Amanda Liu

Yesterday after all my midterms were done, I had the time to catch up with the most current season of American Idol. One of the contestants, Chris Medina, not only caught my attention with his singing and vocal talent, but also to his heart-breaking story.

Chris Medina had been together with his girlfriend, Juliana, for eight years and was engaged for two to three years. They planned and agreed on getting married two years after their engagement. Unfortunately, his fiancée was severely injured from a car accident few months before their wedding was planned. Although, Juliana is alive from the accident, she suffers severe brain damage, which changed everything in her and Chris’ life. Until now, they still haven’t gotten married, unable to make their promise come true. He promised and vowed that he would take care of her, dedicating his whole life to be her primary caregiver. The primary reason he joined American Idol bring joy and happiness to his fiancée, Juliana, by becoming a part of the Hollywood community.

Does this relate to marketing? In fact, it does. Companies try to establish a brand that could add value to their products and the firms.  With the usage of brands, consumers can easily identify and trigger knowledge about the company, enabling us to remember who they are, and features about their product, and further understand what the company represents. In this case, Chris has successfully branded and marketed himself to the entertainment industry with his dramatic heartbreaking story. The story about him and his fiancée has widely spread across international borders, where everyone remembers him by his tragedy. At the American Idol’s audition, he dedicated the song “Break Even” to his fiancée, singing it with passion. All his audiences were deeply touched by his singing along with his tragic story that he has successfully conveyed through his performance. He has won and touched the hearts of all judges and fans. Because of the tragic experience he has gone through, he is now able to grasp the techniques of delivering many kinds of  songs to its fullest extent in terms of the content of the story within a specific song, the mood, atmosphere, etc. that further touches the audiences. The story has nurtured him into a better artist, delivering better quality of songs (product) to the market.  Many goods songs are composed based on his story, for instance, the song “What are words”, written by Rodney Jerkins, specifically for Medina. The story has added value to many products today and to Chris’ reputation. We now see Chris as a passionate artist, yet a sweet and caring man who will always be by his fiancée’s side caring for her.  This is the brand he has created for himself. All I can say is, his brand is well-built and integrated, and this is why we  choose him over other contestants and artists.