“Dramaturgy and Celebrity Branding”
What if every celebrity moment you see—on the red carpet, on social media, in a press interview—isn’t spontaneous, but instead part of a carefully managed stage performance?

In this episode of Theories of Celebrity Branding, we dive into the concept of Dramaturgy, a sociological theory developed by Erving Goffman, to explore how celebrities craft and manage their public personas. Goffman’s insight was simple but transformative: life is like theater. We are all actors performing roles depending on the audience and context.

For celebrities, this performance is magnified across millions of screens, with every moment scrutinized, amplified, and monetized.

Using this theatrical lens, host Bob Batchelor, faculty member of the Department of Communication, Media, and Culture at Coastal Carolina University unpacks how stars shape public perception by managing “front stage” and “backstage” behavior. The front stage is what we see—the press junkets, carefully curated Instagram posts, red carpet poses. Backstage is what we don’t—the private negotiations, brand strategies, and identity work that hold the persona together.

Why is this important for professionals and students in communications, branding, media, and PR?

Because understanding celebrity branding as performance reveals how strategic public identity functions—and how you, too, are participating in a form of brand dramaturgy every time you post, present, or pitch.

Highlights from this episode include:

• A deep dive into Goffman’s theory and how it applies to celebrity branding.

• The role of impression management in shaping public narratives and media identity.

• Case study on actor Robert Downey Jr., whose transformation from troubled star to cultural icon illustrates the power of backstage work and controlled performance.

• How branding teams, PR reps, stylists, and social media managers act as “crew” supporting the celebrity on their public stage.

• The role of “the audience”—you and me—in co-creating and reinforcing celebrity identity through engagement, consumption, and interpretation.

• The implications of constant exposure in a social media world where there’s less and less separation between “on stage” and “off stage.”

As Batchelor explains, these dynamics are not limited to A-listers. Leaders, influencers, professionals, and even students manage their reputations using similar tools. From selecting what to wear for a video interview to shaping a personal website bio, the performance of self is everywhere.

We also explore how Goffman’s theory can help us better analyze celebrity missteps and PR crises. When a public figure’s front-stage behavior collapses—when what we see doesn’t match what we expect—the fallout can be swift. But the reverse is also true: celebrities who carefully align their performance with audience expectations can achieve remarkable levels of trust, brand loyalty, and influence.

So what does this mean for your own career or communication goals?

Batchelor closes the episode with key takeaways for aspiring communicators, marketers, and creators:

• Recognize the power of consistency in public performance and how it builds trust.

• Understand the tools of impression management and apply them to shape your own brand with integrity.

• Avoid the trap of inauthenticity: great branding isn’t faking, it’s aligning your message with your values.

• Build a backstage strategy—know who’s helping support your brand, and what story you want to tell.

Whether you’re managing your own social presence, working in communications, or just trying to better understand how today’s media landscape operates, this episode will reshape how you think about fame, authenticity, and performance.

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Symbolic Interactionism and Celebrity Branding

What if we told you that every time you scroll through Instagram, watch a movie trailer, or listen to a celebrity interview, you’re participating in a deeply sociological process?

In this episode of Theories of Celebrity Branding, we dive into Symbolic Interactionism—a foundational sociological perspective that explains how we assign meaning to people, objects, and actions through our everyday social interactions. But this isn't simply a stodgy academic theory. Rather, it is a lens that reveals the inner mechanics of branding, celebrity culture, and the way we construct meaning in the digital age.

We trace the roots of Symbolic Interactionism through the work of key thinkers like:

• George Herbert Mead, who argued that our identities are shaped by social interactions and role-taking.

• Herbert Blumer, who coined the term and emphasized that meaning emerges from interaction and is constantly renegotiated.

• Erving Goffman, whose dramaturgical metaphor helps us understand the “performance” of everyday life—including how celebrities manage their public personas.

We then move from theory to impact—connecting the dots between these sociological insights and how celebrities build and maintain their brands. From red-carpet gestures to carefully curated tweets, everything a public figure does becomes a symbol loaded with meaning, ready to be interpreted, remixed, or rejected by audiences.

But this episode also introduces a powerful theoretical concept: Radical Sociodrama, developed by Bob Batchelor and Kaitlin Krister. We explore how brands like Starbucks don’t just sell coffee, they stage elaborate performances of meaning. Starbucks’ use of seasonal campaigns like the Pumpkin Spice Latte becomes a form of modern-day ritual, sparking debates about identity, nostalgia, and even politics.

