Miley Cyrus's brand strategy and market positioning analysis

Miley Cyrus

Strengths

Strong brand

High popularity

Great publicity machine

Pretty and young

String of top hits

International success, including non-English-speaking markets

Weaknesses

Somewhat narrow demographic appeal

Lukewarm critical reception

Some controversy surrounding drugs, twerking, etc.

Opportunities

Many opportunities in pop, and if she wants in country

Acting

Growing up in sound/growing with fans

Overseas growth

Internal brand building (new fans)

Threats

Competition

Controversy

Changing musical tastes

Miley Cyrus has been immensely successful for the past several years and in 2013 has actually improved on her past record. Her new album Bangerz has been commercially successful, outselling her previous release Can't Be Tamed. Cyrus has seemingly transitioned into more adult material successfully. The aggressive marketing of Cyrus has turned off critics, but not fans, which is likely the objective. For future strategies, now that Cyrus has the attention of fans, the marketing machine needs to keep the pressure for six months or so, then take a break from all-out marketing until the next album. Essentially, there is a risk that such high-intensity marketing wears the market out. With breaks, however, Cyrus can maintain momentum with each new release. This does not mean easing off on shock value and high intensity marketing but to do it sparingly and with a sense of purpose beyond mere attention-getting.

Differentiation

Cyrus should continue to cultivate an image in line with her current age, but also her own personality. This is a key point of differentiation that makes pop stars stand out from one another, and is particularly improtnat since Cyrus was initially associated more with a character than with her own personality. All elements here -- styling and image -- should be specific to her in order to maximize differentiation because the arenas, vehicles and staging will largely be the same as for her competitors.

Vehicles

In this case, Miley Cyrus will use a few different vehicles. At this point, she needs to focus on building her own brand identity and differentiating herself, so joint ventures (in pop music these are collaborations) should be minimized, and the focus be put on internal development. Distribution can be enhanced through alliances with content distribution networks overseas to build the Miley brand in overseas markets.

Staging

The speed of expansion should be rapid. Pop music works in cycles, with the album being a focal point for each cycle. Cyrus has a new album, ergo this is the time to act, especially since the album has proven to be a success. The initiatives used for market entry into Europe can be replicated in other markets now, including other European markets (like Eastern Europe), Latin America and Asia. Moves into these markets should be relatively rapid.

References:

5.6 Formulating organizational and personal strategy with the strategy diamond. Web Books.com. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://www.web-books.com/eLibrary/NC/B0/B58/035MB58.html

"kasi." (2013). SWOT or TOWS analysis (TOWS matrix). MBA Tutorials. Retrieved November 4, 2013 from http://www.mba-tutorials.com/strategy/96-SWOT-or-tows-analysis-tows-matrix.html