Abstract
This research paper stands to prove that
celebrities are no longer simply revered only for their talents or skill but have begun to outgrow the natural
fame that comes with the skill, and/or have
become famous for really no apparent or tangible reason at all, or possibly
that there is now a new definition
of celebrity. Their fame has worked in a cycle, famous for being famous. From
the analysis of Kim Kardashian’s life and the tactics she has used to sustain her
fame, it is clear to see that we could learn a thing or two from Kim. She is not
just any ditsy celebrity; she is a marketing mastermind.
A) Introduction
Why is
Kim Kardashian famous? Most people might recognize her name or face, as she is continually plastered on the front of
magazines, advertisements, and sometimes even in the news. But what does she do?
Why should anyone care? It is believed that celebrities are famous due to unique skills, attributes, and
talents. Is Kim Kardashian famous because of special skills or incredible talents?
Most would argue
“no,” except maybe her talent
for marketing herself.
Kim is
just one example of a celebrity who is ‘famous for being famous.’ In a sense,
her fame works in a loop: she is
famous because she is talked about a lot, which is because she is famous, and so on. This kind of fame is
seemingly new, as most celebrities in the past have risen to fame
through some sort of skill, talent, or unique quality.
There are also different kinds of fame and infamy, such as those who are
famous for skills and good qualities, those who are infamous for doing horrible acts such as murder, and those who
are well known for saying or doing
bad and stupid things, such as encouraging crazy conspiracy theories.
Celebrities like Kim sit in the
middle of this spectrum between positive and negative, becoming famous for
doing nothing of skill, and nothing
particularly bad. Although my talents and skills are still developing, could
I too become famous like her? There is clearly something special about celebrities like Kim and their
ability to garner fame without talent or skill, and I believe this phenomenon
needs to be investigated for the
potential it may have on brands specifically and marketing in general. It is not an accident that she has gained
165 million followers on Instagram and other companies pale in comparison, such as McDonalds with only
3.7 million, or Coca-Cola with only 2.7 million bbb (Kim
Kardashian; McDonald’s; Coca-Cola). It is also no coincidence that one of her companies,
KKW beauty, generated over $100 million in sales in 2018, helping to contribute
to her net worth of an estimated $350 million (Kim Kardashian Net Worth, 2020;
#26 Kim Kardashian West, 2019). Whatever she is doing is successful, and I think
it comes down to the innovative and effective ways she has
utilized branding, marketing media and other tools. The potential lessons about branding we could gain from Kim could
prove invaluable to the field of marketing,
and to companies looking to improve their revenues. There is so much we stand
to learn from Kim’s branding and
immense influence that could help guide business strategies, future branding, and identify new tactics
for interacting with consumers successfully. Kim started out with a tarnished reputation and fought her way to
the top of Hollywood’s celebrities with
nothing but the help of her marketing skills; if she can do this, other
companies (with already better
reputations) can take ideas from her on how to improve their brand and marketing in order
to be at the top of their industry.
When she
originally rose to the top of tabloid headlines, she had no talent other than creating stories for the media to buzz
about, and photo-ops for them to supplement their celebrity gossip articles. Barbara Walters even
said it to her face during an interview; “you don’t really
act, you don’t sing, you don’t dance, you don’t have any, forgive me,
any talent!” (ABC, 2011; Cashmore,
2019). Since then, she has developed her own brand and has achieved worldwide recognition, as well as created a very
popular app called Kim Kardashian:
Hollywood, sells beauty and
makeup products from her company Kim Kardashian West Beauty, has created her own line of shapewear called Skims, and
has also endorsed external products, such as Flat Tummy Co’s Appetite-Suppressing Lollipops, or Skecher’s
Shape-Ups Shoes (Wick, 2018; Mulshine,
2014). Celebrities like Kim seemingly use their fame to further build up their
brands, as well as sell
brand extensions, such as Kim
Kardashian West Beauty, and endorse and sell other
products. These kinds of celebrities are constantly keeping themselves in the
public eye by staying relevant
with fashion, pop culture trends
(if not starting new ones)
and making appearances. In turn, they get more self-promotion, which leads to more sales for brand
extensions as well as any other products
they are currently
endorsing and trying
to sell.
Kardashian
was shoved into the spotlight for her own 15 minutes of fame with the help of an intimate “home video.” Somehow, she
turned around this negative press and marketed herself so well that she has extended her 15 minutes of fame for over
10 years and built a brand empire along
the way with the creation of business ventures such as Skims, KKW Beauty, and
KKW Fragrance, Kim Kardashian: Hollywood phone app, and the Keeping Up With The Kardashians TV
show, all helping contribute to her $350 million net worth, as noted
earlier (66, 67). This new type of fame
(if it even is a new phenomenon in
the course of the history) has clearly had an
impact on marketing, as displayed through Kardashian and therefore it is
important to analyze this new
phenomenon and learn how it can be further applied in other marketing
strategies and tactics.
This
research paper stands to prove that celebrities are no longer simply revered
only for their talents or skill but
have begun to outgrow the natural fame that comes with the skill, and/or have become famous for really no apparent
or tangible reason at all, or possibly that there is now a new definition of celebrity. Their fame has worked in a
cycle, famous for being famous. I will set
out to prove the following: they continue their fame through the efforts of
clever marketing. They use new or
improved marketing tactics to further build their personal brands, create connections with fans, and continue to
sustain their fame. They seem to use social media as the main medium, along with endorsement tactics for their own brand
and brand extensions. They also use
their social media in a unique way that allows them to create connections with
their audiences in a way that most
firms have not begun to think about. Celebrities work on building their own brands
using marketing and fame hand-in-hand. Is this
a new type of fame? How
does their fame affect or work with their marketing efforts? How does social
media affect this phenomenon? It is
important to understand what celebrities, and the firms they create are doing, so that other firms can utilize the
effective techniques to market their products. It is clear that this kind of promotion is an emerging trend,
so it is important to fully understand it in order to apply it to other products and brands. This
research is relevant because it examines a casual and less serious pop culture phenomenon such as
Kim, and asks a pressing question: why is she famous? This paper will delve into a more scholarly explanation behind a
cultural trend and explain how other companies can benefit from these lessons
on the branding of fame.
On the
surface, it might seem silly, light and frivolous, but the importance of this
study lies in understanding what is
behind her being so popular amongst millions of people (64.5 million on Twitter, 164 million on
Instagram and 30 million on Facebook to be exact!) (Kim Kardashian [Twitter profile]; Kim Kardashian [Instagram
profile]; Kim Kardashian [Facebook Profile];
Boyd, 2020). This kind of investigation of the world around us will help us to understand the phenomena that is becoming
an important part of many people’s lives and more broadly our culture. This research will look to develop a new
definition of fame as it relates to businesses
and their marketing efforts. It will analyze the process by which celebrities
such as Kim manipulates her fame,
reconstruct her rise to fame, analyze the marketing involved using the history and psychology of fame, and
then apply key learnings as a guide to brand
management.
