Jennifer Lopez Is Adweek's 2021 Brand Visionary

Jennifer Lopez grew up dreaming big dreams, and unlike many who aspire to a career in music, TV or film, this sui generis creative force from the South Bronx proved she could in fact do it all. And she did it by staying true to herself. Adweek’s 2021 Brand Visionary has lived her life out loud and on her own terms, becoming one of the most recognizable women in the world. “Jennifer is a natural artist, creator and founder who does a lot of things great," notes longtime manager Benny Medina, CEO, The Medina Company. "She is limitless. She is resilient. Authenticity is her brand, and with that she chooses to use her influence to help provide others with opportunity and to enhance their lives. Making things better, more beautiful and meaningful is at the core of everything that she does. She strives to make the lives of people better and more inspired." Lopez’s accomplishments in entertainment are, without exaggeration, simply astounding. Having launched her career as a Fly Girl on comedy sketch series In Living Color, Lopez went on to become the only artist to ever boast at once a No. 1 film (The Wedding Planner) and No. 1 album (J.Lo). She has a cumulative worldwide box-office gross of over $3 billion, sold over 75 million records, served five years as an American Idol judge, rocked Super Bowl 54 with Shakira and sang at President Joe Biden’s inauguration. If that wasn’t enough, Lopez recently wrapped a sold-out It’s My Party world tour and is set to star and sing in the new film Marry Me with Owen Wilson, premiering in February 2022. Lopez produced this film, too, as well as 2019’s critically acclaimed Hustlers—in which she also starred—through Nuyorican Productions, the company she launched with partner and president Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas. “Jennifer’s brand has always been about standing up for what you believe, not allowing anyone or anything to trivialize or marginalize or stop you," explains Goldsmith-Thomas. "We try to pick projects with characters who are empowering or empowered, and people, our cast and our crews with as much diversity as possible, giving women and specifically women of color an opportunity they did not have a few years ago." Lopez began cultivating her global icon status in the '90s, building her personal brand well before creators and influencers became part of the zeitgeist. Today, she counts a whopping 176 million followers on Instagram, 45 million on Twitter and 14 million on TikTok. “It’s incredible to see the multigenerational connection she has with her fans on social media,” says Larry Del Santo, president of digital ventures for Jennifer Lopez Entertainment. “The content she puts out about her life and the stories she tells are filtered through the three tenets of her brand, which are to empower, to entertain and to inspire. When the content we share can hit all three of those pillars at once, that’s when the JLo magic happens.” Both glamorous and authentic, Lopez turned her appealingly aspirational and accessible persona into a billion-dollar beauty and fashion empire. Earlier this year, she expanded it even more so, launching JLo Beauty—a top seller at Sephora. Lopez is also an investor in future-forward businesses like telehealth company Hims & Hers and fin-tech startup Acorns. Then, of course, there’s the lucrative collabs with Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Pepsi, DSW and Coach … for starters. Lopez is a proud mom of 13-year-old twins Emme and Max, and equally proud of her Puerto Rican heritage. During two widely watched events, Lopez made sure to represent the Latinx community. At the 2020 Super Bowl halftime show, the crowd roared as Lopez sang and revealed a reversible feathered cape featuring the U.S. flag on one side and the flag of Puerto Rico on the other side. At Biden’s inauguration, in an all-white Chanel ensemble, Lopez gave a stunning bilingual performance featuring a medley of classic American songs, along with sliding in one of her own hits before shouting out in Spanish the last lines of the Pledge of Allegiance—“¡Una nación, bajo Dios, indivisible, con libertad y justicia para todos!" (“One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”). JLo rocks the Super Bowl halftime show in 2020. To her credit, Lopez has done much to help women of color move forward as entrepreneurs. This month, Lopez tells Adweek that her empire's philanthropic arm, Limitless Labs, is partnering with Goldman Sachs and its 10,000 Small Businesses program in support of Latinx entrepreneurs. "All I can tell you is that I have seen firsthand the difference representation makes because I have seen, over and over and over and over, women of color approach Jennifer and tell her what her example as a strong woman and a woman succeeding and demanding her fair share in the business world means to them," notes actor/director Ben Affleck. "I am in awe of what Jennifer’s effect on the world is. At most, as an artist, I can make movies that move people. Jennifer has inspired a massive group of people to feel they have a seat at the table in this country. That is an effect few people throughout history have had, one I will never know and one I can only stand by and admire with respect." In early September, on a picture-perfect L.A. afternoon, Adweek cruised down the Sunset Strip to meet Lopez at the 1 Hotel West Hollywood, where she shared with us her success story and her vision of what's to come. Adweek: Congratulations on being honored with Adweek’s Brand Visionary award!Jennifer Lopez: Thank you. Let’s talk about your remarkable career, everything you’ve done in fashion and music and film, as well as philanthropy, which you’ve been getting much more involved in as of late. What’s important to you?I want to provide people with the opportunity to enhance their lives. This month, I announced a partnership between Limitless Labs and Goldman Sachs to elevate and support Latin entrepreneurs with its 10,000 Small Businesses program, which I’m really excited about. Limitless sounds familiar. Is the name a reference to "Limitless," the song?