The Beyoncé train is raring up to make a big surprise in 2016. In true Queen Bee fashion we won’t know exactly what the plan is until it’s too late and we have no choice but to ingest the phenomenon that is Beyoncé in all its glory. What we do know is that something is brewing. With an upcoming Super Bowl appearance scheduled and rumblings of a 2016 musical release, you can feel the Queen is preparing her return. After reports of her firing her entire management team earlier this week, her publicity rep, Yvette Noel-Schure, released one of the most carefully crafted statements in history, explaining why members of Beyoncé’s team had been released from their duties.
What you have to respect about Beyoncé’s brand is that she remains flawless and forever just out of reach. Although she has a strong presence on social media, it’s obvious that presence is carefully cultivated and she doesn’t engage from a personal standpoint. She gives fans just enough to keep them believing that she is indeed larger than life. Her moves are explained in carefully crafted statements only when they are dire enough to illicit an explanation, otherwise we simply get an amazing photo on Instagram with a minimal caption and life moves on.
Whether it’s expertly photoshopped Instagram posts, or the Web being wiped clean of any photographs that aren’t complimentary, the Beyoncé brand is still one of the most old-school and conservative brands in terms of keeping fans at bay with a sense of mystery and conjuring a belief that the talent has a picture-perfect life. You will not see Beyoncé sub-tweeting another singer in a Twitter war or posting Instagram pics that she has to remove because they were posted during an emotional rant. No, her posts, and interaction with her fans overall is all very calculated, very strategic, very controlled. Still, she has nearly 58 million followers; all of which get excited over her carefully photo shopped sunshine filled snippets of her life.
While some have remarked that her actions seem superficial. As a public relations professional, I believe her actions are in line with the type of celebrity she intends to remain. At a certain level, it becomes beneath you to let others see you sweat. While the public enjoys seeing their favorite celebrities deal with real life issues, they will later hold those action against said celebrity when it comes to album sales or brand partnerships. We want to believe our favorite celebrities are like us — but a little better. We need a little fantasy. This is the tangible thread that establishes a superstar from a reality star. Think about how strange it would seem if Halle Berry used Twitter to argue with her ex-husband. She would inevitably lose some of her mystique. What if Denzel Washington started posting pictures to Instagram every day on set? Yes, we would love watching at first, but eventually he would start to feel common. Everyone can be a reality star, superstars are born; and Beyoncé continues to exemplify a superstar among us.
Beyoncé’s rep, Yvette Noel-Schure, said in a statement, “Last year, Parkwood Entertainment created new departments and recruited new executives from the tech, business and entertainment sectors who joined the team to help grow Parkwood and its interests….Some senior staff were given the opportunity to reposition and stay on. Some members ….awakened [to] new interests and decides to follow personal routes.”
Bravo Mrs. Noel-Schure! Keeping the blame off the talent is the No. 1 rule in celebrity PR. Beyoncé’s team is indeed flawless!
