LadyA
Paper 1
LadyA – Maria Immaculada Alejandra Gonzalez Carroccio
▪ In 1973, her parents were granted political asylum and moved to Florida
▪ Arrived with limited savings but determined to succeed!
Mr. Carroccio
To work independently, as a sole
trader, in order to achieve financial
security.
Cash flow forecast weak; turned down
for bank loans – eventually got a
small grant from a government agency
to help entrepreneurs.
Mr. Carroccio opened a small shoe
repair shop in their Spanish-speaking
neighborhood in Miami.
Mrs. Carroccio
▪ At first
– She experienced difficulties
because she didn’t speak much
English.
▪ Then
Eventually, with the profits from Mr.
Carroccio’s shop & Mrs. Carroccio’s
wages, the family maintained an
economically stable household.
– She took classes organized by a
local charity.
▪ So that she eventually
– Found a job in the school
cafeteria.
– Low wages, but fringe benefits
including health insurance.
Non-profit organization –
Mission Statement
1978 – Alejandra is born!
• Parents wanted Alejandra to have a normal
American life.
• Spanish to each other, but:
• English with them
• Singing in choral groups at school and church
• After school dance lessons
12-years old
occasional
modeling jobs
for local
catalogs &
magazines.
Modelling led to
small acting
roles in Miami.
$$ put into a
college fund
La Bella Rosa
Musical Success!
▪ Alejandra is offered a contract to produce a CD
album!
▪ Unfamiliar with negotiation she hires Gloria
Woolrich as her agent.
▪ Gloria has worked with Spanish-speaking
performers, her advice:
– Target the Spanish-speaking market in the US
– Promote herself as Lady Alejandra to emphasize
Hispanic roots with a touch of elegance.
▪ Parents sign the contract since she is under 18.
Reluctantly her parents agreed to a second CD album,
which proved even more successful than the first one.
Lady Alejandra
As immigrants Mr. & Mrs. Carroccio strongly
emphasized education. They’d struggled to satisfy basic
needs when they first arrived, only achieving economic
security after working long hours.
They believed if Alejandra went to university,
she would have a better life.
They didn’t want music to distract her.
April – senior year Alejandra wants
to move to Los Angeles to be a star
instead of going to college.
Parents – disappointed, but couldn’t
stop her because she’s 18.
Alejandra left her previous agent and hired Ruth
Liebermann. Ruth helps her:
Marketing a Music Star
Product life cycle of music stars is
short unless managed carefully.
She’d need to develop strategies to
extend the product (aka Alejandra)
Her revenue streams would be based
on developing a brand identity.
Alejandra as a brand
▪ Identity based on youthful &
innocent look, powerful voice and
Hispanic heritage.
Alejandra was nervous but agreed to go
to Gavin Pratt-famous hair dresser &
style expert. Led to another revenue
stream: appearing on the cover of highprofile fashion magazines.
Transition to Glamour
Current
lay-dee-ay – LadyA – is born!
• Changing demographics in the US
• Percentage of Hispanics-small but growing
• Demographic shift creating negative political
reaction
• Focus groups showed some English-speakers
didn’t like the name “Lady Alejandra”
We
Lady A
2001
• Earning millions per year from
CD sales, concerts, magazine
covers and music videos.
• Employed full-time accountant
to manage revenue & expenses.
Employees
Core Employees
▪ Band
▪ Group of dancers
▪ Variety of musical & video
technicians
▪ Events manager
▪ Logistics Specialists
Temporary Employees
• Needed at each venue to
help set up the stage
Peripheral Employees
• Two personal assistants
• Two housekeepers
• Chef
• Personal Trainer
• Driver
• Chief Bodyguard supervising
six bodyguards.
• Employees don’t know what to expect
• Communication is poor
• Although it was exciting to work for a superstar the
employees frequently complained behind her back.
Leadership
Style
• Very direct
• Detailed instructions
• Angry if employees didn’t follow exactly
• Sometimes Laissez-Faire
Types of Ownership
Alejandra owns 98%
Parents & Ruth own 2%
Music Industry
2000 & Beyond
Music
Online file sharing widely available.
Videos
Video hosting websites effectively
end profitability of music videos. No
more royalties from TV.
CD sales fall with illegal downloads.
Artists have to produce and upload
music videos to hosting sites.
New technology, MP3 &
Smartphones impact CD sales.
Expensive to do and do not
generate any direct revenue.
