IT'S OPRAH'S CORPORATE WORLD; WINFREY DEVELOPS BRAND NAME THAT SELLS HER IMAGE.

Byline: Tim Jones Chicago Tribune 

Coke, McDonald's, Disney, Ford, Playboy - they are names that need no introduction and no elaboration. Nor do Microsoft and Nike, some of the new generation of major-league brand names. People know what they are and what they stand for.

Now consider Oprah - not simply as a talk show host, but as a brand name that sells an image like other companies sell cars, soft drinks and cheeseburgers.

While some companies spend decades trying to build and maintain the trust of their customers, Oprah Winfrey has, in less than 15 years, carefully transformed her international talk show celebrity status into corporate-like stature.

Last month, Winfrey's Harpo Films began production of ``Tuesdays with Morrie,'' based on the current best seller by Mitch Albom, as part of its long-term movie deal with the ABC Television Network. Earlier, Hearst Magazines reached a licensing agreement with Harpo Entertainment Group to create a new magazine that will, in effect, be the magazine version of ``The Oprah Winfrey Show.'' The magazine, which will have an initial print run of 850,000 copies, has not been titled, but the name Oprah will be part of it.

In February, Winfrey's Internet and TV collaboration with network veterans Geraldine Laybourne and Marcy Carsey will result in the launch of the Oxygen cable TV network, whose programming, much like her talk show, will be aimed at women.

Oprah's book club, launched in 1996, has become a virtual endorsement for the best-seller list. Although Winfrey's 1998 movie ``Beloved'' was a box office flop, it was preceded by a fawning media barrage of publicity, capped off by Time magazine's cover titled ``The Beloved Oprah.''

When CBS Corp. bought King World Productions, the syndicator of Winfrey's talk show, last April, CBS chief Mel Karmazin, a relentlessly demanding executive not given to lavish praise, said he talked with Winfrey and ``did suck up big time.''

Suffice it to say, her image - the brand name - with the public and the media is golden.

``Oprah stands for a certain set of very specific American values that very few of her celebrity competitors can claim, like honesty, loyalty and frankness. It's a value set that is rare in business institutions and celebrities,'' said John Grace, executive director of Interbrand Group, a New York-based brand consultant.

``If you ask people if they trust celebrities - even the ones they like - the answer is probably no. If you ask any consumer or viewer about Oprah, they will say yes. That's because she has established a fundamental trust in an era of more skepticism. That's why she resonates so well,'' Grace said.

Celebrities, of course, do not have the durability of corporations, which if well run, can go on forever. But celebrities are notoriously perishable, resembling shooting stars. Those who do endure, like Michael Jordan, Bill Cosby and Martha Stewart, are rare.

``What you have, in this case, are show business personalities becoming products,'' said Ron Cox, group vice president at Wrigley Co. ``I think a lot of the celebrities have a high burnout rate because after you've seen them a few times they don't bring anything new to the party. The celebrities who endure are those you can feel comfortable with and those who can reinvent themselves.''

Winfrey falls into that category.

Her growth has meant financial success. Winfrey's Harpo Entertainment Group, the corporate umbrella over her film and TV production operations, is privately held, and executives do not publicly talk about its finances. Published reports say Winfrey is well on her way to becoming the first African-American billionaire, with an estimated worth of $675 million, according to Forbes magazine.

Ellen Levine, editor-in-chief of Hearst's Good Housekeeping magazine, said Hearst approached Harpo last January with the magazine idea. Levine said there is ``a very large female population that is very hungry for a magazine that makes women feel good about their lives and speaks to their need to have a better life and covers some of the interests in what has been dubbed spirituality.''

To many in the advertising and publishing industry, that spells Oprah.

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Photo: (1--6--Color) no caption (Oprah Winfrey)