[Market Economy Guide] Oprah Winfrey and Brand

The Rags-to-Riches Story of Oprah Winfrey, Once Destitute

It Was the Power of a “Talk Show Brand” Built on Her Own Name

Reviving a Talk Show Headed for Cancellation

Winfrey achieved dazzling success, but her childhood was deeply unhappy. Born the daughter of a very poor teenage single mother, Winfrey was raped by a cousin at age nine and became pregnant at fourteen, giving birth to a premature baby. The daughter she gave birth to died just two weeks after being born. She even turned to drugs for a time and contemplated suicide; her teenage years were those of an impoverished young Black American living in extreme poverty.

What set Winfrey apart from others in extreme poverty was that she did not despair over the conditions of life she had been given. She succeeded in finding work in which she could truly shine, and from high school onward steadily built her career at a local radio station. Then, at age thirty, she landed a job as the host of a talk show at a local Chicago television station. The talk show she took over was on the verge of cancellation because of low ratings. But in just one month, she made it the No. 1 program in its time slot, and three years later changed the show’s title to The Oprah Winfrey Show, named after herself. That was the beginning of the success story by which she became so widely known to us as well.

Brands Are Loved

Brands are loved by everyone. Starbucks coffee is far more expensive than coffee from a neighborhood café, yet people still drink coffee at Starbucks. The iPhone is more expensive than other smartphones with similar performance, yet people still love using it. People may think they are simply drinking coffee and using smartphones, but in reality they are consuming the intangible brands called Starbucks and iPhone.

Winfrey realized early on that investing in her own name was a goose that laid golden eggs. She launched a talk show bearing her own name at the age of thirty-three. As she hosted a program branded with her name, her name recognition steadily grew, and before long she became an irreplaceable broadcaster. If the talk show she hosted had still been called AM Chicago, her success would either have been impossible or significantly delayed.

One day in 1988, Winfrey announced on her talk show that she would begin a diet. Four months later, she returned to the public having lost as much as 3 kilograms. It is said that she spent close to 1 billion won on that four-month diet. For the diet, Winfrey assembled a dedicated project team just for herself, including a personal trainer, chef, and nutritionist. When she went walking, the location was arranged at one of California’s most luxurious hot springs, and she even flew to Hawaii just to go jogging. The American tabloid The Enquirer estimated her dieting costs, saying she seemed to have spent at least $10,000 per kilogram lost.

It Depends on You

To the average person, that looks like spending money like water. But if she had stopped there, she would not have been Oprah Winfrey. She went on to publish her weight-loss success story as a book, which became a bestseller and generated enormous profits once again. Her diet project, too, was in fact a carefully planned investment in advance for the Oprah Winfrey brand.

Winfrey turned her life into a luxury brand. As a result, she rose from being the daughter of a poor Black single mother to becoming a global magnate with assets totaling $4 billion. Her life gave rise to what is called “Oprahism” — the idea that success in life depends entirely on the individual. Your life, too, after reading this book, can become something exceptional depending on how you choose to build it.

■ Please remember

Oprah Winfrey turned her life into a luxury brand. Her life gave rise to what is called “Oprahism” — the idea that success in life depends entirely on the individual.

Sung-no Choi

President, Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

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Original title: [시장경제 길라잡이] 오프라 윈프리와 브랜드

Author: Sung-no Choi

Date: 2019-12-16

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=column&pn=11&idx=22160