Branding Research

 

Branding Research

This is our research on branding and how it will influence our artist for our music video project.

Zara Larsson

Who is Zara Larsson?

Zara Larsson is a Swedish pop singer who becomes famous after winning the talent show Talang in 2008. She is recognised for her strong vocals, confident personality, and popular pop songs like "Lush Life" and "Symphony." Today she is known as an international pop artist with a modern sound who often uses her music to promote confidence and independence.

To deeply understand the purpose of using Zara Larsson, it is important to look at her current persona / branding and the reasons behind her shift. Beforehand, she was seen as a more generic pop singer with a safe and cliche image, but now she has rebranded herself with bold colours, a stronger pop vibe, and a clearer personality that helps her stand out more in the music industry.

Zara Larsson's 

Social Media Platform

Throughout her social pages, we can clearly see her shift in style, branding, and persona, moving from a simple artist image to a more bold, expressive, and personal presence.

Zara Larsson's 

Music Albums

Even though she started as a generic artist, she has now developed a strong aesthetic persona. This change is also show in her albums, as many of them follow her new branding by featuring the symbolic yellow hibiscus flower on remixed versions released after her rebranding.

Zara Larsson's 

Music Videos

Before Branding

Lush Life 

(2015)

After Branding

Midnight Sun 

(2025)

In this case, Zara Larsson's rebranding faced a minor downfall due to controversy around Midnight Sun. However, because she had a strong branding and clear identity, it did not seriously damage her image. Instead, it helped her stay recognised and relevant, showing that strong branding can protect an artist from a major downfall.

Zara Larsson's 

Magazine Shoots

In shoots like this, magazines avoid showing the 'model's' usual persona and identity. Instead, they change her image using styling, makeup, lighting, and concepts to show a different side of models. This helps audiences see the transformation and prevents image from feeling repetitive, as for Zara, her vibrant aesthetic. As a result, the model stays interesting and relevant to viewers.

What Caused Her Shift?

Overall, this matters to our artist because gaining popularity often requires rebranding. This can be seen in Zara Larsson, who changed from a generic singer into a colourful, summer-focused personality. This idea is applied to our artist, who shifts from an ordinary girl with big dreams into a euphoric persona that reflects who she is now. This transformation helps audience build interest and recognition. This links to the theory of stardom, which states that stardom is contracted by media to attract audiences and create profit. Zara Larsson is an example of this, as her song Symphony went viral on TikTok through the dolphin meme trend, which then explains the textual productivity in the theory of fandom where fan-made memes gives fans a sense of ownership which increases her visibility and strengthening her branding through audience interaction. 

What brand identity are they giving off?

Zara Larsson's brand identity is confident, bold, and expressive. She presents herself as empowering and independent. She is no longer a generic pop singer but a recognisable international artist with a clear personality. Her branding shows strength, individuality, and confidence, which attracts audiences and makes her memorable.

What is their persona?

Her persona is confident and playful. She is seen as someone who is strong and self-aware. Even though this persona feels natural, it is carefully constructed through her music, social media, and visuals. Fans read her as a symbol of empowerment and individuality, which connects to the theory of stardom where a star is created to represent certain values while staying relatable.

What image are they creating for themselves, how?

Zara creates the image of a bold, expressive and colourful pop artist. She does this through her music videos, album work, social media, and fashion. An example would be as her albums now feature the yellow hibiscus flower as a visual symbol. Even magazine shoots allow her image to transform with makeup and styling, which helps maintain her vibrant, evolving brand.

How do they speak to their fans?

Zara loves to speak to her fans in a fun and expressive way, often using the GenZ emojis like "💕✨🐬🌺🌞" and lots of repeated exclamation marks (!!!!!). She uses these emojis to show excitement, personality, and a playful vibe. She shared opinions, test new lows, and responds to fan reactions. Fans help shape her rebranding by giving feedback and she uses this to improve her image. This makes her brand feel fun and visually connected to her bold aesthetic.

What visuals link all of the media products together?

The visual linking her media products include bold colours, bright lighting, confident poses, expressive fashion, and symbols like the yellow hibiscus flower. This consistent visual style makes her branding recognisable and memorable across all platforms.

How could this artist influence you?

1. The big shift of persona

Zara shows that changing persona is an important part of growing as an artist. At the start of her career, her image was safe and generic, which made it harder for audiences to remember her. By shifting into a more confident, bold, and expressive persona, she became more recognisable and relatable. This teaches our artist that rebranding is not a weakness but a strategy. A clear persona helps audiences understand who the artist is and builds stronger recognition.

2. The aesthetic, reversed to a euphoric look

Her current visuals focus on bright, summer theme aesthetic with bold colours and playful energy. Our artist can take inspiration from this but reverse it into a more euphoric look, using expressive visuals that reflect emotion, freedom, and personal growth. This shows that aesthetics are not just decoration, but a way to communicate mood, meaning, and identity to the audience.

3. Magazine shoots do not define her identity

Zara's magazine shoots often show her in different styles and concepts chosen by the magazine. These images are creative and eye catching, but they do not fully define who she is as an artist. Her true identity is build through her music, consistent visuals, and interaction with fans. This teaches our artist that while magazine shoots are important for promotion, the brand remain consistent across all platforms.

4. Social media shift after career blow up

After gaining major attention, Zara used social media to strengthen her rebranding. She communicated more directly with fans, shared her personality, and reacted to feedback. This helped her stay relevant and rebuild trust. This shows our artist that social media is a powerful tool for controlling image, responding to controversy, and maintaining a loyal fan base.

5. Very explorative with her style

Zara is not afraid to experiment with fashion, makeup, and visuals. She tries new looks, changes aesthetic, and involves her style over time. This shows confidence and creativity. Our artist can learn to explore her own style freely, test new ideas, and take creative risks. Being explorative helps an artist grow, stay interesting, and avoid becoming repetitive or predictable.