity and
self-articulation. Fundamental to the role
played by brands is the construct of the
self-concept. Onkvisit and Shaw9 define
this as the outcome of a learned, continuous
and active process that consolidates the
ideas and feelings we hold in relation to
other people in a socially determined frame
of reference. We achieve self-consistency via
brand consumption, purchasing brands
that we perceive to be similar to our self-
concept. Defined as image congruence
hypothesis, this suggests that brands perform
a function of self-enhancement whereby
consumers form perceptions about brands
and compare these to their own value
system, selecting brands that match the
closest. Furthermore, self-concept is viewed
as multidimensional (actual self, subjective
self, ideal self and social self) and this can
result in a significant difference between the
way an individual actually is and the way
he/she perceives himself/herself. Therefore,
brand consumption provides an opportunity
for individuals to express themselves not as
they are, but as how they would like to be
or be seen, and this can further enhance
social belonging via group membership:
They (consumers) dress up, now as skiers
who never ski, now as pilots who cannot fly,
now as soldiers who never see army life. In
search for the expression of individualism
bound up in a fantasy status.
O’Shaughnessy and O’Shaughnessy22

The impact of image congruence may,
however, be tempered by the type of
product and may be less apparent in product
categories that are not viewed as vehicles
for self-enhancement. The context or situ-
ation may also be influential. It is acknowl-
edged that when a high-social-consequences
context is evoked, image congruence will
have a greater effect,3 and when purchasing
socially consumed products individuals are
more likely affected by ideal congruence
than actual congruence.23 Furthermore,
individuals differ in the extent to which
they observe and control their expressive
behaviour and self-presentation. Snyder24
proposed a scale to capture this, identified
as the level of self-monitoring. High self-
monitors are sensitive to social cues and
constantly change to fit into surroundings.
Low self-monitors lack the ability or moti-
vation to regulate their self-presentation,
and their behaviour is more likely to reflect
their inner state. Brands are therefore seen
as playing an integral and complex role in
the construction of the self.
TURBULENT TIMES FOR BRANDS
The potency of branding has been seen to
have benefits to many organisations beyond
the traditional commercial boundaries,
including schools and public places, with
the result that a ‘brandscape’ has emerged.
Increasing awareness and realisation of this
brandscape coupled with unprecedented
globalisation of brands has provoked an
anti-branding backlash from social com-
mentators, journalists, academics and the
general public. Klein25 represents a brand-
baiting genre, lambasting high-profile brands
and accusing brands of invading ‘every
crevice’ of life. Advertising is seen as playing
a manipulative and merciless role in the
emerging brandscape, seeking to transform
customers into the personification of brand
identity. Klein25 claims for example that
Tommy Hilfiger has transformed customers
into ‘walking, talking, life-sized Tommy
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Brand communications in fashion categories
dolls, mummified in fully branded Tommy
worlds’.
Surrounding this, a subculture known as
‘culture jamming’ has developed, involving
forms of media sabotage including billboard
alteration and remixed logos. This is sym-
bolised by the Canadian magazine Adbusters,
which features articles, spoof advertisements
for brands such as Calvin Klein and Tommy
Hilfiger, activist commentary from around
the world and promotion of protest
campaigns like Buy Nothing Day and TV
Turnoff Week. In addition, pockets of the
general public have been mobilised into
protest. The practice of blogging has drawn
attention to the vagaries of brand adver-
tising, with individuals posting their views
on web pages and inviting commentary
to the extent that virtual communities have
formed, their purpose to offer and share
critical appraisal. The social meaning con-
veyed by brands has, in some instances, been
subverted by consumers who have hijacked
the brand meaning and reworked it. For
example, Burberry has become a symbol of
‘chav’ culture. Chavs represent aggressive
young adults who wear branded sports and
casual clothing, are often assumed to be
unemployed or in low paid jobs and to
engage in petty crime. The sheer volume
of messages transmitted daily is also
impacting on branding. To live in the West
today, and increasingly other parts of the
world, is to inhabit a message-saturated
environment.22 Besieged by branding mes-
sages perpetrated by advertising, consumers
are ‘screening out’ messages as if equipped
with marketing ‘radar’: the ability to iden-
tify an incoming message as marketing con-
trived to manipulate them into buying
something of questionable value or rele-
vance.26 In addition, there is evidence
that some individuals have become sophi-
sticated consumers of advertising and
brand messages, whereby advertising lit-
eracy can be seen to convey a form of
empowerment.27
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 Carroll
A further dimension to this debate is
offered by Salzer-Morling and Stranne-
gard,15 who suggest that the classic approach
to the positioning of brands through adver-
tising has tended to focus on the use of
stories to convey brand values, with brand
building conceptualised as a narrative/verbal
process primarily concerned with cogni-
tion, meaning and persuasion. If, however,
markets have become saturated with brands,
communications have become saturated
with brand storytelling. It has become even
more difficult to achieve differentiation and
a distinct image as brands compete against
a cacophony of stories. The authors suggest
that the use of visual signals may currently
be more effective where the aim is to create
impressions rather than to convey meaning.
