She also kept her appeal to women strong by rebuking machismo with songs like “Que le den candela.” Beyond music, her brand identifiers included wild stage outfits, wigs and her catchphrase, ¡Azúcar! She knew her base of working-class Hispanics and Latin Americans wanted escape through dancing, and she delivered: “La vida es un carnival” is a good late-career example. Fans could count on Celia for fresh, fun songs, not odd artsy experiments. This ensured relevance with younger audiences-the result was a steady stream of hits well into her 70s.Ĭonsistent brand identity. She also sang duos with stars from other countries, like Vicente Fernandez and Caetano Veloso, and mentored young salsa diva India. Celia worked with a variety of producers to keep her sound fresh but wisely avoided trends like salsa romántica that were a poor fit for her brand. Heavy touring in these countries further expanded her brand into Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Panama. These picks gave her an entry point with new markets who started with the song they recognized and then later bought into the rest of her brand. Celia made a point of selecting songs like "Toro mata," a Peruvian folk song, the Brazilian song "Usted abusó " and other tunes from Latin countries beyond Cuba. This retained her original customer base.Įxpansion. Examples include "Canto a La Habana," "Si acaso no regreso," "Ochún con Changó," "Vieja luna" and many others. Celia never lost sight of her brand identity as a Cuban singer, so her albums always featured songs referencing Cuba or covers of famous songs by Cuban composers. Celia’s fan base started in Cuba and followed her into exile. Suddenly her brand was tied with that of Muhammad Ali’s, however indirectly, and a whole new audience of Africans became fans of the newly-crowned Queen of Salsa.Ĭustomer retention. That same year, she traveled to Zaire to perform with the Fania All Stars in a concert before the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman championship bout. Celia was paired with megaproducer Johnny Pacheco, who had his own major brand equity with salseros, and produced the hit 1974 album Celia y Johnny. She followed this up by signing with Fania Records, the hottest salsa label around. This got her in front of young salseros, who instantly loved her. First, she appeared in a Latin opera called Hommy, produced by star bandleader Larry Harlow. By the early 1970s, she was in danger of becoming a nostalgia act. Later in the decade she teamed up with Tito Puente. She was a national star with some international recognition, most in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.Ĭelia left Cuba in 1960 and recorded with and without the Sonora in Mexico. Before we get into that, let’s look at her brand’s liftoff.Ĭelia built her brand in Cuba by scoring hits with the Sonora Matancera in the 1950s. In her own way, she managed to rebrand herself effectively by following certain core principles. Her ability to reinvent herself and absorb new musical trends keep her relevant in a Lady Gaga world.Ĭelia Cruz has never been called a marketing master-but she was. Madonna has consistently been hailed as a marketing master. But years later, I see something in common with them besides being singers. My friend Mario asked me, “So she’s like the Latin Madonna?” I had no response-I couldn’t think of two more different people than Celia and Madonna. I am fully engaged in my work and dedicated to producing provocative, relevant, figurative work with a "pop-Latino-surrealist-socio-political sensibility" as well as a "web-based awareness".In 1987, I was at the Jersey shore with friends and obsessively listening to the 1967 album Cuba y Puerto Rico son by Celia Cruz and Tito Puente. I am a professional California artist, poet and college arts educator originally from the San Francisco Bay Area.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |