- Marshea Oliver
Adele's Speech and Brand Image
The winner for Song and Album of the year was the British artist Adele at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. During her speeches for both she decided to show love for a fellow artist in both categories with her. Beyonce or as most of the world calls her Queen Bey.
During her album of the year speech she said that she is not worthy of winning because Lemonade deserves it. She dedicated most of her speech to Beyonce telling her how amazing she is and how Lemonade touched her along with her “black friends.” While doing so Bey began to cry and express her gratitude towards the British singer as well.
All in all the reaction to this speech was divided. Some people thought that she was very deserving of it and should not have devoted half of her big moment to someone else. Of course the Bey Hive was upset and saying that Bey was more deserving and should have won both categories. Arguments broke out about it after the winners were announced as well. However, the biggest issue came when Adele went backstage and did an interview after the show was over.
During the interview the winner said, "And the reason I felt the need to say something is because my album of the year is Lemonade. She is my icon of my whole life." She continued talking about people who don’t like Beyonce, ”You can't be in my life. You simply can't." It is understandable that she was and still is in inspired by the artist but her fans did not agree with the artist breaking her award to give Queen Bey a piece.
Many brands have been making controversial statements recently and there are lessons we can learn from Adele's speech. One major lesson is that when brands or people speak out, people will have divided reactions, some will support and some will oppose the brand. This will inevitably affect brand image. Be careful when you choose to take a stand as a brand and be prepared for backlash.
To read the full backstage interview read it here.
Brands can learn from Chance the Rapper's success too.