B) Background on Kim Kardashian
Kim was
originally on the outskirts of fame when her father represented OJ Simpson in his highly publicized murder trial, and
with her childhood friendship with Paris Hilton. Hilton used to have her own TV show called The Simple Life, where Kim would make appearances from time to time as her personal stylist and lackey
(Delbyck, 2019). Then Kim rose to fame in 2007
after a scandalous home video of her and her boyfriend was released to the
public. Since then, she has been
hustling to improve her image and launch products such as perfumes, a TV show, an entertainment app, clothing and
more. Along the way, her family has also been put into the spotlight, such as her stepsister, Kylie Jenner. Now, Kim
and her family are some of (if not the
most) popular and well-known celebrities in the world. Most people know who Kim
is, some may even know her story.
C) Literature Review
In this
section, I will explore the different aspects of her seemingly never-ending, as
it is rooted in history and the
development of media, psychology, anthropology, and marketing and branding.
C1) The History of Fame and the Development of Media
Kim is just the latest in a long line of
people to become celebrities in our culture. What exactly is a celebrity, and how has that definition changed over
time? Merriam-Webster defines ‘Celebrity’
as the state of being celebrated: fame
and being widely known and often referred to
(Merriam-Webster, 2020). They also define ‘Fame’ as reputation and renown, which are defined as recognition
by others of some characteristic or ability or overall quality or character as
seen or judged by people in general, and
a state of being widely acclaimed and
highly honored, respectively
(Merriam-Webster, 2020). A second definition for ‘Fame’ that they provide is
the archaic definition of rumor; talk or report of a notable
person or event (Merriam-Webster, 2020). Kim is certainly widely known and
recognized, constantly referred to in the media and in conversation, she is certainly notable
but there just isn’t a specific reason why. For example, Michael
Jordan is a famous celebrity who is widely known and recognized, specifically
for his incredible skill and success
in as one of the all-time great basketball players and ambassadors of the game. Although it seems like famous
people are a new thing, they have been around for a while. What’s new is how our culture has become ‘celebrified’
according to Douglass McDonnell in
his book Celebrity: A History of Fame (28).
He claims that today, being a celebrity
“Means
being well known. But in ancient and medieval times, one indeed could be famous – as a king, queen, or emperor, as
a successful military leader – but not necessarily
constantly visible. they were this distant, all powerful figure that everyone knew of, but no one knew personally...
fame was reserved for those rare people who were known because of their hereditary positions or extraordinary
achievements; there was an aura
around them; they were remote and inaccessible.” (Douglas & McDonnell,
2019, pg. 28).
Fame used
to be something that came with what one was born into, such as a royal family,
or something people achieved, such
as being the general that led an army to great victories. A lot has changed since hundreds of years ago
though, with Andy Warhol correctly predicting that “in the future, everyone will be world famous for 15 minutes”
(NPR, 2008). In 2020 we still have long
lasting celebrities such as Kim whom we are often exposed to, but we see
everyday people becoming recognized
and famous for 15 minutes. Some people have celebrity personas and could be famous for 15 minutes, however
there are others who are truly unique and have real, lasting talents and turn themselves into cultural icons (Rindova
& Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 53). Take for
example, any meme (internet joke) that has
gone viral including a person.
Everyone
shares it online, talks about it, and would recognize the person and has
memorized their actions
or words from the viral content. What has changed
from medieval times to now is that not only are people more accessible
to us than ever through the internet, TV and social networks, but also people no longer need a particular skill or position
to become famous.
Sure, we still idolize Prince Harry solely because he was born into the
royal family, or Beyoncé because of
her incredible talent at signing, but there are now those such as Kim who have become renown for no particular skill at
all. People are able to take this renown and turn their names into lasting
brands (Rindova & Pollock &
Hayward, 2006, pg. 53).
With the
dramatic changes in technology and media, it makes sense to see this shift from being famous to being a celebrity.
Thousands of years ago, people had stories and lore, and maybe gatherings in the town square. The printing press was
invented in the mid 1400’s, providing
books to more accurately tell these stories, and sometimes provide
illustrations. In 1835, photography
was invented, allowing people to see famous people for the first time without being right next to them. Later in the
1800’s the telegraph and telephone were invented, allowing people to connect from far distances. In
1895, silent movies were invented, and then sound was added in 1927, allowing people to see actors that would become
famous for their work, such as Charlie
Chaplin. In 1922, radio broadcasts were invented, and both movies and radio had
now become more immediate, one sided
communication, allowing for radio hosts and movie stars to become famous through widespread exposure.
In the 1940’s, black and white TV
broadcasts were invented
(becoming color later in 1960), and also allowed for fame to be created and consumed through watching, such as Lucille
Ball from I Love Lucy, or Neil Armstrong with the broadcast of the moon landing. In 1975 the first personal
computer was invented, in 1999 high speed internet
was invented, and in 2003 PC tablets
with handwriting to text and video email was invented. These technologies had
continued to improve and bring people closer together with the invention of the iPhone in 2007. Social
media also started to develop along with these
technological changes, such as LinkedIn in 2002, Myspace in 2003,
Facebook in 2004, YouTube in 2005,
Twitter in 2006, Instagram in 2010,
and Snapchat in 2011.
Kim quickly joined these social media as they started
trending, joining Facebook on January 8th, 2009 and Instagram on February 20th in 2012 (Kim
Kardashian [Instagram profile]; Kim Kardashian [Facebook Profile]; Shaw, 2018). Every media communication
advancement allowed for audiences to grow closer to these famous people that they would see and hear in this new
media. First, media was all mostly one
sided with television, radio and movies, but media communications technology
has now become 24/7 and interactive
through social media, especially in the last 10 years (Technology of Communication Timeline, n.d.; Jones,
2015). This original media was created and pushed out to people without the opportunity to interact and obtain immediate
feedback or responses (with the exception
of people calling into the radio station one at a time). This expansive growth
of mass communication technologies is
likely the most significant factors contributing to the expansion of modern celebrities. Although there were
celebrities before such as emperors or war generals, there are many now not of royalty or military leaders who are
famous for a variety of reasons, and
they are more accessible than ever (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006,
pg. 56). The growth in both the reach
and range of mass communication and media increased the demand for celebrities, but at the same time made it
easier than ever to create and find new celebrities (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 55). This modern
idea of celebrity would not have been
possible without technology advancing the way it did. This growth in media has
also created a sort of media
ecosystem which has a mutual dependency on her fame, They rely on each other
to stay relevant (Asseraf, 2018).
Celebrity and fame could also perhaps
be a new kind of religion for our culture.
