Cele-Branding: Making the Brand (Oprah Winfrey)



New products and services are created every day.   What leads to their success or failure?  Sometimes it’s quality.  But more often it’s a result of marketing.   Companies in the past have used celebrities as spokesmodels for their products and services.   However, a recent trend is for celebrities to solidify their place in the consumer market by branding their own products and services.   A celebrity’s name (as his or her trademark), and the goodwill attached, can become an incredibly valuable asset.

Celebrity products and services may at first appeal to the celebrity’s immediate market (i.e., fans) to create initial interest.  However, as celebrities continue to build their brands, consumer interest crosses into additional channels of trade.   For example, when I think of celebrity branding, one of the first names I think of is Oprah Winfrey.  She has managed to use her exuberant personality and self-empowerment message to not only turn her show and magazine into a success, but OPRAH into a household name.   When you think of OPRAH, what do you think of?  A magazine, a television show, perhaps her charity work?   How about an incredibly valuable trademark?

A search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Website Database yields twenty-five live “hits” for marks containing OPRAH.   Oprah’s oldest registered trademark, OPRAH (Registration No. 1726373) is for use with “entertainment services rendered through the medium of television in the nature of a variety talk show series” and was registered on October 20,1992.   While “celebrity branding” may appear to be a recent trend, Oprah’s brand protection strategy started at least fifteen years ago!

Some other marks owned by Oprah’s affiliated companies, include:
  • O THE OPRAH MAGAZINE (Registration No. 2691371) for use with “Women's lifestyle magazines and newsletters covering 360 degrees of a women's life, guided by the values of Oprah Winfrey.”
  • OPRAH (Registration No. 2521889) for use with “computer services, namely, information via a web site featuring information on the subject matter of Applicant's television programs, films and videos, food and books via the Internet” and “computer services, namely, information via a web site featuring health, nutrition, fitness, volunteerism for charities, charitable work and philanthropic lifestyles via the Internet.
  • THE OPRAH WINFREY SHOW (Registration No. 2638506) for use with entertainment services rendered through the medium of television in the nature of a variety talk show series; and computer services, namely, providing information via an Internet web site featuring information on the subject matter of Applicant's television programs, films and videos, food, and books” and “computer services, namely, providing information via an Internet web site featuring health, nutrition, fitness, volunteerism for charities, charitable work and philanthropic lifestyles.”
  • OPRAH’S ANGEL NETWORK (Registration No. 2692126) for use with “charitable fundraising services involving a program to encourage donations to raise money for educational and other charitable purposes effected by means of the Internet and providing on-line information, by means of the Internet, relating to a charitable fundraising program to encourage donations to raise money for educational and other charitable services” and “promoting volunteerism, by means of the Internet, on the part of individuals to improve the lives of others and to assist in building houses for others.”
  • OPRAH’S FAVORITE THINGS (Registration No. 3078245) for use with “entertainment services rendered through the medium of television, namely, an ongoing series of variety television programs featuring the goods and services of others.”
  • WILDEST DREAMS WITH OPRAH (Registration No. 3187977) for use with “entertainment services in the nature of a series of television programs and segments featuring fulfillment of the dreams and wishes of deserving individuals, and other entertainment subject matter; and providing on-line information, via the Internet, in connection with the aforesaid television programs.”
  • OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB (Registration No. 3246379) for use with “entertainment services rendered through the medium of television, namely, a series of programs involving book discussion groups, and meetings and discussions with authors, relating to books, authors and reading; computer on-line services, namely, providing an Internet website featuring interactive book discussions and entertainment and educational information relating to books, authors and reading” and “series of fiction and non-fiction books in the fields of lifestyle, fitness, family, beauty, nutrition, diet, romance, relationships, history and fashion; newsletters featuring information on book clubs.”
  • OPRAH BOUTIQUE (Registration No. 3247299) for use with “online retail store services featuring apparel, household items and gifts.”
Oprah also has pending applications for many marks such as OPRAH WINFREY’S LEGENDS BALL, OPRAH WINFREY LEADERSHIP ACADEMY FOR GIRLS, O AMBASSADORS, OPRAH’S 21ST CENTURY SCHOOLS, OPRAH’S POP STAR CHALLENGE, and OPRAH’S BIG GIVE, among others.  

When it comes to celebrity branding, Oprah has been rather conservative.  While she is clearly very interested in protecting her trademarks, most of the marks are filed for goods like magazines and services like charitable fund raising and entertainment services--all of the things that made Oprah famous.   While Oprah has a pending application for OPRAH BOUTIQUE for clothing, it does not appear that she has filed a trademark application to protect typical “celebrity” brand products and services (such as perfume, fashion accessories, restaurant services, etc.)   Could these products and services be in the works?  Perhaps, but it may not be necessary.   Oprah may have no reason to “build” her celebrity brand when she is already a household name.   In addition, since OPRAH is arguably a famous mark, if anyone tried to use OPRAH on other products such as perfume, the application would probably be refused by a trademark examiner.  Therefore, Oprah’s focus has been, and probably always will be, protecting marks that she actually uses, and not using her name on many different types of products and services to promote her celebrity brand.



Aimee Kaplan - the trademark attorney dedicated to celebrity brands

Copyright 2007 Aimee Kaplan
Posted by Aimee Kaplan at 10/28/2007 12:00 AM
Categories: Magazines, Media/Entertainment, W (Name), Television, O (Name)
 
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