The Marketing Bestie Podcast with zoeunlimited - the rebrand… of james charles

Episode Date: May 4, 2026

can you undo "bad branding"- james charlesCHOOSE future topics👉🏻through free email list (capping at 50,000)hhttps://tapthe.link/WDLnjLJy1How did James Charles go from an inspiring underdog to the most hated influencer ... 3 times?!👉🏻Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel 🎉. Get up to 60% OFF your subscription ➡Here: https://go.babbel.com/t?bsc=usa-influ-eg-mob&btp=default&utm_term=generic_v1&utm_medium=paidsocial&utm_source=Instagram&utm_campaign=zoeunlimited&utm_content=Influencer..Jul-2024..USA-TATAM..1200m60-ig-zoeunlimited-jul-2024Thank you Babbel for sponsoring!Learn & Grow with me.💖 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoeunlimited/💜 TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@zoeunlimited🪭 All my outfits https://www.shopltk.com/explore/zoeunlimited👩🏻‍💻 LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/zoeunlimited🛒 Essentials https://www.amazon.com/shop/zoeunlimited📧 Business inquiries: [e-mail]

Visit BetMGM casino and check out the newest exclusive. The Price is Right Fortune Pick. BetMGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2,600 to speak to an advisor,

free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming Ontario. Spotify. It's Jay Shetty. Are you one of those media strategy people? Scrolling through spreadsheets, searching for an audience that pays twice as much attention to your ads than they do on social? Let me introduce you to fans. And they're here with me on Spotify.

Trust me, I know fans. They don't skip. They stay for hours. They don't move on. They manifest. They're not a demographic group. They're fans. Spotify advertising.

You're among fans. How many followers does it take? for one to finally feel popular. Pridious face on the carpet right now. James Charles. James Charles wanted only James Charles. To grace the cover of Vogue magazine. And the winner is James Charrows!

And what happens when that power is abused? He flirted with minors. Having inappropriate conversations. Exchanging sexual messages with minors. This app is pretty much a dating app. Let's be real. I want to play TikTok Bachelor. James Charles would like to be uncanceled, please.

Hi sisters! Hi sisters! If you've ever been on a small app called YouTube, is it crazy? You probably know a thing or two about Mr. James Charles. How he collaborated with every famous person under the sun. Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Demi Lovato, Emma Jamerlin, Charlie Demail.

The list goes on. An all-star of beauty brands. Walk to Met Gala was on the cover of Vogue and lives in a stunning mansion, quite a successful brand. But somehow, there is a way to go from an inspiring underdog everyone was reading for to one of the most hated influencers, not just once, twice, but three times. And that's exactly the mystery we will uncover today. As your marketing bestie, who graduated top 1% used daily business economics,

with a background in marketing, we are going to explore how, Even as one of the most successful beauty influencers, the fame and influence could all go poof if you have an inauthentic brand. Because a brand is not how you see yourself. It is how your future college, future boss, future boyfriend sees you. And I'm creating the series to analyze pop culture icons from a marketing perspective because many of whom do not recognize the power of influence they have over a generation of young girls.

I'm going to use a little bit of the Patrick Todd blush on the cheeks. I'm just kidding. Ew! That's, oh my god. That's fucking nasty. And because I believe in second chances, we will also talk about potential strategies to help James Charles come back from his alleged cancellation. On the surface, this is a story about fame and influence.

But in truth, it's a story about acceptance. Let's start from the top. from the top. Many knew James from blowing up from his Twitter yearbook photo, but let me take you back further to James before fame. Hey guys, it's Friday and you know what that means. New video! Woohoo! So it's getting warm out and people are pulling out their shorts and sunscreen and it's almost May, so that means summer is coming.

Woohoo! Woo! Got a quick hand, tell you his plan he's got a roll, saying a ride. Better run, better run, faster than my bullet, cigarette. Honestly, really pure and precious. As we trace it back, it is apparent that James Charles had a desire for the spotlight since the very beginning. Singing might not be the right path, but that's okay. All underdog stories have a rough start.

There was not much space on the internet for boys who love makeup in 2013, but with personal persistent hard work in 2016, the internet finally began recognizing James Charles through his incredible makeup skills, and James was on the path to fame. From there, everything added to his immaculate personal brand. A talented boy once fully for his love for makeup finally given the spotlight to shine, starting with being the first male ambassador of Cover Girl to making the right connections. A brand is essentially everything it is associated with. For example, if you think of Nike, you think of Michael Jordan,

and James Charles made all the right associations, especially by becoming the mentee of the beauty gurus at the time, Tate Westbrook and Jeffrey Starr early on. Although some suspected that James Charles was using his friends or sisters for clout, the positive associations quickly grew James channel to over 10 million, and only unlocked big and even bigger collaborations with celebrities. But maybe stardom as a beauty guru was not enough.