This ‘aesthetic’ approach is concerned with
feeling, intuition and immersion, whereby
consumers become engaged and involved
with brands and brand messages. In a more
visual and sensory branding environment,
consumers are left to ponder and make
sense of signs, and the brandscape becomes
a backdrop for aesthetic expression. Con-
sumers thus interpret and realise signs via a
process of ‘aesthetic reflexivity’.
The above discussion has highlighted a
number of challenges that may impair the
successful implementation of the carefully
crafted brand strategy.
CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT
Celebrity endorsement has become a pop-
ular approach in the branding process both
in terms of gaining and keeping attention
and in creating favourable associations
leading to positive brand knowledge and
distinct brand images. This works funda-
mentally by creating a congruent image
between the brand and the consumer.28
The use of celebrity endorsers has increased
to approximately 25 per cent of all advertise-
ments in the United Kingdom and United
States and approximately 70 per cent of
150 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
all advertisements in Japan.29 Celebrities
can command large fees for celebrity
endorsement contracts, making this an
attractive and lucrative career dimension.
The benefits of using celebrity endorse-
ment to support a brand strategy can include
increased attention, image polishing, brand
introduction, brand repositioning and the
potential to underpin global campaigns.30
Overall research points to accumulated
positive influence over the audience’s recall
and purchase intentions,31 with celebrities
deemed more effective than using a typical
consumer or expert.32 Pringle33 asserts
that successful celebrity/brand partnerships
have resulted in significant gains in income
for brand owners. In addition, he argues
that macro factors such as the need for
interactivity, the degree of control exercised
by consumers over messages received and
increasing media fragmentation render
celebrity endorsement a valid strategy.
A celebrity endorser is defined as any
individual who enjoys public recognition
and who uses this recognition on behalf of
a consumer good by appearing with it in
an advertisement. Ohanian34 stresses that to
be truly effective, celebrities chosen as
endorsers should be knowledgeable,
experienced and qualified in order to be
perceived as an expert in the category. Two
models were originally identified to explain
the process of celebrity endorsement. The
Source Credibility model35 suggests that
the effectiveness of the message depends on
the degree of expertise and trustworthiness
conveyed by the celebrity (source). Trust is
reflected in the confidence in the general
believability of the endorser and message.
Expertise refers to product knowledge and
thus the validity of claims.36 Some authors
maintain that the widespread use of large
fees does not generate trustworthiness,34
whereas others cite evidence of corre-
spondent bias in western cultures, whereby
consumers believe the celebrity likes the
product regardless of fees paid.37 The Source

Attractiveness model38 suggests that con-
sumers generally have a more positive
response to attractive people and the
effectiveness of the message depends on the
similarity, familiarity and liking of the
endorser. Therefore, attractive celebrities
may be more successful in changing beliefs
and generating purchase intentions.
Ohanian34 points out, however, that most
celebrities are attractive and hence the
overall impact of this variable may be weak.