For example, European cultures in medieval times used
to be based on the Christian religion. The church ruled the state and ‘chose’ the Kings, laws were based on religion,
society was based around religion. Now, trends
in the United States show that religion
is slowly becoming
less important for people
(U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, 2020). Even beyond that, our society isn’t solely based on one religion; people can now practice what
they want, we respect other people’s differing
religions, and our laws are mostly separate
from religion now. People used to idolize
and worship God and practice
religion, but now without that one singular
religion to worship,
perhaps we’ve turned to celebrities to attempt to fill part of that gap.
Sure, Lady Gaga won’t be able to tell
us the meaning of life, but following her and being part of her fan group can
create a very close-knit community
and bonds with others over a common love for her. Some celebrities have super fans that idolize them,
similarly to the way one might do for religion. Not only this, but people will pay thousands of dollars
to purchase something once owned by a celebrity; for example, a dress that Princess Diana wore to the White House and
danced with John Travolta in sold for
$347,000 at an auction (McDowell, 2020). Many times, people buy these relics
because they have an emotional
connection to the memories, usually explained through the concept of contagion. Contagion is when it is
believed that a “person’s immaterial qualities or essence can be transferred to an object through
physical contact (Newman & Diesendruck & Bloom, 2011). Anthropologists first came up with this
idea in the late 1800’s when observing cultural practices emphasizing the transfer of a person’s
identity or soul to inanimate objects. It’s an indescribable feeling
that isn’t as rare as it sounds.
If you’ve traveled
to Rome for example, you get that feeling of how precious and special something is
when visiting historical sites like the Colosseum or the Vatican. This contagion and specialness of relics is very
similar to religion, and perhaps is trying to
fill that hole. Celebrities are worshipped by some of us, and because of that,
we create communities around them.
C2) Recent History of Celebrities: Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian
Paris
Hilton, the original celebrity who was ‘famous for being famous,’ and childhood friends
with Kim (Newman
& Diesendruck & Bloom, 2011;
Baxter-Wright, 2017), originally became famous because of her
family’s legacy Hilton Hotel brand, as well as a sex tape that catapulted her to the front of headlines, but
created her own brand from that initial fame (Paris Hilton Biography, 2017). Although she had already experienced a
bit of fame because of her family
name, she went on to star in a very successful show called The Simple Life in
2003 that Kim made appearances on as
her friend, doing things like cleaning her closet or going on shopping trips with her (Paris Hilton
Biography, 2017; Villafane, 2019). In an interview with Rollacoaster Magazine, Paris claimed she was “ahead of my time
and just being an innovator, setting
the precedent and creating a whole new genre of celebrity” (Davison, 2020).
Paris now has a net worth of $300
million, selling fragrances, handbags, pet apparel and more in 50 retail stores across the world, and she is still
working to expand her empire (Davison, 2020). She certainly created this new trend of celebrity, and although she
now has all these successful business ventures, she is not as popular
as she once was. She still
has loyal fans, but for the most part is associated with the 1990’s and
early 2000’s as a fashion and entertainment icon for that time. Kim, however, has utilized this same
new type of celebrity, but has been able to keep her influence going and
stay relevant.
Kim’s sex
tape was released in 2007, a couple months before the launch of the iPhone, but also during a huge time for reality
television (Cashmore, 2019). Keeping Up
With The Kardashians started its
first season in October of 2007, and has continued ever since. It has been successful since it is unscripted, it is
not always glamorous and shows the underside of fame through sibling arguments and the behind the scenes footage, and
also as the full story behind what we
see in the news and other media, as they clear up rumors and tell us what
really happened (Asseraf, 2018). Kim
first started in TV, then she had a presence on Facebook and Twitter,
and now she has a massive
influence on Instagram and Snapchat. Before with her
television show, she started gathering fans through this one-sided look into
her life. But as her TV show
continued and technology kept advancing, she continued to keep up with trends.
She rode the wave of technology, or
Web 2.0 to keep her fame going (Cashmore, 2019). She started with Facebook in 2009 and is now one of the
most followed accounts on Instagram, posting about her life and interacting with fans. This change from
famous, being well known and widely discussed,
to becoming a celebrity, someone with a similar force but who is no longer too
distant or inaccessible, is what
makes Kim incredible. She was one of the first, and now the biggest celebrities, and a great example of the
transition from simply being famous to being a celebrity. One of the reasons why she
is so famous is because she was smart
enough to ride this
wave, keep up with the times, and now she is a leader on social media and
in the celebrity world; it is part of what
makes her so remarkable and what keeps her fame going: she rides the wave and
stays ahead of trends, if not helping
to create them.
From the
influences of new media communication technologies, and the rise of Paris
Hilton and Kim as famous-for-nothing
celebrities, it is clear that fame has developed a new definition. Fame is currently defined as a public
estimation (reputation) and popular acclaim (renown) (Merriam-Webster, 2020). I have issue with this because renown
implies being honored and praised,
and I think this suggests being honored for a talent or skill. People are now
famous for a variety of reasons,
some good and bad, although people will still enjoy watching them (think how every season of The Bachelor
villainizes a few women and viewers love to hate them). It seems to me that someone is famous if they
themselves, their words or their actions are widely known for good or for bad, accessible to and discussed by the
public, lasts between 15 minutes and
many years, and spreads by entering the mass media ecosystem and grows through
and depends on the media for its continued fame. To summarize,
there are a few different forces that Kim has utilized to turn her fame into something positive and make her popularity
last as long as it has. The definition of fame and celebrity had already been changing,
especially the last few decades where development in media and
communication technology has dramatically changed our awareness of celebrity.
Paris Hilton is one of the biggest
celebrities who is famous for being famous, and exposed Kim to the celebrity world through appearances on
Paris’ popular reality TV show, The
Simple Life. Then in 2007,
Kim’s sex tape is released, and she kept her fame going by starring in her own
reality TV show in late 2007, then
taking advantage of the subsequent social media take off. She was at the forefront of the social media wave and
kept up with, as well as set new trends. By riding these simultaneous and intertwining waves of evolving celebrities and
communications technology, this new definition of celebrity and fame
paired with this new extreme accessibility between fans and their favorite influencers has people worshipping and
creating communities around celebrities, helping to further establish their fame. This though, is just one aspect of her intriguing journey to fame.
C3) Social Psychology
Fame and
branding both are informed by social psychology. People who are famous act like leaders in a way, and that makes
them so intriguing to everyone else. Humans have social tendencies with each other, and fame ties into that. To help
explain how Kim’s fame and marketing
strategy is so successful, it is necessary to discuss social psychological
concepts that are apparent in her
marketing tactics and marketing in general, and anything else that makes up part of
the concept of fame.