[Laughs] Limitless comes from one of my songs I did for a movie called Second Act. It was very much about when you think that opportunity is not there for you and realizing the only limits you have are in your mind. I’m at a point in my life where it has become incredibly important to me to be vocal about that. Obviously, I’ve put that theme into my movies. And I’m doing it with Limitless Labs, using my platform and the influence I’m so privileged to have to focus on females, to focus on families, the Latinx community and women of color, and especially entrepreneurs, because I really feel like entrepreneurs are such special people. They’re artistic in business—they can change the world in so many ways. Well, you know a thing or two about being an entrepreneur. Tell me about your collaboration with Coach.I was all about aligning with a brand that was a New York original, that brings culturally appropriate and quality apparel at an affordable price that I could relate to. Coach campaign starring Lopez; JLo’s perfume, Glow, created with Coty. We all work together to tell stories that resonate with the world around us, most recently, telling stories about a world reopening, and the joy of connecting with family, friends and communities again. And I love that message. How do you decide what brand partnerships to take on?Early in my career, I chose to be a brand ambassador for companies like L’Oréal and Louis Vuitton when others weren’t really doing that. There was so much kind of taboo for real artists or actresses or recording artists to do those type of things. But I felt that it was important to start seeing somebody who looked like me in those ads, because it had been the same look for so long. And to see a Latina there, a young Latin girl, at the time for me was very, very important. I took that chance and knew that it would be something that could make a difference. Now, I’ve transitioned into taking on a much more active role by becoming a founder, an owner and sometimes even an investor in companies that I have a unique and authentic connection with, companies that I believe are doing good work or doing something that resonates with me, or I feel resonates with the people who are my audience or who grew up like me. But again, this is as a result of understanding a lot more about the business and the power of the artist and of the creator in bringing innovative, future-focused products and companies to center stage where they can have a greater impact on society. I don’t think you start thinking about a personal brand. You become it because of what you create, what you do, how you live and who you are. I only choose to work with brands now that align with my vision and goals for where I am and what I choose to impact. You launched JLo Beauty earlier this year. Discuss the thinking behind it.This has been a long time coming. It’s not something I did overnight. It’s something that my whole life has informed, I think, as an artist and as a woman. As a founder of the brand, I really wanted to create products that work as hard as I do. JLo Beauty launched on Jan. 1, and I can’t believe it when I say it. It was over 20 years in the thinking, and the last three years in the making. It’s just been a real passion project for me. We’re currently working on our next product launches for fall and spring. Much more to come! In the ’90s, a “personal brand” was not yet part of the cultural lexicon, but it seems like you were already building one. Was this a conscious choice?I didn’t think I ever had to just do one thing. I didn’t just have to be an actress or just a singer. I could be an actress and a singer, and I could be a dancer and I could be a producer and I could direct. And I could create perfumes with Coty because I had the opportunity, or make clothes. JLo Beauty campaign. I don’t think you start thinking about a personal brand. You become it because of what you create, what you do, how you live and who you are. Ultimately, I think it’s about what you reflect and what people see because in the end, you represent something. I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my life, and I live out loud through my artistry and my creativity and try to stay as authentic to myself as I can. I’m real. That was important to me—to stay connected to my roots and not ever change or make what people said or thought about me influence who I really was inside. It’s about being limitless and never allowing anybody to put me—and limit me—within a box. It took a lot of inner strength to do all of this, and effort.At times it was difficult, yeah. [laughs] So, I was speaking earlier with Benny Medina, who pointed out that all you worked for has come together at a time when we’re at a tipping