In addition, attractiveness may be only
relevant for categories that are related to
attractiveness. Overall evidence based on
studies suggests that perceived expertise is
the most important variable, increasing
persuasiveness above and beyond the effects
of attractiveness and, in particular, trustwor-
thiness.34,37,39
McCracken,40 highlighting the limita-
tions of the ‘source’ models, puts forward a
three-stage Meaning Transfer model, which
has been adopted as the model that comes
closest to conceptualising the process. This
‘meaning’, used to describe what a celebrity
represents, is derived from the professional
persona and environment of the celebrity.
For example, consumers attach meanings
and associations to celebrities as a result of
their roles in television, film, the military
and athletics (stage 1). This meaning is then
transferred to the product when the celeb-
rity is seen in an advertisement (stage 2).
Some of the meanings of the celebrity
become synonymous with the product. In
the final stage (stage 3), meaning moves
from the product to the consumer. Endorsers
are thus seen as conduits of cultural meaning
transfer, and configurations of desirable cul-
tural meanings become part of the brand.3
Consumers take possession of meanings and
put them to work in the construction of
their notions of the self and the world. Thus,
celebrities are seen as ‘super-consumers’:
exemplary figures who have created
the clear and coherent powerful selves that
everyone seeks and so strong that even a
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
Brand communications in fashion categories
‘momentary glimpse’ of them in an
advertisement instantly conveys meaning.40
Viewed as much more potent than
‘anonymous models’, celebrities represent
ideal vehicles for self-identity and self-
articulation.
The effectiveness of a celebrity endorse-
ment strategy may be mediated by variables
such as the celebrity/product fit, the product
and usage occasion, societal/cultural condi-
tions and the volume of repetitive advertise-
ments featuring celebrities. Evaluations are
enhanced where the characteristics of
the brand are congruent with the image
portrayed by the celebrity.36,41 To concep-
tualise this, Kamins42 developed the ‘match-
up’ hypothesis, which emphasises the need
for celebrities to be evaluated and selected
in the context of the brand values and
image. In relation to product categories,
Batra and Homer3 refer to the existence of
consumer schema for different products,
which may influence the degree of recep-
tivity to messages delivered by celebrities.
Products high in psychological or social risk
may provide the strongest evidence for the
impact of celebrities on message transmis-
sion.42 Differences in response to celebrity
endorsement may vary across countries and
cultures. Silvera and Austad37 note that the
celebrity system is primarily an American
cultural enterprise and that Americans
identify especially strongly with celebrities
and are thus more willing to accept and
internalise endorsement messages. Con-
sumers from other cultures may not show
correspondent bias, believing that endorsers
like the product less than most people. This
was evident in a sample from Norway,
where cultural norms based on Janteloven
suggest that an individual should never try
to be different or consider himself more
valuable than others.37 The volume of
endorsement advertising in a particular
country can result in jaded consumers
who believe that celebrities merely ‘hawk’
products for a fee without using or
151
 Carroll
believing in the product,43 reflecting trends
discussed above. This effect is heightened
by both multiple endorsement campaigns
and negative publicity surrounding some
celebrities.44
Advertising campaigns using celebrities
to support brand strategy have in general
tended to be repetitive, high-profile and
loud extravaganzas in which the celebrity
features prominently and directly.45 If celeb-
rities own the meanings they have created
on the public stage,40 then companies take
full advantage of this by parading the same
advertisement across all media frequently,
and engaging in public displays of involve-
ment. In addition, the congruence between
the celebrity and the brand is obvious,
with press releases often used to highlight
why a celebrity was chosen, and the char-
acteristics of the celebrity reflected directly
in the advertisement, displaying verbal or
written cues prominently. This renders the
consumer’s task of processing meaning
transfer easier, as the effort in grasping the
essential similarity between the elements in
the product and the celebrity are explicit.
