Oprah also sought to protect brand, analysts say

CHICAGO -- When Oprah Winfrey confronted disgraced author James Frey on a recent live taping of her talk show, analysts say her motive wasn't only about bringing the truth to light, it was about protecting her brand.

"She did it textbook correct in terms of how to handle crisis PR," said marketing strategist Laura Ries, president of Ries & Ries in Atlanta. "It was honest, it was real, and it was just the right thing to do for her brand as well."

From her talk show to her magazine, book club and production company, Winfrey's brand has the power to influence millions. But recently that brand has been under damage control.

Winfrey spent Thursday's show challenging Frey about why he "felt the need to lie" about the events portrayed in his book "A Million Little Pieces" and chastising him for betraying his readers.

Winfrey helped catapult Frey's story about addiction and recovery to The New York Times best-seller list when she named it as her book club selection in September 2005. The book was originally released in 2003.

Earlier this month, The Smoking Gun Web site (www.thesmokinggun.com) challenged some of the facts in the book, including Frey's claim that he once did a three-month stint in prison. Frey admitted on Oprah's show Thursday that he had spent only a few hours in jail.

Winfrey's scolding of Frey came just two weeks after she called in to defend him when he appeared on CNN's "Larry King Live" show.

"I regret that phone call," Winfrey said Thursday.

Jeff Swystun, global director for the New York-based branding consulting firm Interbrand, said it isn't surprising that Winfrey felt the need to take Frey to task on her show given the "values of the Oprah brand," such as openness, honesty and humanity.

The Oprah brand has been "blue chip up to this point" in terms of pure influence, awareness and reputation, Swystun said.

Worth $1.1 billion

According to Forbes, the 51-year-old Winfrey is worth an estimated $1.1 billion. The Oprah Winfrey show alone reportedly pulls in about $300 million a year in revenues.

While protecting the Oprah brand was one motivation for Thursday's show, it probably wasn't the primary one, analysts said.

"My guess is that Oprah truly is more concerned about her customers, her viewers," said Andrew Pierce, senior partner at San Francisco-based Prophet, a marketing and branding consulting company. "That's what has always made her such a powerful brand."

But at least one media watcher said he felt that Winfrey's public about-face on Frey was too little, too late.

"Oprah has been in such a unique position that it takes more than just her performance [Thursday] to undo the damage that she did with Frey's book," said Paul Levinson, chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University in New York.

"When the story broke, she, again, chose to support Frey," Levinson said. "Loyalty is important, but she should have loyalty to her viewers and to the people who look up to her. That's more important than loyalty to this author."

Many analysts said they felt the Frey flap would eventually blow over leaving Oprah's brand intact.

"I think her brand was so overwhelmingly powerful that this was a little blip," Ries said. "I think she could've gotten away without doing it. It's a true testament to the brilliance of Oprah that she did it."