In Seeing by Starlight: Celebrity Obsession by
Carlin Flora, sociologist Satoshi Kanazawa
states, “the brain simply doesn't realize that it's being fooled by TV and
movies... hundreds of thousands
of years ago, it was impossible for someone not to know you
if you knew them. And if they didn't
kill you, they were probably your friend" (Flora, 2004, para. 9). Flora describes how Kanazawa’s research has
shown some effects of this “feeling of friendship” with celebrities, such as people who watch more TV feeling more satisfied
with their friendships, “just as if they had more friends and socialized more
frequently” (Flora, 2004, para. 9). It feels
natural when you continually see a celebrity on TV or on social media,
as if they really are your friend
even though you have never met; they become part of your life and inner circle.
You feel like a part of theirs too,
especially when they share personal stories and struggles; it feels like they are talking directly to you. Flora
continues to say, “we are born to dish dirt, evolutionary psychologists agree; it is the most
efficient way to navigate society to determine who is trustworthy” (Flora, 2004, para. 7). We see this in the media
too, as the tabloid magazines and celebrity news sites report only on gossip from the world of the celebrities. Regular people gossip about celebrities, too. Take for
example the reality TV show The Bachelor.
Repeated exposure from the show
itself, to social media, to the celebrity tabloids, turns these ordinary contestants into celebrities. When the
show airs, users on Twitter cause the topic of The Bachelor to go viral
every time, because people are tweeting about and interacting with each other
about what’s happening in the
show. People dish and comment
things like ‘can you believe
she said this or did that!’ and they
identify villains and heroes to gossip about in every season. Flora ascribes our responses to celebrities to
primal connections in our brains that drive us to try to fit in with the community around us, gossip to
determine who is trustworthy, and copy those with higher statuses than us in order to hopefully receive the same
rewards that they are getting, such as attention, favors, and gifts.
This draw
to celebrities could also be in part due to the mere-exposure effect, which was identified by Robert Zajonc,
an American Social
Psychologist (1968). His theory states
that people show an increased liking or preference for a stimulus as a
consequence of being repeatedly
exposed to said stimulus and is especially strong when the person is not
consciously aware of the stimulus being presented to them (Mere-Exposure
Effect, n.d.). This happens all the time
as we are exposed to celebrities in the peripheries of our lives through
movies, advertisements and product
placements, social media, the news, and television.
Flora
also concluded that reality TV stars are a better kind of celebrity because
they are more accessible to us, and
more willing to let viewers see private and embarrassing parts of their lives. Originally, Flora published this
in Psychology Today in 2004, but so
much has changed since then, as
celebrities are even more accessible to us through smart phones and social
media. Hundreds of years ago,
celebrities were mostly accessible through radio or newspapers, and even further back from then, we learned about
celebrities by reading stories and hearing legends of their great skills or feats, such as how they conquered lands
and fought off beasts. Back then, these
‘celebrities’ (think religious figures, rulers and emperors of states, brave
warriors) seemed more than human to
us, and it was either impossible or extremely hard to actually see them in person, let alone meet and talk with them.
Now in 2020, we have TV, the internet, smart phones, and social media which allows us to connect with these
celebrities instantaneously like we never could
before. You can learn a lot about their lives through the intimate things they
discuss on their shows or post on
their social media. And sometimes if you’re lucky, they might respond directly to one of your comments! This
accessibility, being able to learn about and consume information about these celebrities at the touch of a finger, is
a huge upgrade from hundreds of years
ago. Although this instantaneous connection has been incredible, this change
also has some direct implications.
In 2015,
Jennifer Lueck wrote “Friend-zone with Benefits: The Parasocial Advertising of Kim” for the Journal of Marketing Communications, and her article directly
references Kim Kardashian and
similarly relates her fame and success to marketing tactics. The author
ascribed Kim’s interactions with her
fans to the theory of Parasocial Advertising, an application of Parasocial Interactions on marketing, and
analyzes how this type of one-sided interaction with a celebrity could be marketable in order to make a personal
connection with consumers. Parasocial interaction
is described as a personal but illusory connection with the audience and the
speaker, so essentially, you feel like someone
is talking only to you as a close friend,
but the connection is not real because the celebrity does not
know who you are or anything about you (Lueck, 2015). The viewer creates
what can be described as an intimate and strong relationship with the celebrity while interacting on social
media, watching their reality TV show, and so on. This type of social interaction is specifically
one-sided, where one party knows a great deal and has a connection with the celebrity, and that celebrity knows nothing
about the other party. This one- sided
relationship is analyzed through Kardashian and her social media fans on
Facebook in this particular study in
order to learn more about how she uses these interactions to promote and advertise.
This article
is unique because
it discusses these
concepts in a way that makes use of them
as a medium for marketing. They analyze Kim’s Facebook posts to conclude
that not only can social media be
used as a way to market and sell things, it can also be used to build up a connection with consumers and build up a
brand through parasocial interaction. The way Kim posts without responding, and leaves the discussion open-ended
allowed for constant, ongoing communication
in the comments section, helping to further engage the audience through this parasocial interaction (Lueck, 2015).
This motivates the consumer to share information about a product or her brand, which creates a bit of a focus group and can be extremely useful to listen to.
This act of sharing about products and brands creates a tight community based
on this product and encourages other consumers to purchase the product and become part of this community.
Also, if
there is an emotional attachment to a celebrity due to parasocial interactions,
Lueck inferred that this attachment could be translated into an emotional connection with the brand that is being
promoted, which can lead to positive purchasing behavior (Lueck,
2015).
The
illusion of intimacy can be used with the intent to endorse or sell products as
well as endorse one’s own personal
brand. Lueck states that “the idea of Parasocial advertising is to promote a lifestyle, not a single brand.
The ways in which Kim celebrates her own lifestyle gives audiences a virtual canvas for the use of brands” (Lueck,
2015, pg. 22). In one sense, this is true if
there is an endorsement which is meant to be perceived peripherally by the
audience. But Kim is not always
plugging an external brand or product in her posts. The idea of Parasocial Advertising applies to her own brand,
which encompasses her ‘lifestyle.’ If she did not first build up some interest in her own brand, other
brands would not want to advertise and associate themselves with her. This is part of how she has kept her own personal brand so strong, she
was a leader first on TV, then on
social media when it
came to building up her own
personal brand.
The information in this analysis
is still mostly
accurate and helpful,
but since this was published in 2015, it is outdated considering that Instagram and Twitter
are some of the biggest platforms now
in 2020.
