Before the launch of the perfume, the restaurant or the clothing line, there was the launch of Jennifer Lopez, the personality. In 2000, after her first album, "On the 6," was released and her film career began to heat up following 1998's "Out of Sight," Lopez presented an award at the Grammys wearing a green, plunge-beyond-the-navel dress. She was the talk of the town.

Coupled with the album, her movies and the coinciding rush of publicity, that Grammy appearance helped brand Lopez as an "exciting, unpredictable personality," says Michael Levine, Hollywood publicist and author of "A Branded World." A year later, her second album, "J.Lo," and her starring vehicle "The Wedding Planner" hit No. 1 on their respective charts during the same week; by then, Lopez had delivered on her brand promise.

"The greatest brander in the entertainment industry today is Jennifer Lopez," Levine says. "She's gone from being a hottie singer-actress to being a household name. What was at play in making that happen was a very carefully orchestrated branding campaign."

During recent years, the line between person and brand has blurred, and celebrities have begun applying techniques from the corporate world to their careers: marketing and protecting a brand identity, trademarking and licensing their names, launching their own product lines and embracing product endorsements to boost their perceived value to consumers.

Converts talk about branding as if it were a religion -- the only true way to approach the business. One of its main purposes, they say, is to stand out amid an increasingly crowded field. Fortunately for celebrities, there is built-in media interest in their efforts.

"With such a clutter of brands trying to break through with different messages, celebrities have an ability to make a message heard," says David Shulte, president of brands at management company the Firm, which includes Lopez on its client list.

A concerted branding campaign also aims to establish a positive connection between celebrity and consumer. "People have emotional relationships with your business, whether you want them to or not," Levine says. "The question is whether it's going to be a good emotional relationship or a bad emotional relationship: If you're in the bathroom at McDonald's and the urinals smell, whether you know it or not, it's going to affect your relationship with that business -- and so it is with people."

Although "branding" is the current buzzword -- and celebrities as varied as Madonna, Oprah Winfrey, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen and David Beckham are considered brands --some observers believe it's only a new name for something that has been happening for years.

CAA, WMA and ICM do not have specific branding departments. The agencies do have commercial and endorsement divisions, on-staff licensing experts and agents who help clients diversify their careers -- all related areas. Branding campaigns generally are orchestrated by an agency or management firm on a case-by-case basis, rather than being touted as a key service.

"Building a brand out of a client is not necessarily suitable for every client," says
Brian Dubin, head of WMA's East Coast commercial division. "The key is finding those clients who do have an interest in building a brand out of their name or out of an image that they represent."

Branding also can be the purview of a talent manager. The Firm has set up a brands division, and other boutique outfits have followed.

"This is a niche in the market," says Michael Flutie, owner of management company and talent branding firm Michael Flutie's Office. "It's so small; not that many experts exist."

Creating a brand, say those who are doing it, means taking something amorphous and making it tangible. Branding also can mean simply identifying a career goal and implementing a game plan to achieve it.

"First, you have to start with a mission," Levine says. "What is your unique selling proposition? What does that brand stand for?"

Adds Dubin: "Your client, whether they are an athlete or an actor or an actress, has intangible assets: a name, a reputation, a credibility and an image. All of those attributes may be combined into something that could be made into a brand. When they are turned into a product or a service, then they become tangible assets."

Dubin helped skateboarder Tony Hawk achieve brand status (and make millions) by creating several platforms for his celebrity: the best-selling "Tony Hawk Pro Skater" video game, a book deal, a TV production deal and a line of skateboarding products. "First, you must begin to think, 'What are the underpinnings of the brand?'" Dubin says. "You have to make sure, in Tony's case, he's not going to enter into that black hole of extreme commercialism and (that) he's always maintaining his core audience."

A person becomes a brand at the point where he or she appeals to those outside the target audience, posits Henry Schaffer, executive vp at Marketing Evaluations, which issues the highly regarded "Q scores" of celebrity likability. "If you have consumers who recognize you and really like you a lot who are not basketball fans or who don't go to your movies, then you have transcended your immediate target, and you can create icon status," he says.

But appealing to a great number of people while maintaining a core audience is one of the greatest challenges of a branding campaign. Usually, those who take a long view and grow their brand slowly have the longest shelf life; one of the best examples is Winfrey, who has built a multimedia empire on the strength of her personality and a consistent self-empowerment message. Because of her talk-show and her monthly cover shot on O: The Oprah Magazine, she does not require additional media attention to put her brand before the public.

"She's been incredibly smart in how she's managed the Oprah brand," says Jim Andrews, editorial director at the IEG Sponsorship Report, which tracks corporate sponsorships and endorsements. "You don't see her doing commercials or selling Oprah perfume. She's been very conservative, and it has worked."

Another challenge in creating a celebrity brand is developing an entity that allows the central spokesperson room to evolve. Some artists have gotten around this problem by making "change" one of their core brand values; Madonna, for example, is known for her

shifting interests and looks -- and the public accepts and expects them from her. Likewise, when British soccer star Beckham debuts a hairstyle, it gets "event treatment" from the British media; his changing appearance is part of his brand's intrigue.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen have grown up in the public eye, and their brand has grown with them. Today, the 17-year-old moguls are careful not to espouse brand attributes that might limit their options as they prepare to segue into adulthood.

"We didn't sit down and say, 'Let's have a wholesome girls' brand,'" says Robert Thorne, CEO of Dualstar Entertainment, which he says will turn over more than $1 billion worldwide this year in Mary-Kate and Ashley videos, books, music and apparel. Instead of "wholesome," Thorne says, the twins prefer the brand values of "aspiration and empowerment."