point, culturally, for women in particular.This has been a long time coming, and I think the women that came before us—my mom and her mom—they’ve all been pushing for this moment. And then, we pushed further beyond what they thought could be. And now my kids are pushing further beyond that. It’s not any one person or any one thing. It’s many, many women, understanding and not being afraid, including myself, that are saying, “I deserve a seat at the table. I have something to offer. I am worthy, I have value, I’m artistic, I am smart, I have good business sense, I’m creative, I’m forward-thinking, I’m visionary, I want to learn, I want to keep learning, I want to keep evolving, I want to keep growing.” Women have been creating this hurricane, and that's what I said when we did the video for Limitless. We are creating a storm right now, and it is going to change things. When the storm is over, the things that need to be knocked away will have been washed away. And then there's going to be this beautiful rainbow, and it's going to be a new day. And that’s what’s happening in the world right now. That’s what I want for my kids, not just my daughter, but for my son too. I want him to be just as conscious about women as my daughter is for herself. You’re crushing it on social media. How comfortable are you with using the different platforms, since it’s a lot harder to control social media than it was the celebrity tabloids back in the day?I’m lucky because I know enough of the old world before social media [laughs], and so I’m not a kid who’s growing up on it where it’s the be-all and end-all and it could really destroy me emotionally. JLo Beauty campaign on an MTA train in New York. I know that it’s great for what it is, but I also don’t take it so seriously that it could somehow hurt me on an emotional or personal level. I recognize the power that the artist, founder and creator now has, but I also recognize the responsibility and the need to set boundaries. It’s also on my terms without the traditional media creating a narrative that I can’t dispel. Now I can go, “No, that’s not who I am.” And people can see me for who I really am. There’s a direct line, and I think that’s incredibly important. But it could also blow up, right? Does that worry you?I do what’s comfortable for me. I don’t judge anybody else. If somebody wants to be outspoken on social media, that is their right and their privilege, and I applaud them for it—for not being afraid of what other people are going to think when speaking their minds. I speak my mind when I need to, and I wouldn’t want anybody judging me for that. That’s something that is really a personal choice. Who do you go to when you need advice?There’s a few people in my life who are my touchstones and who I count on to run, who know me very well and who understand me and what I’m trying to do. I have a small circle and I like it that way. I’m not the person who gets a hundred texts a day or whose phone rings constantly. That’s not who I am. I have a very small group of very close people I trust and that I love who I know have my best interests at heart and who understand me as a public person but also as a private person. I am the scarce asset— somebody who is a proven creator, artist and entrepreneur who has an ability to really connect with people. You are, at your core, a creative, but you are also now a businesswoman. What are some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way?To value what you contribute and ultimately know when and how to build and capitalize on that. So, it’s about being the scarce asset. What we’ve been sold as artists is you’re a dime a dozen. The next girl will come along and there’s somebody that will be younger than you and better than you, and that’s not the truth. It’s like you’re disposable, and especially as women. For me, what I realize is … no, there’s only one me. There’s only one that person. There’s only one that person. There’s only one that person. And what they each have to offer is uniquely different than everybody else. I am the scarce asset—somebody who is a proven creator, artist and entrepreneur who has an ability to really connect with people. That is my blessing, and what I feel is an incredible, incredible gift that I’ve been given from God. And I don’t take it for granted. I cherish it and try to use it in the best way that I always can. You’ve conquered fashion, music, film. What’s next for you?I’ll just be doing everything that I love. I have three movies coming out in 2022. One is Marry Me, with the soundtrack. I’m also working on new music, preparing a tour that I cannot wait to start when the world opens up even a little bit more and things are more back to normal. And simultaneously, I’m building the JLo lifestyle brand. It’s a mission that is going to be a big part of my second act—empowering women to create their most beautiful life. Jennifer, thank you.Thank you so much. Thank you. This interview has been condensed and edited. To hear more from Lopez, be sure to register for Brandweek and tune in on Friday, Sept. 24. Read about Adweek's 2021 class of Brand Genius honorees here.

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Why JLo's Star Won’t Stop Rising

The global icon, and Adweek's 2021 Brand Visionary, has been building her personal brand since long before it was fashionable

Lisa Granatstein

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Lisa Granatstein