In “Why
Celebrity Sells: A Dual Entertainment Path Model of Brand Endorsement” (2014),
Kineta Hung discusses the concepts of source credibility, attractiveness, meaning transfer
and image congruence when it comes to celebrity endorsement. Celebrity
endorsement has been around for a while,
and while celebrities as brands themselves are a new concept, I believe that they
borrow some of these concepts of endorsement, and they affect not
only their own brand, but also their brand extensions. This
scholarly article from the Journal of Advertising looks at what drives people to get involved with
products that feature celebrity endorsers. It discusses the Elaboration Likelihood Model, or the ELM
method of persuasion, which is a psychological
theory that describes the changing of attitudes. When applied to
celebrities, they are the spokesperson
trying to persuade you to buy a product. The ELM method is when celebrity’s attributes are processed either
elaborately (high involvement) or heuristically (low involvement) based on the perceived relevance
to the decision making of the consumer
(Hung, 2014). To break this down, consumers are either being
persuaded directly, through a high involvement process about something important and intentional such as a car,
including facts and changing their attitudes accordingly, or they are being persuaded
through a low involvement, peripheral process, changing their attitudes without entirely realizing it,
for example, seeing a hot celebrity drink
a certain beer and then buying that beer the next time they see it. A celebrity
can build their brand’s popularity
through either method; people either like the celebrity because they agree with
things they say, or they like them due to peripheral things such as
attractiveness (Hung, 2014).
This
research combines this model with the dual entertainment path model, which describes why a person needs and desires
lighthearted and mindless distractions from reality. There are two motives for those who consume entertainment: the
playful motive, which causes someone
to watch celebrity TV because it is easy and fun, and the aspirational motive,
where consumers desire to be like
these celebrities who are successful and live lavishly (Hung, 2014). It takes more energy though, as the consumer
spends time on activities such as liking and
commenting on posts,
as well as going out and buying
the products that celebrities are endorsing.
Some people might start watching Keeping Up With The Kardashians because it is
fun, but then they are inundated
with peripheral cues for an endorsed product they might not be aware of. On the other hand, some people watching might
directly be persuaded and want to buy whatever
product is being discussed or endorsed in an attempt to be more like
Kim.
The
authors conclude that entertainment experiences are a way for people to consume
the product that is celebrities and
celebrity related entertainment, and that these entertainment motives are driven by an emotional
investment based on the need for companionship and belonging, which then has an effect on endorsed brand attitude.
They discuss the different media through
which this entertainment travels, like movies, television, print magazines and
books, and newer social media. They
describe celebrities as idols, a way in which some super fans see their favorite celebrity, and try to explain
that fans have an emotional investment, and have both aspirational and playful motives when engaging with a celebrity,
versus simply playful motives, which
are the drive to just enjoy oneself or not be bored, for non-fans when they
engage with a celebrity (Hung, 2014).
This point is important because it helps explain the reason why people, both fans and non-fans, might choose to
interact with a celebrity through watching their TV show, reading an
article about them, or following
them on social media.
The
author also stated how non-fans participate in observational learning when interacting with a celebrity; they do not have to be totally
invested or obsessed
with a celebrity, but they
still take social cues from them like the latest fashion trends (Hung, 2014).
This could help explain why those
non-fans of Kim and other celebrities even bother to follow up on their lives and interact with them. These people
are still trying to be part of the ‘in’ group by following up with the celebrity, trying to stay connected with others and trends in our culture.
Another
article from Psychology Today discuss
fame and celebrities. In “Why We Are Obsessed
With Celebrities,” Nathan Heflick discusses Tiger Woods, a famous golfer, and
his scandals (cheating on his wife),
as well as why we care. Heflick ascribed our opinions on this drama to the Halo Effect, which says one
good impression causes us to associate good with other aspects of a person, for example, since Tiger Woods is a great
golfer, we also think he is a moral and outstanding man (Heflick 2009). This could go for any celebrity; just because we see them as
really good at one thing, we then assume that other things about them are good
as well. This could be why we feel so
shocked and pay attention to bad scandals. For example, when Kim’s scandalous home video came out, it was
probably shocking to many people because she was a really good fashion stylist and friend, and therefore people
probably thought she would be too innocent
to release such an intimate tape. Similarly, the Terror Management Theory from evolutionary psychology tries to explain how human behavior
stems from our fear and awareness of death (Heflick, 2009). This is a bit
extreme, but essentially, bad things happen in life and we try not to think
about it, and life feels better if we can figure out a way to
live on post death.
Fame is
one of the ways to do that. Heflick concludes that celebrities are an integral
part of our culture, are beloved
because of the Halo effect, and are idolized due to the Terror Management Theory
(Heflick, 2009).
Many of
these theories are centered around an idea of belonging or trying to be successful, which are essentially the same
human needs portrayed in Maslow’s Hierarchy of
Needs. This hierarchy is a motivational theory showing different levels
of human needs. The bottom of the
pyramid’s needs is physiological and includes physical things such as water,
food, shelter, and safety. Whereas
the needs towards the top of the pyramid are more focused on esteem needs and self-actualization, which is the desire to become everything that one could possibly become, achieving one’s
potential or self-fulfillment (Mcleod, 2020). The middle tier is love and belongingness, which involves
friendship, trust, acceptance, and is motivated by the need for interpersonal relationships. This could be driving
people to interact with celebrities, even
though it is a one-sided parasocial interaction. Being part of a group of her
fans and feeling like part of her
community could satisfy this need. Also, buying products from celebrities could help fulfil the next highest tier, which
is esteem needs. This is the desire for respect from others or status, and if one is wearing the
latest trends in clothes and makeup from Kim, this outward expression could help someone achieve this
goal. So even though all these different authors discuss different theories and motivations, all of them have
this underlying drive rooted in basic psychology as shown in Maslow’s hierarchy (Mcleod, 2020).
Perhaps
Kim would not have been as famous today without her home video being released in 2007. Benedict Carey writes in
his New York Times article, The Fame Motive, that “increased self-consciousness can plunge almost anyone into
rumination over soured relationships
or lost opportunities, psychologists find. And famous people in particular are
forced to judge themselves against
ideals set by others.” (Carey, 2006). Celebrities are held to an almost impossibly high standard. Perhaps, not
only did Kim get skyrocketed into her 15 minutes of fame by her home video, but she kept her fame going by trying to recover her name and trying to prove
to the world that she is more than just the girl in that video, and more than
just that sex tape. She said in an
interview with Oprah, “that’s how I was definitely introduced to the world. It was a negative way, so I felt like I
really had to work 10 times harder to get people to see the real me” (Schwartz, 2012). While Kim’s fame
and popularity might be due to the psychological motives of her fans and consumers, it is also partially due to her
own motives. She was now under this microscope and worked extremely hard to try to turn the narrative back and show
everyone who she truly was. If she had not hustled and worked so hard, who
knows if she would be the same celebrity she is today, or if she would even be famous.
Also, Kim
is significant as she has an effect on people’s individual identities. In
identity theory, the self can
categorize, classify or name itself in different ways in relation to other
social categories or classifications, or identification, and through this process, an identity is formed.