As highlighted by McCracken,40 the con-
sumer’s ability or predisposition to see that
the cultural meanings contained in the
advertisement are also contained in the
brand is enhanced. Repetition of the actual
advertisement, extensive press coverage of
the endorsement contract and personal
appearances on behalf of the brand can lead
to a celebrity becoming as famous (if not
more) as a spokesperson for the brand
than as a performer or champion in their
field.
FASHION BRANDS
The preceding discussion is relevant to
fashion categories and luxury brands in
particular. High fashion is readily associated
with branding.46 The process is often very
successful as measured by consumer recog-
nition levels, the premium prices that these
152 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
command and the extent to which these
brands can be applied across a range of
product categories.47 As with other categories,
traditional advertising may be losing impetus
as consumers decrypt messages.48
Highlighting the competitive nature of
fashion markets, Auty and Elliot21 discuss
the need for effective advertising using
symbolic cues in order to create distinctive
brand images and associations. Fashion
brands are seen as strong vehicles for
expressing self-concept (actual or aspira-
tional), achieving image congruence and
signifying group membership.49 McCracken
and Roth50 refer to the use of clothing as
a code, a form of language that allows a
message to be created and (selectively)
understood. There is some evidence to sug-
gest that high self-monitors demonstrate
negative attitudes towards unbranded
fashion goods, and use brands as discrimina-
tors between themselves as ‘belongers’ who
have chosen to interpret the social code
implied by the brand and those who remain
aloof, threatening their social identity.21
This extends to very young consumers who
use fashion brands to feel cooler and older
and to conform with peer groups so they
do not feel left out.51 It also highlights the
high social consequences and risk poten-
tially associated with fashion brands.
The cults of celebrity and fashion are
interwoven, reflecting Hollywood and the
red carpet phenomenon whereby fashion
designers court film stars and celebrities to
wear their brands at premiers and award
shows such as the Oscars. Although these
are elitist events, everyone has access via
television, magazines or the Internet. Ver-
sace gained much publicity when Elizabeth
Hurley wore a low-cut black dress held
together by safety pins (dubbed ‘that dress’)
to the premier of ‘Four Weddings and
A Funeral’ and when Jennifer Lopez wore
a diaphanous green dress split to the navel
at the 2005 Grammy Awards. Product
placement in films has also strengthened

the link between celebrities and fashion.
Despite designers dressing film stars for
years (Givenchy dressed Audrey Hepburn),
‘American Gigolo’ featuring Richard Gere
was one of the first films to utilise product
placement, by featuring Armani clothes,
almost as an extension of the main char-
acter. Armani sales rocketed after the film
release in 1980 and since then Georgio
Armani has cultivated a fruitful relationship
with Hollywood, providing the wardrobe
for over 300 films.48 The trend has spilled
over into television, with shows such as
Sex and the City and The OC featuring
designer brands. This trend frequently
provides material for features in celebrity
and fashion magazines.
In terms of endorsement, Moore and
Birtwistle52 identify the role played by this
factor in luxury fashion branding, although
endorsement can take forms outside tradi-
tional endorsement contracts. In relation to
advertising, historically professional models
have been used in campaigns, often shot
by high-profile photographers such as
Mario Testino, Steven Meisel and Patrick
Demarchelier. The model Kate Moss fea-
tured in a landmark series of advertisements
by Demarchelier for Calvin Klein in the
1990s, and has more recently featured in
campaigns for Burberry and Channel.
Gianni Versace played a prominent role in
creating the ‘supermodel’ craze by agreeing
to pay excessive fees in order to get the best
models, as reflected in the infamous quota-
tion by the model Linda Evangelista in
Vogue: ‘we don’t wake up for less than
$10 000 a day’.48 It is generally acknowl-
edged that the supermodel era, as reflected
in the bling-bling culture of the 1990s, is
over. Film stars have begun to replace
models on the front of fashion magazines
such as Vogue, and now feature as brand
endorsers along with other celebrities such
as pop stars and footballers.
