Packaging House of Cards and The Knick: How talent intermediaries manage the indie-auteur brand to sell premium television

The article explores the migration of indie-auteurs to television during the 2010s. Using David Fincher and Steven Soderbergh’s work on House of Cards and The Knick as case studies, the article argues that talent intermediaries such as producers and talent managers have sought to mobilize the indie-auteur, a branded identity and authorial discourse, to package premium television programmes to exploit growing competition between channels and platforms. The article also explores repercussions of the indie-auteur’s insertion in television as a mark of distinction, arguing that it becomes increasingly important to be aware of the systems behind it.

Gay porn networks

Gay porn networks offer audiences diverse pornographies under a single offering. This article considers how specialist, online gay pornographic sites are made viable via networks, providing an overview of the 10 most popular gay porn networks currently in operation, and making connections between them via qualitative reading. By recognizing the potential for alternative pornographies within these networks, yet not reifying gay porn networks to the production of solely non-mainstream offerings, the article invites a more nuanced assessment of the complexity of the online gay porn commercial environment. Encompassing a total of 50 sites across 10 networks, the study’s broad approach allows for an overview of the most successful networks currently available, with a particular emphasis on branded identity, themes and the construction of studio vs network identities.

Corporate identity, corporate identity scholarship and Wally Olins (1930-2014)

Purpose – The role of Wally Olins (1930-2014) vis-à-vis corporate identity scholarship is appraised. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – A review of Wally Olins published output on corporate identity. Specific focus is accorded to his two seminal publications (books): The Corporate Personality: An Inquiry into the Nature of Corporate Identity (1978) and Corporate Identity: Making Business Strategy Visible through Design (1989). Findings – Olins’ contribution to corporate identity scholarship is fivefold, namely: inspired and greatly influenced the first generation of corporate communications and corporate marketing academics; provided binary definitions of corporate identity; noted the importance of the Corporate Personality vis-à-vis the corporate identity; introduced the heroic and technocratic identity notions; and identified three, core, corporate identity structures (monolithic identity, endorsed identity and branded identity). In terms of his entire opus three distinct eras can be discerned, namely: 1978-1979: the identity exposition era; 1985-1999: the identity reiteration era; and 2000-2014 brand adherent era. Practical implications – Olins was also part of the English corporate marketing revolution where the importance of organisations (other than products and services) were recognised. His reflections and those of others inspired Balmer (1998) to formally introduced the corporate marketing perspective where the focus of marketing focuses on organisations, stakeholders, societal concerns and the temporal dimension. Originality/value – This is the first assessment of Olins’ influence on corporate identity scholarship. It critically appraises the nature of his contribution in his three writing periods vis-a-vis corporate identity scholarship and identifies five, significant, contributions he has made to the corporate identity canon.

De mythe van de dichter - Willem Bilderdijks beroemdheidscultus

By Dutch literary scholars Willem Bilderdijk is often represented as an unhappy man with a miserable life, full of poverty, illness and underestimation. He is, indeed, famous for his endless complaining and his burning desire for death. There were good reasons for him to be unhappy: he was often ill, lived in exile, suffered the loss of children and had the constant feeling he couldn’t find his way in life. In spite of all this, the case of Bilderdijk’s poethood is more complicated. Because of the dominant biographical focus on Bilderdijk’s life and work, one aspect of his authorship has until now largely been neglected: the way in which he created a ‘branded identity’ and presented himself as a celebrity. This article focuses on the manners in which Bilderdijk created an image of himself as a poet of mythical proportions. In other words: it will examine the different ways in which Bilderdijk established his celebrity cult.