We've reached the top of the mountain.
It's time to dive into the importance of popular culture in our society, by starting with our leading lady.
Meet Kim Kardashian.
Most know her as a
reality star, born into a life of luxury, known for ugly crying faces and her
whiny voice. But what many don’t realize is her highly calculated, incredibly
successful branded empire that utilizes her negative (and positive)
presumptions and twists them to benefit her. She’s the ultimate marketing maven with an eye for Internet
business reaping massive success in interpersonal branding.
The Kardashian
name most notable made a rise to fame when Robert Kardashian was the lawyer in
the highly documented O.J. Simpson case. Then, in the early 2000s Kim was a
close friend and stylist for hotel empress, Paris Hilton. Their late-night
escapades with other female stars such as Lindsay Lohan, launched the beginning
of a modeling career for Kim.
Oh, 2007. You were so innocent.
Then she started dating singer Ray J.
Arguably the
most pivotal moment in Kim’s career, in 2007, Ray J leaked a sex tape made by
the couple in 2003 to Vivid Entertainment. Kim filed a lawsuit and accepted a
settlement. Then in October 2007, Keeping
Up With the Kardashians premiered on E! due to Kim’s prominence in the
media and the fascination behind the family (including Matriarch Kris, sisters
Khloe and Kourtney, brother Rob, step-father, Olympian [formerly] Bruce Jenner,
and half-sisters, Kendall and Kylie.)
Immediately,
Kim took off to the races. It should be noted, however, how many critics and
“trolls” of Kim Kardashian spawn from her "promiscuous" nature in the past: i.e.
her sex tape. But Kim never released
it, but rather was exploited and shamed for something that she didn’t even do. Early
critics place blame on her lack of morals and principles, but never placed a
blame on Ray J. This was just the beginning of Kim’s underlying feminist
current that establishes much of her career.
Background aside, Kim Kardashian is
now one of the, if not the most, powerful social and digital media moguls. She’s
estimated to make around $50 million a year, with numbers fluctuating based on
appearances and celebrity endorsements (her appearances have been slated to cost
anywhere from $50,000 - $100,000, with social media posts costing a company
$20,000 for a selfie with the product.)
Companies will be willing to pay
money for a great brand endorsement: In this case, Kim herself.
But lets look at her most recent, incredibly profitable release.
In
late 2015, Kim announced a mobile emoji set catered around her and her
family. With over 500+ emojis at launch
with consistent developments and growth, upon their release they climbed to the
top of the App Store charts, seated nicely at #1 within minutes of their launch,
with 9,000 downloads being processed a second. The overwhelming response shut
down the app store due to the inability to handle so many downloads at once. A
$1.99 a download, the app was estimated to be making $1 million dollars a minute. From her face emoting similarly to that of
known “emojis” to her butt, to even various beauty projects, it’s full of every
Kardashian Superfan’s dream.
In 2012, an episode of Kourtney & Kim Take New York (a
spin-off from the main series) showed Kim having a meltdown over her failing marriage to
Kris Humphries. Her cry was the “meme” spread around the world.
Appearing
incredibly distraught, but with a ridiculous face on a normally model-ready
Kardashian, Kardashian had to poke fun at herself posting on her blog, “Ok, I
have to admit, I do not look cute crying, LOL!“
This
only fueled fire – a fire that continues to burn in year 2016. From phone
cases, to Tshirts, to memes, Kim K’s crying face was posted everywhere. So she
jumped into action. She added an emoji of her crying face. She took something
that was spreadable, born from her brand (the episode itself,) watched it go
viral (the crying memes) and then rebranded it and watched it spread (the
emojis and Kim K sold phone cases.)
This is incredible for a multitude of reasons, but mainly because she
saw an opportunity of something that the Internet had created of her – and in a
way for her – and cashed in and
reaped the benefits. It’s smart business.
But the ideology
behind Kim’s marketing isn’t necessarily “sell the most “ “make the most money,”
but rather just further her reach of her brand, which in turn, is herself.
Kim creates content
that is designed to spread. It is highly crafted and analyzed to reap the
greatest benefits. But, on the other side, elements of the spreadable media
turn into viral pieces, which further her brand without her control. It’s truly
an interesting look into not only content in popular culture, but their impact on popular culture.
Kim Kardashian may not be her favorite human. You may find her and her family annoyingly whiny and wish they would just "disappear." But it takes a smart businesswoman to run and operate how Kim K does, and if she continues running full speed ahead, she's going to be around for a very, very long time.
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