One thing that James Charles is undoubtedly talented at outside of makeup is talking. But why only talking one language if you could start speaking a new language in just three weeks with our sponsor, Babel? Summertime is the best time to travel and Babel is one of the top language learning apps in the world. With just 10 minutes a day, Babel can help you speak like a local, on the trip of a lifetime. I basically forgot all my French from high school and I'm picking it up again before Paris in a few weeks. And Babel is scientifically proven by researchers at Yale

to help me do exactly that, with lessons created by 650 plus language experts. Order in a bar and ask how much something costs. A vines rouge. A van Rouge. Dez oliv. Dez olive. Babel offers a 20-day money-back guarantee

so I can confidently order at the Parisian restaurant I've been wanting to revisit since last year. And you can now get 60% off for Babel subscription in the link below. Cribien. Before we talk about the first branding crisis, let's look at the physical products that James Charles launched. His Morphy collab palette that took over Sephora, which actually had good reviews. Why?

Because the release was very aligned with this personal brand. It was a solid product and came with a great under-referral. underlying message of self-expression and creativity, which further James Charles' perfect image as just a talented boy with a glow-up who loves makeup. Finally getting the acceptance he deserves. And his clothing line, the sisters apparel, was also a hit. Which again, super on brand to all the iconic collabs James Charles was doing. Hi sisters! James Charles here and welcome back to my YouTube channel.

For today's video, I'm filmed with my sister squad! It captures not just a fan base of himself, but all the big names he collaborated with. With sisters being such a catchy label that creates a sense of belonging and relatability, and catered well to his fan base of teenage girls all around the world. The brand launches not only did not decrease his likability and popularity, the James Charles brand was only growing. Being invited to the Metgala, which at the time was only open to A-list celebrities, was the defining moment of making it.

But of course, the first branding crisis happened that week. Everybody says what they need to say and uses who they need to use to get ahead. And I have had about enough. It was just about being lied to and feeling disrespected. I'm sorry for everything that is going on and everything that I've put you through over the past few weeks. TLDR, Tati, a huge mentor to James' early success, made a 43-minute-long YouTube video called Bye Sisters that exposed James for betraying her

and was the first person to allege James for pursuing straight men in an aggressive way. Quote, you are using your fame, your power, your money to play with people's emotions. You are threatening to ruin them. You are threatening to embarrass them. And you're doing that to have them behave sexually in your favor.

The extent to which all the allegations are true will only ever be known by James Charles himself. But the power of Brand, as I said before, is about how you exist in other people's minds. And that showed in how James Charles lost one million YouTube subscribers in just 24 hours. A PR crisis would be an understatement. The New York Times said, quote, James Charles from Coverboy to cancelled. CNN, quote, James Charles started the week flying high at the Met Gala.

Now his career seems to be in free fall. Brands like Sephora, Smashbox, Alta, Fante, and celebs like J.J. Hadid, Kylie Jenner, Sean Mendez, all unfollowed James Charles on social media. Despite a previously strong brand, the foundation of any brand, whether it's personal or a physical product, is built on trust. I think enough time has passed now where we can comfortably say it that palette. It's f***ing idiot. In the video James is talking about a palette that he promoted. And all the perfect image James built with flawless makeup could not cover this story. new brand of being a people using fake influencer and a predator.

And it makes sense that brands like Sephora, Fenty, and personal brands like Kylie Jenner, Gigi Hadid, do not want any associations with that. Until James Charles made the iconic, no more lies, video. I have never and would never and will never use my fame, money, or power to manipulate or get any sexual actions from a guy. The reactions were actually overwhelmingly positive. Again, James Charles was back into the powerless position people want to root for, especially when it became clear that Tate was framing James through certain false allegations.

Like a phoenix from the ashes, James Charles grew to be the largest YouTube beauty guru, and he was not stopping there. James went even more viral on TikTok in 2020, with over 31 million followers by December 2020. He buys a $7 million L.A. starter home, made it to the cover Vogue, and is not just a a beauty guru now, but to internet celebrity. From a boy who struggled for acceptance to now someone dominating attention and the power of influence, it really seems that James Charles made it. Until...

The crack in the perfect image he painted resurfaced. But this time, it was about to break the brand. In 2021, not just one, but 15 allegations. From 16, 17-year-old boys accused James of sexting and grooming minors. While like the last PR crisis, James made a response video titled, Holding Myself Accountable, trying to earn back the trust of fans

who are likely young teenage girls abhorred by the pedophilic actions of someone who influenced their love for beauty in the past five years. But this time, it was not that easy. Multiple boys under 18 said that James Charles, who was 21, has solicited nude photos from them and sent them explicit messages or photos. While James claimed that they lied about their ages, his defense was also incongruent with his actions.

James Charles explicitly said on Logan Paul's podcast that he is, quote, not physically attracted to older guys. I'm not physically attracted to older guys, which sucks. I would date the absolute youngest. He constantly uses his FYP to flirt with people on TikTok, who on average are under 18 on the app. This app is pretty much a dating app. The emotional maturity of a 40 year old according to you.

