"Beyonce herself hates the website because she doesn't think
that it looks like who she is as an artist, someone who likes
fashion and art and photography and travel," said one executive
familiar with Ms. Knowles' plans. "She has all sorts of interests
and wants to communicate that ," said the person, adding that the
star wants the new site to be "daring and forward-thinking."
The site is now formatted like a blog, largely centered around
the posting of Beyonce-related news once or twice a day, such as a
link to an article or a music video. Ms. Knowles is known best as a
singer, but she's also starred in several films and has several
lucrative product-endorsement deals, including one with L'Oreal. She's a marketer in her own
right, too, with her House of Dereon clothing line and her
fragrances, Beyonce Pulse and Beyonce Heat.
As busy as she may be (among other things, prepping for the
arrival of her first child with hip-hop mogul husband Jay -Z), Ms.
Knowles is understood to be making time to be personally involved
in the online project, even willing to meet agencies in person.
Added the executive: "She was the client and ultimate decision
maker, which could be a cool opportunity for an agency -- but given
how thin the brief was, not sure if that 's a good thing or a bad
thing."
For those out there who complain that marketers operate on tight
deadlines, the world of entertainment is a lot tougher. Beyonce's
team was said to have asked for a turnaround of about 48 hours. One
reason she may be looking for a fresh look for her website is she's
out from under her previous manager, under whom the current website
was created. Ms. Knowles was formerly managed by her father, Mathew
Knowles, but the two split professionally earlier this year. She is
now under the management of Parkwood Entertainment. Representatives
for Beyonce did not return a request for comment by press time.