Radical Sociodrama invites you to think differently about your surroundings. Every store, influencer, or branded experience becomes a stage...and every consumer a performer. In today’s landscape, radical sociodrama takes you from theory to strategy.

We extend these ideas into celebrity case studies. We explore Zendaya—an actress, fashion icon, and multi-platform celebrity who masterfully navigates her symbolic presence across traditional media, fashion runways, and social platforms. Zendaya’s self-presentation evolves in tandem with fan interpretations, media narratives, and cultural trends, which makes her an excellent case study in the co-creation of meaning between celebrity and audience.

This episode also draws on themes from Batchelor’s The Authentic Leader and his cultural branding research, offering students and professionals alike a framework for understanding:

• How meaning is created through storytelling and social interaction

• Why branding is as much about audience interpretation as it is about what you say

• The hidden power of ritual, symbolism, and performance in shaping cultural memory

And most importantly, we wrap the episode with actionable insights for students and young professionals:

• Recognize how you’re already creating meaning through what you post, wear, and say
• Think strategically about how others interpret the “symbols” you put into the world
• Build your personal brand not just by broadcasting, but by engaging and listening
• Apply Symbolic Interactionism to your future communications, media, or PR career to decode (and shape) cultural narratives

Whether you're analyzing Beyoncé’s latest music video or crafting your own LinkedIn bio, this episode will change how you think about symbols, identity, and the performative nature of modern life.

So join us—and discover how celebrity branding is really about all of us. Then, subscribe to Theories of Celebrity Branding wherever you listen to podcasts. If it resonates, leave a review or share it with someone curious about how culture works.

Episode Title: Branding Archetypes and Symbolism

What do Nike, Lady Gaga, and your favorite influencer on Instagram have in common? They all rely on timeless symbols and archetypes to communicate who they are—instantly and emotionally.

In this episode of Theories of Celebrity Branding, host Bob Batchelor explores the fascinating world of branding archetypes and symbolism, drawing from Jungian psychology, cultural studies, and branding history to help decode how celebrity and brand identities become so sticky, so powerful, and so deeply personal.

From the Hero to the Jester, the Sage to the Lover, Batchelor walks listeners through the most influential archetypes used in celebrity branding today—explaining what they mean, where they come from, and why they matter. Listeners will come away with the ability to identify how celebrities and influencers carefully craft their brands by aligning with symbolic storylines that audiences unconsciously recognize and trust.

These archetypes aren’t just used in big-budget campaigns or Hollywood films. They’re in your TikTok feed, your Spotify playlist, and even your LinkedIn bio. Understanding branding archetypes is like learning a secret language—one that brands, celebrities, and communicators have been speaking for decades to connect, influence, and inspire.

Dr. Batchelor also explains how Symbolic Interactionism, a key sociological theory, connects to branding. Every brand encounter is a symbolic exchange. Every Facebook post, product drop, or press appearance is a performance that audiences interpret and internalize. Brands, especially celebrity brands, aren’t fixed identities—they’re conversations happening in real time.

Whether you're an aspiring communicator, marketing strategist, or just fascinated by pop culture, this episode will help you:

• Understand how and why archetypes resonate across cultures
• Decode the underlying symbolism in celebrity personas and consumer brands
• Apply these frameworks to your own personal brand development
• Recognize branding’s power to shape emotions, perceptions, and decisions
• Reflect on the visual and narrative consistency of brands you follow and admire

Dr. Batchelor, a bestselling cultural historian and professor at Coastal Carolina University, brings deep expertise to the conversation. His books on Stan Lee, The Great Gatsby, and branding history have helped scholars and professionals alike understand how meaning, myth, and marketing converge in modern culture.

As always, this podcast isn’t just academic—it’s designed for real-world use. Whether you're building a personal brand, launching a startup, managing a reputation, or studying communication, Theories of Celebrity Branding gives you tools to think more strategically about how identities are constructed and consumed.

Don’t miss this deep dive into how archetypes and symbolism fuel the most powerful branding strategies in the world.

Listen now, share with a friend, and subscribe to stay ahead of the curve in media, branding, and cultural storytelling.

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