The
concept of identity can change and adapt based on surroundings. Also, a social
group (in- group) is a bunch of
individuals who have a common social identification or view themselves as being part of the same social category
versus other people and other dissimilar groups (out- group), such as a band geek in-group versus other students and
out-groups in a school like the jocks, the nerds, etc. (Stets & Burke, 2000). In order for someone
to create or change part of their
identity, they would need to gain the characteristics necessary to
categorize themselves into the desired
social group. For example, if one wanted to be perceived as being in a popular
social group, they might buy things
that would associate them with being popular, such as being fashionable and beautiful. Kim has many of
these characteristics, and transfers this meaning to her brand extensions, and then to the consumer when they buy and
use her products. In this way, Kim is
popular because she helps people gain these characteristics to add to followers (consumers) identities and help them
fit in to specific social groups.
It is now
apparent that several underlying social psychological theories help make marketing more successful and cause people
to behave the way they do, and Kim has utilized some of these in building her brand. Sometimes the brain is
fooled with a feeling of friendship after
continually seeing someone on TV and social media. Celebrities also create
parasocial interactions with their fans, helping form an imagined
connection between the audience and the speaker, and the fans feel like they have an intimate
and strong relationship with the celebrity, even though it is one-sided.
This attachment and illusion of intimacy can lead a community to form around the celebrity, as well as be
utilized to promote a lifestyle and products as if it is a recommendation coming from a close friend.
Kim also borrows some concepts from celebrity
endorsement and uses them to build her own brand. One example is the
Elaboration Likelihood Model of
persuasion, which says that people can be influenced directly with lots of
thought, or heuristically, which is
more peripheral, where someone’s attitudes are changed subtly without them realizing or thinking actively
about it. The entertainment
path model also helps explain
why some people follow and interact with celebrities and other
distractions in the first place, which
can either be a playful motive (because it is easy and fun), or an aspirational
motive (where people desire to be
more like the celebrity). As for non-fans, many will still keep up with Kim in order to be part of the ‘in’
group and try to stay connected with others and trends in our current culture. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy
of Needs, humans desire friendship and acceptance
which is motivated by the need for interpersonal relationships, which due to parasocial interactions, can include
celebrities on TV or social media. Also, Kim has an effect on people’s identities by sharing her
characteristics with people through her products, helping them build on their identities and fit into
desired social groups. Another element of Kim’s fame comes from her own psychological motives, not
only her fans. Famous people are forced to judge themselves against ideals set by others, and Kim once said to
Oprah that she felt she worked 10 times
harder to get people to see the real her. Not only did her actions
psychologically draw in others, but
she also was psychologically driven to keep working to improve her image. All
of these social psychological
concepts underlie Kim and her fan’s actions to help sustain her fame and are an important part in understanding
how she markets her brand.
C4) Cultural Anthropology
In
“Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement
of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods”
(1986), Grant McCracken gives a detailed
insight to how the consumption of goods relates to
culture. Since fame and the Kardashians are ‘pop culture phenomena,’ or are a widespread occurrence in popular or
contemporary culture, it will be essential
to understand what culture is and how Kim and consumer goods
relate to culture.
First,
culture is the biased lens through which we view and analyze things, and it is
also the rules that we follow that
determine our social actions. Cultures also differ between different groups of people, and therefore people from all over
the world will view things differently and follow different cultural rules. It could be as simple as how in some
countries such as ours, it is polite to shake
someone’s hand when meeting for the first time, but in other cultures, that
would be inappropriate, and people would instead kiss each other on the cheek or bow (McCracken, 1986).
The
author argues that cultural meaning comes from a ‘culturally constituted
world,’ or a world validated by
culture. This culture is transferred to goods by marketing and then customers once they consume the goods (McCracken,
1986). For example, if a brand of shoes is marketed as culturally hip and in fashion, then when a consumer buys and
wears these shoes, they themselves
will be perceived as culturally hip and in with current trends. Also, the act
of consuming some goods over others
further identifies, constitutes and substantiates that element into our culture. For example, if people
buy Converse shoes, then it would be following cultural rules to buy Converses, and against it to buy Crocs. It would
also help to further substantiate Converse
as a cool and hip part of our culture. Cultural rules and the substantiation of
them work in a loop like this, they
are culturally constituted by the consumption of goods, and consumed goods can also create and substantiate
elements of our culture. Cultural categories and cultural principles are validated by consumer goods,
and then they organize and make up the culturally constituted world.
Culture can be transferred from the world to a good, and when purchased, the good to the
consumer (McCracken, 1986).
In a way,
advertising creates a similarity between a cultural meaning and product. It is
a vehicle of meaning transfer because
it brings the consumer goods and the cultural world together in an advertisement or product, which is
then purchased and substantiated by the consumer. The author describes a person-object relationship and also touches
on meaning transfer, which can be compared
to person-celebrity relationships, as celebrities could be viewed as a
substitute for the object or product.
Culture in many aspects of our lives largely dictates our decisions, and our decisions substantiate and strengthen our
culture. The author also touches upon how new cultural principles are made and substantiated into our existing
culture; popular people with high statuses
form a group of opinion-leaders, who create cultural innovations,
changes in fashion, value, attitude,
and they pass these new cultural norms on to the lower class, who then imitate
them (McCracken, 1986). This is a
great way of explaining how and why people listen to celebrities such as
Kim and follow their fashion advice, or
other trends that they create.
This
article mostly focused on goods, less about celebrity endorsements, and not at
all about celebrities as their own
brand at all, but I believe this can be applied to Kim’s personal brand in a similar way. A brand, such as
Kim’s, she can be viewed as both a product, and a cultural opinion leader. Kim as a brand leads the way in what is
popular in products and trends, as
well as what is culturally and socially relevant. These could be fashion
trends, such as the rise in popularity for athleisure or bigger lips,
or this could
be more social trends, such as fighting
for the release of inmates.
These changes start with Kim saying something, or her brand pushing athleisurewear for example. Sometimes she
leads the charge, other times she follows what is popular and therefore helps to substantiate it as part of our culture.
People look to her and her personal brand as a cultural
opinion leader, either for the new trend or to follow the current cultural rules. When consumers purchase
her goods or simply watch her social media or TV show, the act of consuming these cultural symbols further
constitutes and substantiates this meaning
into our culture. This cultural meaning is transferred to goods by Kim, and
then to customers once they consume
the goods. Also, the act of consuming some goods over others further
identifies, constitutes and substantiates that element into our culture.
She is both a leader,
and a vessel to consume and follow the rules of our culture (McCracken,
1986). In essence, she helps us stay
cool. By watching her and buying her goods, we tell the world, “yes this is
cool,” while also taking on that
coolness factor ourselves. This could be why she continues to stay in the spotlight as well. Because she is a
leader, we look to her for what is cool and ‘in’ right now. By watching her and copying what she does,
how she dresses and what she buys, we are substantiating
all of that into being what is accepted by our culture. And because what she
has done has been cool in the past,
we will look to her for the next big thing. She has been caught in this loop
for a while, as the media still constantly talks about
her.
