Donald Trump
Emeril

michael jackson
bo jackson
john elway (at least in colorado)
Mr. T
Regis
Alfred Hitchcock (the silouhette)
Paul Newman!! Newman's Own!
the "Grandma" on "Grandma's Cookies"
Smurfette
Jaws

I thought about M. Jackson, but I don't know that he's "diversified his assets" enough to really qualify as a "brand."

In order to qualify as a "brand," the person must be more than simply iconic (Bo, Mr. T, Regis, "Henry" the robotic shark or whatever his name is) and have tangible assets that are translatable to both product lines and diverse product categories.

Rachel Ray
Paris Hilton

Why does Spike Lee qualify, by your definition? I am not familiar with his diverse product categories.

anderson cooper
donny deutsch
kevin smith
paris hilton
jennifer lopez
jason anderson

Spike Lee's brandification is detailed in an article now linked to above.

Paris Hilton is interesting. Most people seem to become famous and then "brandify" themselves. Paris is maybe the first celebrity to be famous "as a brand"???

Plus the name, the hotel chain. Many levels of branding in the person of Paris Hilton.

WTF? If spike lee is a brand then PAUL FUCKING NEWMAN is a brand, you crazy j-hole!

You mean like #10 on the list?

In No Logo, Naomi Klein posits Shaq as the first celebrity to realize the potential for person-as-brand. I guess Nike passed on signing him because he wasn't 'Nike material.' I read it as saying he wasn't willing to be just a Nike kind of guy. Thanks for the continually interesting posts.

The Olsen Twins. Perhaps one of the biggest in terms of revenue.

Ooh, Olsen twins - good one. I question Hugh Heffner, though. Isn't he more the face of the Playoy brand than a brand unto himself?

The Olsen Twins are really a terrific brand.

Good point about Hefner. I wonder, though, how do we really separate the "face" of Playboy from the "brand" Playboy? Hefner has surely done a lot to define what that brand means, and there is a calculated sameness about him--always wearing that smoking jacket, surrounded by women, etc.--that feels "brandified" to me.

Hilary Duff has her line at Target or Walmart or someplace called "Stuff by Hilary Duff".
Lots of teen and preteen girl brands like this, the Olsens, Britney, etc... little girls like to emulate, I guess.

Actually, I think it's more that advertising and media is totally preying upon the fact that all kids are interested in their peers, and even more so in their idealized peers- aka Hilary, LiLo, whatever.
Girls are so particularly marketed to this way because they are already being told, constantly, that they need to be and look a certain way. Buy her stuff and be like Duff.

Tyra Banks is heading toward brand territory. I'll be $5 she has a magazine soon.

vincent chase

Colonel Sanders!

Mr Verne, I definitely agree that he is part of the Playboy brand. But doesn't that disqualify him from being a brand unto himself like Oprah or the Olsen twins? I think he's more like Richard Branson, who is a huge part of the Virgin brand, but still part of it.

You have convinced me, Lucie. I was trying to think of what Hefner and Branson represent, if not the brand itself. I think "brand essence" is perhaps more accurate: the "core values" of the brand, though not the brand itself.

Hilary Duff is a great addition, sort of Olsen Twins 2.0; and NO FAKE PEOPLE!!!

Though Colonel Sanders was probably real at some point, like Wendy (of Wendy's)?