According to Carroll,45 in 2003 a new
wave of brand campaigns featuring celebri-
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
Brand communications in fashion categories
ties appeared in fashion/luxury goods
markets. Celebrities were presented almost
as the ‘anonymous models’ referred to by
McCracken.40 Gap was one of the first
brands to use celebrities as models in a
fashion shoot. The advertisements featured
a range of celebrities mainly from the acting
profession wearing Gap clothes in a series
of short-lived commercials shown on tel-
evision, billboards and printed media.
Although the television versions had a
background soundtrack, the advertisements
were characterised generally by their use of
highly visual cues and limited verbal cues.
The ‘fashion shoot’ approach has subse-
quently been used by a number of compa-
nies including Mulberry (Anna Friel and
David Thewliss), Marc Jacobs (Sofia Cop-
pola), Asprey (Kiera Knightley) and
Ermenegildo Zegni (Adrian Brody). On
glancing at the advertisements, it would be
easy to pass over the scene as just another
regular fashion shoot.
The 2004 autumn/winter Miu Miu
print campaign featuring Maggie Gyllen-
haal (see Appendix A) and the 2005 spring/
summer Versace print campaign featuring
Madonna (see Appendix B) are contrasting
examples of this genre. Miu Miu is described
as the younger, funkier sister to Prada’s
more intellectual brand,53 but shares the
same understated and low key image.
Miuccia Prada, head of the company and
chief designer, stays in the background and
lets the clothes do the talking. Maggie, sister
of the actor Jake Gyllenhaal is a low-profile
actress whose credits to date include the
edgy but limited-release film ‘Secretary’, in
which she plays a masochistic employee
who enjoys being spanked by her boss.
Described as ‘kooky’ and ‘hip’ she is noted
for steering clear of brash consumerism and
the material trappings of stardom,54 and
therefore represents a good match-up for
the brand. The advertisement represents a
personal, eclectic and autobiographical style,
with the clothes and accessories featured
153
 Carroll
representing her possessions which convey
a sense of self, strengthened by the inclusion
of a cat, perhaps a treasured companion.
Versace, in contrast to Mui Mui, presented
an outrageous propensity for chic glamour,
with a mix of avant-garde and ostentatious
extremes created by the late Gianni Versace.
The brand defined the late twentieth
century culture of splash and spend.55
Following the murder of Gianni in 1997,
the brand image struggled in the quieter,
more individualistic and spiritual era of
the 2000s, with the company declared
technically bankrupt in 2004. Under the
management of Gianni’s sister Donatella,
the brand has now stabilised, however, and
has switched image to a softer more
restrained look exuding quality and ele-
gance, which is supported by use of neutral
colours and drapier silhouettes rather than
slashed dresses adorned with acid yellow
and green mosaics. Madonna, the original
‘material girl’ with her reputation for
reflecting dark, pseudo masochistic places
in her work, has herself toned down her
image in private, with a stable family life
and house in the English countryside.
Nonetheless, her capacity to take the appar-
ently obvious, push it, subvert it, make it all
about sex then twist it some more until you
are not sure if it is pastiche or porn
remains.56 This represents a good match-up
for the Versace brand, which wants to
remove the excesses but retain the self-
assured sexuality. The advertisement fea-
tured presents a Madonna dressed as sexy
secretary or power executive super-vixen,
depending on interpretation, with her feet
up on a glass desk. It is an intriguing con-
text in which to feature both the Versace
brand, which shares no associations with
work and office, and Madonna, a profes-
sional dancer and singer who constantly
pushes back boundaries through her craft.
The approach of these advertisements
represents a major change in style for both
brands, which have tended to use profes-
154 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
sional models in their campaigns. Both
examples were part of campaigns featuring
different shots of the celebrity, which were
changed frequently, unlike many endorse-
ment campaigns in which the same shot
features prominently and repetitively. In
addition, the brands moved on relatively
quickly to new endorsers, with Demi
Moore and then Halle Berry for Versace,
and Kim Basinger, Lou Doillan and Selma
Blair for Mui Mui. This represents a depar-
ture from the usual approach whereby a
celebrity becomes the ‘face’ of a brand.