This
relates to marketing as Kim often sells her own brand extensions or endorses
other products. This creates a meaning transfer,
from herself and her cultural
values to the product, and then
to the consumer once it is bought and consumed. This might seem complicated,
but just think about New England
culture versus the South; there are distinctions that [appear] are in the objects we use and consume. For example,
Southerners drink lots of sweet tea, whereas New Englanders eat a lot of clam chowder. Marketers could even
create a new market segment by creating
a new cultural category of person; for example, organic, fair trade food for
people who want to change the world.
“Meaning resides in the ideas or values that determine how cultural phenomena
are organized, evaluated, and construed” (McCracken, 1986, pg. 73), and because
of this, the value or idea of a clean earth
is the meaning of this organic product,
which then helps
organize the culture
and evaluate and organize other products as good for the Earth
or not.
This new
type of culture would be substantiated by the products people use, such as low emission cars, and the cultural meaning of
these products would be transferred to the users, for example, this cohort of people care about the world. This is
broad but can be an important tool for
marketers when deciding what the cultural meaning of their product is
(McCracken, 1986, pg. 73). Kim has
done this in a way with her fans and those who consumer her products. People are kept informed by Kim “the present
state and stock of cultural meaning that exists” in her products and other products by the way she advertises them or
features them, paid or not on her social
media and TV show (McCracken, 1986, pg. 75-80). Advertising in general can do
the same thing, or as McCracken calls
it, the “lexicon of current cultural meanings,” and as it changes over time, so does our culture
(McCracken, 1986, pg. 75). The same can be said for social media posts
in general, especially ones
that trend such as memes.
People continue
coming to Kim for cultural
guidance because “cultural meaning is used to define and orient the individual”
(McCracken, 1986, pg. 80). People can choose what they buy, and therefore they choose the meaning that
they get from different kinds of goods which helps define themselves. For example, if you were to buy a Gucci belt
over a regular belt, you would appropriate
the meaning of the Gucci brand as part of your identity and culture. Kim is
keeping people interested in what she
has to say and leads or follows right behind trends in our culture, which helps
keep her one of the most
constantly talked about celebrities.
She could
also be seen as living cultural currency, or something that is “simultaneously
a 'social fact', and also – and this
is precisely what makes it a social fact – something else in relation
to reality, something
which is against
it and somehow autonomous” (Pinzon
& Mansoor, 2018, pg.
9-10). She was never famous or culturally relevant for any skill, other than
the fact that we keep coming back to
her to consume her content, products, and then substantiate her as currency; she is human capital. If
everyone just stopped keeping up with the Kardashians, they would not be famous. We are investing in
this illusion and simultaneously keep it going (Pinzon & Mansoor, 2018). Also, it is through our cultural lens that
we perceive Kim to not be working and
being famous for being famous instead of for a skill or talent., but perhaps we
have been conditioned to see work in
a 9-5 desk job kind of way, and we have been invalidating Kim’s unique approach to working (Pinzon
& Mansoor, 2018). Her creation and sustainment of her
self-brand has led to many endorsements, TV shows, and has led her to create
businesses such as DASH, a boutique clothing
store, and KKW Beauty, a high-end beauty
company. So perhaps
it’s possible that we need
to look at Kim and her empire in a new light before we dismiss her, as she might be able to teach us and companies
valuable lessons regarding business
and branding. Or, as Kim said in her response
to Barbara Walter’s questioning their talents, “we’re still entertaining people” (ABC, 2011).
The
Kardashians have gotten to a point where they are cultural leaders for us.
Although they seemingly do not have talent,
they are cultural opinion leaders for beauty and fashion,
which is something that our culture desires and values (Rogan, 2018, pg.
174). After asking young girls in a
study about the Kardashian’s fame, Rogan found that, “While this type of fame was ridiculed by many of my participants, it seemed, in many ways, to make them more ordinary or, in some ways, more accessible to
them” (Rogan, 2018, pg. 174). Although celebrity culture and being famous for nothing is usually ridiculed and dismissed,
we still watch them, discuss them,
and buy their clothes and makeup to be more like them (Rogan, 2018, pg.
174-175). While our society
is torn as to whether
our culture dictates,
we laugh at them or follow their lead, either way, we continue to keep them in
the spotlight. Even those who dismiss the Kardashians will keep up and read the latest news on them,
which helps substantiate them as an important part of our culture.
Along
with the rise of social media and digital technologies, the culture of personal branding has become more popular (Rogan,
2018, pg. 168). Self-branding requires people to develop a distinct image for themselves “for commercial gain
and/or cultural capital” (Khamis & Welling,
2017, pg. 3). Not only has our culture started to embrace personal brands more
as a norm, but personal brands in and
of themselves are related to culture. Brands help you differentiate from others in a crowded environment, and with
products, usually serve as a personality
for brands, and help give them human-like qualities to help make the company
more relatable (Khamis & Welling,
2017, pg. 3-4). Brands are usually useful because they are consistent, you know what to expect when
you see them and buy the product. This kind of
consistency can be harder for humans to keep, but those trying to uphold
a self-brand such as Kim will work
harder to be consistent and avoid any scandals that might damage their
carefully crafted name (Khamis &
Welling, 2017, pg. 4). The act of self-branding makes fame more attainable, since promoting oneself
increases recognition and consequently loyalty (Khamis & Welling, 2017, pg. 8). It is also
interesting to note that fame seems to be tied to culture, as it came from the cultural industries of the
past, such as movie and radio stars, or people who were at the height of our culture like royals (Khamis & Welling,
2017, pg. 8). Self-branding is part of the
promotional culture of advanced consumer capitalism and demonstrates how
individuals can take the same
strategies for marketing products and use them to market themselves (Khamis
& Welling, 2017, pg. 8).
Psychological
anthropology is the cross-cultural study of the social, political and cultural historical constitution of the self, and
argues that the individual exists only within a social and cultural context (Lindholm, 2007, pg. 10).
Culture itself is pretty similar to someone’s
personality and identity, where both have layers and patterns; “both the
individual and culture are systems of
ideas imbued with meaning and intention” (Lindholm, 2007, pg. 98). Since culture is the biased lens through which
we see things, the world is subjective the way we view it, so the motives and norms that we all follow are subjective
and different (Lindholm, 2007, pg. 152).
Our personalities are in a way, reflections of our cultures (Lindholm, 2007,
pg. 101). In some way, our own
identities are shaped by our cultures, and our identities then substantiate our cultures. If Kim is seen as a cultural
leader to some, then people will want to watch her and buy her products to emulate her and display
her same qualities as their own identity. Then when people do this, they further substantiate her as an important
leader in our culture. The idea of being
famous for being famous is cyclical because that is how our culture works; we
follow its rules and simultaneously substantiate them.