Yeah. I'm 21, but like I said, I have the mentality of a 40 year old. But I want to date. Which means you want to manipulate and power play an 18 year old. This accountability talk comes across as inconsistent, thus inauthentic. And that leads to a distrusting brand that is doomed to die. Well, it's official. Sisters apparel is shutting down.

It is ironic how James Trump. Charles started as the underdog that everyone loved and was brooding for, who lacked power and was just trying to gain acceptance. But once earning the trust of his followers, he was only hungry for more power attention and used that against the ones who are in a vulnerable position like he was. James Charles himself acknowledges the power imbalance between himself and his fans. Quote, talking to a celebrity is literally enough to make somebody do or say something they know. normally wouldn't. It doesn't matter if he genuinely intended to change afterwards, the abuse of power against minors has left a foul taste in people's minds as the James Charles brand.

Now what is the James Charles brand? While he may be known as a celebrity level influencer, what he was best known for is still beauty. And how could you be an ambassador of beauty? If all people remember you by are the ugly scandals of sexually harassing minors. And thus, all the businesses that depended on the image of James Charles being the face of beauty were doomed to flop. The iconic Morphy collaboration was immediately severed.

YouTube, which is a brand for family safe content and entertainment, even demonetized James temporarily. Although a trusting brand takes years of intentional actions to rebuild, James Charles lost some followers and views, but made the right move by building consistency again with what he does best. makeup content and was slowly regaining trust again. But this is where the third branding flop came in. As the world was ready to move on after two years of the sexual harassment scandal,

Cosmopolitan published an article titled, quote, James Charles would like to be uncanceled, please, quote, more than two years after the allegations of sexual impropriety sent the superstar beauty YouTuber into influencer purgatory. He is hoping to relaunch himself and his brand with the help of a new makeup line. Oh, so James Charles would like to be uncanceled because he needs to launch his new makeup brand. And this was such a waste of PR money. First, having an article trying to victimize yourself lined up with a new brand launch is very manipulative.

It feels like apologizing for something just to sell. a new product. If anything, it only leaves a terrible first impression of the new product. Second, the article feels like it was written by James Publicist, which it probably was. Without an objective angle, there is no trust in the content. No matter how true it is, it already lost its audience. Third, the article really backfires. People were already moving on, and James Charles was doing just fine. While being cancelled, he was still walking red carpets at the People Choice Awards, getting mills. millions of views on YouTube and TikTok and enjoying life at his humble $7 million farmhouse.

It's whack-a-doodle time. It is whack-a-doodle time. The article shared so much of how James struggled during his cancellation, which I do not doubt. But still talking about it after two years, leaves the impression of self-victimization while being extremely privileged. And fourth, while talking about learning his lessons in the article, James deleted it, the accountability video, which is like stepping on his own toes. Thus, it is by no surprise that was such a rebranding flop to launch his new makeup, the enthusiasm was not too high. Alongside that his personal branding was a mess, the product itself was also receiving mixed reviews.

All in all, although James Charles is undoubtedly talented in makeup, in an age where there are so many other high-quality competitor makeup brands, a poor personal brand is enough reason for people to not spend money supporting someone they don't like. So what could James do to prevent further decreasing his likability? First, his personal branding. Although James has been known as an influencer over the past eight years, being relatable is not his strong suit.

The more he victimizes himself as being harmed by cancel culture, feeling so isolated by being famous and rich and gay and can't find love, the less likable he is. And maybe, although fame was what James was chasing after, what he truly needed was acceptance, not for the perfect persona he shows on camera, but for his whole imperfect self. But either he needs to touch some grass to acknowledge how privilege he still is, and stop whining about being a special snowflake,

or go the celebrity route, keep the mystique, and stop posting thirst traps on TikTok, which brings up second. All the branding downfalls of James Charles related to his inability, to handle personal relationships in a mature or appropriate manner. Leading to his brand known to the public as fake or a desperate sex offender to minors, it will take a long time before that mark fades in his brand. But accountability isn't just shown through one deleted YouTube video.

It is proven through consistent, responsible actions and maybe don't continue associating himself with other alleged pedophiles. And third, he needs to wait on the brand launch. It does not matter how great the products are because as long as they're associated with him, James Charles, the personal brand, no one would like the product if they don't like the person. And because of how James Charles failed the trust of fans, not just once, twice, but three times, it will take a while before that trust is rebuilt again, which is done through showing up for the community over and over again and connecting with them through the common love for makeup, not drama. With that being said, a brand can be ruined in one day, but cannot be built in one day. I genuinely believe people are capable of growth. And if James Charles invests back into his massive 70 million combined following,

he might not be the beauty influencer anymore, but he can be an influence that people respect. Let me know if you think James Charles could come back from his cancellation. Comment which pop culture icon you'd like me to analyze next through a marketing perspective. This is your marketing bestie, Zoe Unlimited. Share this video for Impact and I will see you next week.