By SAMANTHA ETTUS
12-OCT-05

The celebrity baby boom marches on this week. With Katie Holmes' announcement, Britney Spears' secrecy, and the speculation surrounding Angelina Jolie, babies are on the brain. Whether they're a new mother, pregnant, or simply rumored to be, these stars are capturing media attention for their personal lives. This week we take a peek at the impact of motherhood on their personal brands and how they might initiate some changes.

Katie Holmes
Talk about a celebrity in turmoil. As they say, recognizing the problem is the first step to fixing it, but clearly Holmes has yet to board the self-awareness wagon. Over the last couple of months, we have been grateful for a breather from the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes love affair. Watching our beloved all-American star Cruise jump off the couch and to his demise has been challenging enough without the additional pain of witnessing Cruise's slow but persistent destruction of all-American girl and former rising star Holmes. We were secretly hoping that reports of the couple's quarrels surrounding the planning of their nuptials were true, and that Holmes would come to her senses and leave Cruise before her fate was officially sealed. But now that Holmes has revealed that she is pregnant with Cruise's child, such an outcome seems improbable. To make matters worse, what little credibility Holmes had has now been lost – the self-proclaimed devout Catholic had been very public about "saving herself" until marriage, an assertion whose truth requires us to accept her pregnancy as a case of immaculate conception. Alas, Holmes' submission to her omnipotent new beau is nearly complete, as she has reportedly agreed to convert to the Church of Scientology, leading us to believe that Holmes may never emerge from the shadows of this relationship and fully recover what was once a promising career.

Katie Holmes' Celebrity A$ets

Britney Spears
We hear that Spears, after living her own childhood in the spotlight, is intent on keeping her new baby boy out of the media and giving her son a normal childhood. Nonetheless, rumors have already begun to percolate that husband Kevin Federline has quickly disappointed Spears with his lack of fatherly involvement – he reportedly left her alone for three days straight just weeks after the newborn's arrival home. To be certain, the wholesome images associated with Spears and her brand had already disintegrated well before the formerly innocent teen became involved with Federline, but since Spears' association with Federline began, her image has morphed into the downright trashy. Even her most loyal fans shook their heads in disbelief and disgust when Spears started dating Federline, a relative nobody who was living with his pregnant girlfriend at the time. Spears' recent Elle is evidence that Spears recognizes she's perhaps gone astray, but only time will tell if the Spears brand fully recovers from Federline's negative influence and impact. But regardless of the couple's future, the proof will be in how Spears raises her son. Nothing serves a more powerful brand booster than being a good mother, which would be a win–win for both Spears' baby and brand.

Britney Spears' Celebrity A$$ets

Angelina Jolie
Jolie is unanimously heralded as a wonderful mother and her positive attributes have eclipsed the negativity she has encountered due to her role in the demise of the marriage of Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston – our modern day Bogart and Bacall. Though many are sympathetic to Aniston and consider Jolie a home wrecker, Jolie has deservedly received an enormous amount of good press for the impact she has made on the profile and possibilities of international adoption. Jolie's actions have already sparked a dramatic jump in international adoption rates, and her adoption of baby Zahara confirmed that her son Maddox was just the beginning of what clearly is a lifelong passion. Moreover, her humanitarian work has shed light on parts of the world many of her fans would otherwise ignore, and her efforts have inspired boyfriend Pitt to become involved as well. But though she has managed to largely escape the blame that typically befalls "the other woman," rumors that Jolie is pregnant could change all that. With the ink on the Pitt/Aniston divorce barely dry, Jolie's motivations, sensitivity and compassion would be seriously called into question if she is indeed pregnant with Pitt's baby so soon after his divorce, and she can expect public criticism to be relentless if the rumors prove accurate.

Angelina Jolie's Celebrity A$$$ets

Remember: the most dependable road to the top is to treat your brand as your greatest asset.

(Samantha Ettus is the author of "The Experts' Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do" (Random House). Contact her at Samantha@celebrityassets.com.)