Economic downturn - 2008
• Artists had to transform themselves
• Media Personalities
Falling sales
Generate
revenue
2009
• Importance of branded identities
• Beautiful mainstream American with Hispanic passion and intensity
• Appeared in many above & below the line promotions
• carefully selecting the products she endorsed.
• Communicating with fans through social media websites
▪ Primary & secondary market
research showed this was a good
fit with LadyA’s established brand.
▪ It reached her main target market:
teenage girls and young women.
▪ Production was outsourced to an
established manufacturer in
Malaysia.
– Costs lower
– Quality control a problem
▪ Batch production was used to
enable a variety of products could
be made.
▪ LadyA had to pay 60% of the
costs in advance.
▪ Wholesaling and distribution also
outsourced to a company in
Minnesota.
Business Reorganization
▪ Alejandra continued to manage all
of her household employees
personally.
▪ Appointed a Managing Director and
a Human Resources Manager to
assist in workforce planning and
manage the rest of the business.
▪ She delegated some functions, but
stayed in close contact with
frequent meetings w/the Managing
Director.
▪ BENEFIT: roles were clear, systems
and procedures in place and
Alejandra’s employees complained
less.
2012 – Big Year!!
Married Rafaele Eco, Italian investment banker
Purchased a large mansion –
requiring even more peripheral employees
• Alejandra became more mature and businessoriented.
• Leadership style became more consistent and
paternalistic.
▪ Female stars in America struggle to remain popular
in their forties.
– modeling jobs are harder to get
– girls and younger women typically prefer younger
musicians and stars
– selling youthfulness becomes more difficult as women
grow older
▪ LadyA hired business consultants who specialized
in the strategic direction of brands; presented her
with options.
Next phase –
life & career
Alejandra in her late-30s
Option 1
Move into South American markets, which generally accept older
female musicians and film stars. Ever since Lady Alejandra
became LadyA, she had focused on the English-speaking market
in the US. Though she had some fans in Spanish-speaking
markets, she had never made them a priority. For those
markets, LadyA would start using the name Lady Alejandra
again, conduct a major concert tour in South America, and try
to repeat her North American career, building an increasingly
powerful name through music downloads (such as MP3s),
concerts, films, product endorsements, magazine covers, and
also perfume and cosmetics.
Option 1
Move into South American markets, which generally accept older
female musicians and film stars. Ever since Lady Alejandra
became LadyA, she had focused on the English-speaking market
in the US. Though she had some fans in Spanish-speaking
markets, she had never made them a priority. For those
markets, LadyA would start using the name Lady Alejandra
again, conduct a major concert tour in South America, and try
to repeat her North American career, building an increasingly
powerful name through music downloads (such as MP3s),
concerts, films, product endorsements, magazine covers, and
also perfume and cosmetics.
Option 2
Develop more products under the LadyA brand and develop a
global market. A possibility is a clothing range. Other possible
products include accessories such as LadyA shoes, LadyA
handbags, and LadyA lingerie. These products could be
distributed in the US through the same department stores selling
her perfume and cosmetics. Other distribution channels would
be required for the international market, with e-commerce
offering many opportunities. Family branding would be
maintained.
Option 2
Develop more products under the LadyA brand and develop a
global market. A possibility is a clothing range. Other possible
products include accessories such as LadyA shoes, LadyA
handbags, and LadyA lingerie. These products could be
distributed in the US through the same department stores selling
her perfume and cosmetics. Other distribution channels would
be required for the international market, with e-commerce
offering many opportunities. Family branding would be
maintained.
Option 3
Re-brand herself. With this strategy, LadyA would actually lower
her media profile for three years. During that time, she would
associate herself with a charitable cause, to tackle issues such
as malnutrition in developing countries, homelessness in big
cities, or international trafficking of children. She would use her
wealth to set up various non-profit organizations to support the
charitable cause, and utilize various techniques for marketing
non-profit organizations. She would then appear on American
television talk shows and do magazine interviews, building a new
brand identity based on the image of a strong, mature,
determined and compassionate woman. This would allow for
new revenue streams to be sought based on this new brand.
Option 3
Re-brand herself. With this strategy, LadyA would actually lower
her media profile for three years. During that time, she would
associate herself with a charitable cause, to tackle issues such
as malnutrition in developing countries, homelessness in big
cities, or international trafficking of children. She would use her
wealth to set up various non-profit organizations to support the
charitable cause, and utilize various techniques for marketing
non-profit organizations. She would then appear on American
television talk shows and do magazine interviews, building a new
brand identity based on the image of a strong, mature,
determined and compassionate woman. This would allow for
new revenue streams to be sought based on this new brand.