Rihanna A Risk To Brands? Dropped by Nivea

Rihanna re-invents herself at least every six months so when you are a global brand, looking for a spokesperson, you never know what you will get when signing her to a multi-year endorsement deal. The image and brand you sign today, may not be the same image you will get a year from now, or even months from now. She’s about that YOLO.
Unfortunately, her ever-changing image and rockstar life is becoming a major risk to some of these very commercial brands that are looking for the next face of their company.
Earlier today, the head of Nivea’s parent company Beiersdorf revealed to German Media that they would not be re-signing Rihanna because she doesn’t fit their family image.

“Rihanna is a no go. I do not understand how to bring the core brand of Nivea in conjunction with Rihanna. Nivea is a company which stands for trust, family and reliability.

But it was all good just a year ago. Nivea, who also sponsored Rihanna’s World Tour, was quite excited about making her the face of their campaign. They released this statement, as well as a clean commercial image of Rihanna just in time for the campaign’s launch.

We are excited to have Rihanna supporting us in our celebration and building a new generation of fans. Over the past 100 years, Nivea has been an iconic skin-care brand across the world.

Her fans could argue that Rihanna’s image hasn’t changed since last year, but it definitely has (at least twice –she’s definitely trying to find herself). Since signing with Nivea, she’s also been spotted smoking ganja in public places, posting uncensored tweets and repping that ‘Thug Life’.

Unfortunately, for Rih, the brands  that she endorses will want to know that she will represent them in the right way which includes keeping a consistent image. The perfect example is Beyonce whose long standing, multi-year contract with L’Oreal has required her to maintain the same color hair style over a number of years. They signed Beyonce as a ‘blonde’ with a super wholesome image, so they wouldn’t be too happy if she were to change that before her contract came to an end.
And truthfully, Rihanna probably gives 0 f-cks  about all of this right about now but that  YOLO life could definitely  start messing up her pockets.
She’s come way too far for that …
She can still live her life, rep ‘Thug Life’, smoke, party with her friends and live that YOLO life but she may have to take it behind closed doors and away from social networks if she wants to continue being a marketable brand.