A cornerstone of many recent celebrity brands has been a fashion line, which offers another opportunity for an artist to convey an image and a message to the consumer (and profit economically from the relationship).

The phenomenon started slowly, with Michael Jordan's Air Jordan Nikes taking the nation by storm in 1985. The previous year, the Babe Ruth estate became one of the first to trademark a deceased celebrity's name and litigate against its misuse, clearing the way for other (living and dead) public figures to protect their names and likenesses as intellectual property. Since then, building deceased-celebrity brands such as those of Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Albert Einstein has become a business in itself.

"When I first started the business, in the beginning of 1982, Elvis was our first client," says Mark Roesler, chairman and CEO of Curtis Management Group, which also counts Ruth, Dean and Monroe on its client list. "There weren't really any rights to deceased celebrities back then; the laws have changed dramatically."

During the 1990s, nothing made a bigger impact on the merchandising world than hip-hop. Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons launched Phat Farm in 1992; the company earned $260 million in sales last year. In 1998, Sean Combs unveiled the Sean John clothing line, which rang up $450 million in 2002 receipts. In 1999, Jay-Z and Damon Dash debuted Rocawear, now a $300 million retail business. And in 2001, Lopez's fragrance and apparel line became an overnight sensation, bringing in $130 million during its second year.

Eminem, Bow Wow, Queen Latifah and Eve are among those who have followed.

"The hip-hop community has had a tremendous amount of influence on the trend of celebrity branding," Shulte says. "If you look at Macy's, half the real estate in the store has been converted to these brands.

"Traditional brands like Polo, Tommy Hilfiger and Nautica are at a severe disadvantage," Shulte adds. "Generation Y, those kids would rather look up to Jay-Z than they would look up to Ralph Lauren."

Celebrity-licensed products accounted for $3 billion in retail sales last year, Licensing Industry Merchandising Assn. president Charles Riotto estimates. "I anticipate it's going to be up 5%-6% in '03 as more celebrities get into the act," he says.
But that estimate is on the low end because it does not include revenue for such companies as Sean John or Lopez's Sweetface Fashion Co., for which product is designed and manufactured in-house.

In addition to launching apparel lines, artists, athletes and musicians are using corporate endorsements to position themselves in the marketplace. Even A-list actors are diving in.

"Catherine Zeta-Jones proved you can have a multimillion-dollar contract with a telecommunications company (T-Mobile) and still have a campaign at the Oscars," Flutie says.

When Madonna appeared this year in an ad campaign for the Gap, it not only raised her profile among younger consumers but also provided a promotional opportunity for her children's book, which is carried in Gap stores. Industry observers agree that Lopez's fall campaign for Louis Vuitton was a shrewd move because it elevated her perceived value through association with a high-end product -- and, at the same time, it advertised her own brand at no cost to her.

But the marriage of branding and celebrity can have its share of problems. If not positioned correctly, a successful brand can become a creative albatross -- in the same way an actor, appearing in too many similar roles, can be typecast.

If an endorsement does not fit a star's perceived identity, then it can work against the star. Consider Cher's foray into infomercials -- widely viewed as a detriment to her movie career -- or Jason Alexander's stint with Kentucky Fried Chicken, which some say left him little room to grow as a brand.

"After you do food advertising, where do you go from there?" Flutie says. "If you are selling McDonald's, no one in America is going to buy a $500 bag from you."

Adds Schaffer: "If it makes sense to see the person in a particular category, (then) you minimize the negative effects of overexposure -- and you avoid the public saying, 'I'm tired of seeing that person; they're just doing it for the money.'"

Perhaps the greatest paradox of the celebrity brand is that, while it trades on the allure of a personality, it is vulnerable to the public's acceptance of that personality. Some observers argue that, in sports, where celebrity branding originated, a backlash already has occurred.

"In the sports world, you see corporations backing away from exclusive athlete endorsements and licensing," Andrews says. "When you involve yourself with one individual, you are putting all your eggs in one basket: If that individual gets involved in criminal activity or has a professional slump, you've attached your company's reputation to a product that's no longer in favor with the public."

Whether it is the insider-trading scandal involving Martha Stewart or sexual assault allegations against the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant, getting in trouble can instantly jeopardize a celebrity's brand -- and their relationships with corporate backers or investors.

Because Stewart was the public face of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, her name became a liability when the scandal broke. Major advertisers have pulled out of her signature magazine, and in August, Stewart's company announced that its earnings fell 86.4% during the second quarter of the year.

In light of the allegations against him, Bryant's Sprite commercials were pulled from the air -- and Cleveland Cavaliers star rookie LeBron James was hired for the company's "Obey Your Thirst" campaign. For Bryant, more than a sponsorship deal was at stake: His brand attributes have been forever affected.

Although media attention is courted in a branding campaign, it can backfire and hurt the brand. "With that wedding (to Ben Affleck), (Lopez) became overexposed," says Roger Richman, veteran licensing agent and president of the Roger Richman Agency, whose client list includes Steve McQueen and the Marx Brothers. "People got tired of hearing about it, and she was past being able to control it."

Nonetheless, Lopez continues to debut products and ventures, such as producing her sister Lynda's new TV show and launching the fragrance Still Jennifer Lopez. The perfume's ad campaign gives a knowing nod to the recent frenzy with the tagline: "In the eye of the storm, I am Still Jennifer Lopez."

With Lopez's next (carefully choreographed) steps, many believe, she will emerge still beloved by the masses. After all, triumph over adversity is one of her core brand values.