Bringing Back Bieber
In this week’s blog I am taking an in depth look at the PR strategies of one of the most popular artists of our generation Justin Bieber. We all watched as this young Canadian pop star skyrocketed into fame, and like many child stars in Hollywood we sat back as he began his fall from grace. Bieber began to be categorized with the Lindsay Lohans, Paris Hiltons, and Britney Spears’, young beautiful stars who fell off the rails under the pressure of their fame and success. Bieber’s PR team handled his major flubs smoothly, culminating in a full fledged comeback just a few years ago.
Before we get to his PR comeback we have to take a look at some of the scandals that landed him in the negative spotlight to the public eye. Bieber acted foolishly a number of times, so I’m just going to give you some of the highlights.
After a night out in New York City, Bieber was caught on tape urinating into a mop bucket. He then proceeds to spray cleaning spray at a picture of Bill Clinton and yells “F--- Bill Clinton”
About 6 months later, Bieber was forced to pay his former neighbor $80,000 after egging his home.
Within the same month he gets arrested for drag racing and driving under the influence in Miami in a rented yellow Lamborghini. This stunt sealed the deal for Bieber’s tarnished reputation.
After nearly a year of Bieber flying relatively under the radar, his comeback commenced. It began in January 2015 with a formal apology video from Bieber for his actions over the past few years. He explained to his fans that he is not the man he was pretending to be, and how the pressure of growing up in the business took and how his actions were an attempt to cover up what he was really feeling inside. This video was emotional and vulnerable, allowing fans and the public to empathize with him, and come to an understanding about his actions.
The next phase of his comeback and strategic PR move was his Comedy Central Roast. This roast was an opportunity for Bieber to show that he has come to terms with his actions, and is now able to make light of them. It takes a lot of guts to have some of comedy’s best comedians rip you apart for two hours. The show ended in yet another heart felt apology from Bieber, and marked his excitement and willingness to continue to move forward.
A few months later Bieber dropped his best album yet, Purpose. Both Beliebers and haters couldn’t deny that this redemption album was stellar. It had a level of maturity to it that fans had yet to see from him, not to mention the songs were all extremely catchy. To accompany this album release Bieber did a number of positive press appearances, including an entire Bieber week on the Ellen show. Through these press appearances Bieber was able to express what this album meant to him, and what it meant for his future.
These calculated PR moves allowed for Bieber to slowly regain trust from the public and shed some of his negative light. Nobody is perfect, so we continue to see Bieber make mistakes here and there but his PR team has his back to help him get back up.