Part 2 of 3: The Successful Re-Branding Of Johnny Cash

Yesterday mainstream marketer and blogger Michael C. Wagner wrote about producer Rick Rubin’s creative alliance with Johnny Cash and how it rejuvenated the legendary singers career.  Today he looks at the "whys and hows":

Why did Rick Rubin do all of this and how does this make him “a brand’s best friend.”?

• 
  He believed in Johnny – every stuck brand needs someone to believe in them again.
• He knew Johnny had fire from the past – every brand needs to find a way to get the “first love” back.
• He insisted on honest relevance over technique – every growing brand needs to return to its authentic voice.
• He
  took Johnny into situations that stretched him like he stretched at the
  beginning of his career – every brand needs to get “uncomfortable”
  again. You’re not growing if you don’t feel awkward.
• He
  introduced Johnny to a new generation of raving brand fans. The Viper
  Room crowd was just the kind of influencers Johnny needed to get
  started again. A brand needs new fans to get moving again.

The resulting 1994 American Recordings launched Cash’s brand to a totally new place.
The original acoustic songs from Rick’s living room, along with two
live cuts from the Viper Room performance, made reviewers gush. Newsweek noted, “The alternative-rock community has been buzzing about it for months.”

I
don’t look like a wino, but I do practice the same brand coaching you
can see in Rubin’s crazy-like-a-fox approach. Johnny was always a brand
owner, he just needed someone to help him see what was there all the
time, believe in him, tell him the truth, and make him uncomfortable
enough to start growing again.

John’s daughter Rosanne says Rick, “…was like this angel that swooped down into his life.”

Every brand needs a friend like that!

Read Part I here. Tomorrow Wagner shares the "new" Johnny Cash with his son via a Nine Inch Nails cover that the country singer made his own.