Press releases were kept to a minimum and
did not seek to explain the association
between the brand and the celebrity; hence,
there was very little warning to facilitate
understanding of the advertisements. On
first glance, it would be easy to pass
over the identity of the celebrity in the
advertisements. This is perhaps to be
expected in the case of Maggie Gyllenhaal,
who courts a selective following, but is
more surprising in the case of Madonna,
one of the world’s most famous women.
Nonetheless, contributors to online fashion
forums and blogs report not recognising her
initially:
I didn’t realise it was her to begin with.57
My friend asked me if it was Madonna in the
photo and I said it wasn’t.58
The advertisements are both layered in
subtle and slightly ambiguous meaning and
require more than the ‘momentary glimpse’
referred to by McCracken40 in order to
register what is portrayed. This concurs with
evidence presented by Batra and Homer,3
which suggests that beliefs and personality
assertions of endorsers need not be verbally
and explicitly stated in advertisements, but
can be inferred by recipients. The lack of
written cues and copy contribute further
to the lack of a corporately controlled story.
Thus, the meaning transfer process is poten-
tially impaired, with sensory involvement

and immersion alluded to by Salzer-Mor-
ling and Strannegard15 required in order for
the process to take place. Thus, it could be
argued that the advertisements represent a
form of aesthetic reflexivity: visual canvasses
of aesthetic expression that offer the intrinsic
rewards of self-realisation and self-belonging
to those who figure them out.
CONCLUSION
Brands have evolved into multifaceted con-
structs with which consumers potentially
have complex relationships stemming from
the self-reflective capacity of individual
brands. This is particularly true of fashion
categories. Careful management of brand
image that impacts on brand associations
stored in consumer memory is critical to a
successful strategy. Advertising is used as an
important tool in brand image-creation,
and there has been an increase in the volume
of campaigns using celebrities to endorse
brands, with cultural meaning transferred
from celebrity to brand to consumer. This
process has been enhanced via explicit ref-
erence to the meaning of the celebrity in
the advertisement and supporting publicity.
Celebrity campaigns have traditionally been
highly repetitive and long-running, with
opportunities for personal appearances and
associated benefits. Publicity generated by
anti-branding campaigners, coupled with
the sheer volume of advertisements con-
taining branding messages, has invoked
some cynicism and a tendency to perceptu-
ally screen out advertisements. In addition,
experience as a result of cumulative expo-
sure has led to some degree of advertising
literacy, whereby individuals have become
adept at deconstructing the message and
empowered to distance themselves from
advertising’s influence. Thus, it has become
increasingly difficult for brand owners to
be confident that brand messages have been
successfully transmitted via advertising.
The emphasis on storytelling and narrative
© 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158
Brand communications in fashion categories
via verbal cues in brand advertising has
contributed towards the impression of
message overload in the brandscape and the
level of advertising literacy. A possible
response to this by brand owners in an
attempt to make messages stand out and get
through is a shift towards visual images and
cues. Such advertisements require involve-
ment and immersion on the part of the
consumer in order to interpret the image
and internalise the implications for self-
identity. This can be viewed as a form of
aesthetic reflexivity. To achieve this using
celebrity advertising requires a different
approach to the traditional blockbuster
campaign, where only a momentary glimpse
of the advertisement is required in order
for meaning to be transferred, provided a
good match-up is achieved. Interpretation
of the advertisement becomes more chal-
lenging as the reliance on visual images
renders the meaning of the celebrity in the
context of the brand more ambiguous.
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APPENDIX A
PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS FOR
MIU MIU
See Figure A1
Figure A1: Miu Miu/Maggie Gyllenhaal, Vogue Magazine, London, Conde Nast Publications, September 2004, pp. 26–27.
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Brand communications in fashion categories
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APPENDIX B
PRESS ADVERTISEMENT FOR
VERSACE
See Figure B1

Figure B1: Versace/Madonna, Vogue Magazine, London, Conde Nast Publications, March 2005, pp. 26–27.

158 © 2009 Palgrave Macmillan 1350-23IX Brand Management Vol. 17, 2, 146–158