“The Naked Chef Beyond The Kitchen” - Jamie Oliver’s Brand Empire

In a career spanning only 20 years, British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has become the second most valuable author in the world, and accumulated a net worth of €300 million. Alongside this he has established 5 restaurants brands, launched 3 product ranges, hosted a multitude of television programmes and created a large presence on social media platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Twitter. This thesis aims to visually deconstruct and analyse this extensive brand empire (television, social media, cookbooks, restaurants identities and product packaging) using aspects of visual communication such as typography, imagery, colour, composition, language, tone and audience to gain a better understanding of his brand empire. Although Oliver has competitors in the celebrity chef world, this thesis aims to highlight how much more extensive and sophisticated his brand empire is than any other celebrity chef in the world. It will also briefly explore the history of celebrity chefs, and will use Gordon Ramsay as a counterpoint for my argument, Oliver’s main rival and competitor.