Culture,
as has been discussed is a biased lens through which we see the world, and it
is also the rules that we follow that
determine much of our social actions. The meaning our culture has is created by us; we validate and
decide what is acceptable and cool in our culture though the things we consume. These goods can have
meaning assigned to them through marketing and
advertising, and this cultural meaning can be transferred to the
consumer once the good is consumed
(meaning transfer), and this act further substantiates this meaning as part of
our culture. Celebrities can either
be the product being consumed, or their brand extensions will be the product that is consumed and which
then transfers cultural meaning. Kim and her brand serves as a cultural opinion
leader, and she leads the way and creates trends
and affects what is
popular and socially relevant in our culture. She is caught in this media loop,
since she’s been a cultural leader in
the past and still is, we look to her for the next big thing. Then, when we
watch her show and buy her products,
we absorb this cultural meaning for ourselves as well as substantiate it, and her, as being part of our culture and what
is popular and cool. She could also be
seen as a living cultural currency and human capital. There is also this new culture
of personal branding and promotional
culture that has become very popular and helps explain how Kim has become so popular. The act of
self-branding and continually promoting oneself increases recognition, loyalty, and helps make fame
more achievable. Also, our personalities are somewhat a reflection of our culture, since our identities are shaped by
and further substantiate elements of our cultures.
C5) Marketing and Branding
While there
have been journal
articles and other scholarly essays that touch on the subject of celebrities, or endorsements, very
few that have really discussed the marketing techniques that involve fame. The most closely related
essay to this topic would be “Celebrities as brands: Exploring the role of celebrities in marketing and advertising,”
a doctoral dissertation by Christine
Marie Kowalczyk at the University of Memphis in 2011. The author identifies
that celebrities can be their own
brands rather than just endorsing another brand, a distinction that not many authors have elaborated on. Along
with this, the author discusses how, when celebrities are brands, they can have their own brand
extensions (i.e., if Kim herself is a brand, her Kim Kardashian Perfume line is a brand extension). This is a
defining theme throughout my thesis, as Kardashian
and other celebrities are ‘famous for being famous’, or well recognized for
branding themselves. Not only do they
have their own self brands to market and promote, but this also affects their brand extensions. These
celebrity self-brands allow celebrities to break through the celebrity
clutter and are important because
they allow the celebrity to increase their perceived
value and reputation (Kowalczyk, 2011, pg. 2). This strategy is a great way to
expand one’s fame and stardom
and is likely why the
Kim works so hard to protect and build up her brand
identity. The author also recognizes that while some celebrities are
known for their special skills or
talents, others are known just for being known, but did not elaborate on this
fact much further. This applies
directly to Kim, and it is interesting that this author has also recognized
this type of fame. It was also stated
that celebrities are characterized by unique features and skills which “inspire emotional and cultural
connections” (Kowalczyk, 2011, pg. 2). This is something that Kim certainly does. People feel
emotionally attached to her, and she is at the forefront of American culture and trends. The author
also noticed that there has been a shift from celebrities as endorsers to developers of their own
brands and product lines in recent years. Kim has certainly been part of this movement, because while she does
still endorse products, she has also been
developing her own brand. A successful brand has a recognizable image, for
example, Nike is recognizable from
their swoosh logo. The same goes for celebrities as brands themselves; Kim is highly recognizable for example, from her physical appearance to her voice
to the branding she uses on her TV
show. People see her products on her show or social media, and buy them to try to emulate her, her rich lifestyle and
her beauty and personality since it allows consumers to ‘own’ a piece
of her fame (Kowalczyk, 2011,
pg. 4).
The author
also studies the effective elements
of celebrity marketing, and what conditions make a celebrity brand or brand extension effective. One of
the strongest of these conditions is perceived fit between the celebrity brand and the brand extensions they are trying to sell, which is
the perceived connection between the two Kowalczyk, 2011, pg. 139). For
example, Kim’s brand is strongly
focused on being the ideal shape and look for women’s beauty, and being a leader in the beauty and fashion world.
Therefore, when Kim created her SKIMS shapewear
line, or her entertainment app that focused highly on fashion, both of
these products had a connection to
Kim’s brand, and therefore were believable and made sense for the consumer to
buy. The consumer could then have
this piece of Kim’s fame and cultural meaning and assimilate it into their own personality in order to fit into
a specific culture. There would be no connection or perceived fit if Kim made something like motorcycles for
example. The typical consumer, an older,
tough man would not want a Kim motorcycle because he would not want to
associate the attributes and
characteristics of her brand as part of his own personality, and she would also
have no credibility with motorcycles
compared to another brand such as Harley Davidson. Kim’s products do well because she strategically picks which markets
she wants to enter. However, there
might be an exception with super fans, where people who really love the
brand will buy any variety
of product that they make (Kowalczyk, 2011, pg. 4; Yeung and
Wyer, 2005).
The author
interestingly points out how celebrity brands could be better and safer to make endorsement deals with rather than just any celebrity
endorsement. Celebrity brands assume more risks than celebrity endorsements do,
because their name and appearance need to be
consistent and look good in the public eye. For example, Kim’s brand is
valuable because after the mishap in
2007, she worked very hard to create a positive brand image of herself and
works hard to maintain that today.
The author uses an example of Britney Spears who signed an endorsement deal with Pepsi in 2001 and
was later pictured drinking a competitor product. The endorsement deal was not authentic to herself, and when she
drank what she actually preferred, it was
embarrassing to the company and undermined the endorsement’s credibility. A
celebrity brand has more at stake as
they need to maintain their own reputation and will likely endorse and/or create brand extensions of things
they actually use and enjoy, so as not to create cognitive dissonance with their true selves
(brand), the way Britney Spears did when she drank a
competitor product after endorsing Pepsi. Celebrity brands will be more careful
in their actions and will not want to
ruin their reputations, and because of that, will be more reliable, credible and valuable to have as an endorser or
owner of a brand extension (Kowalczyk, 2011, pg. 149). Celebrity brand extensions also help build connections to
celebrities, since these products help connect
consumers to these celebrities, and therefore relate to them more personally,
or create a stronger attachment.
Sejung
Marina Choi, an assistant professor of Advertising at the University of Texas
at Austin, and Nora Rifon, a
professor in the department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing at Michigan State University,
focus on celebrity endorsements, specifically how it affects brand images and brings credibility to advertising in
“Who Is The Celebrity In Advertising?
Understanding Dimensions of Celebrity Images” (2007). The authors discuss the fact that every celebrity has a distinct
image and are in a way a symbolic icon that is a part of popular culture, a statement which could also define Kim. This
article touches on meaning transfer
from celebrities to products, and how since people want to be like celebrities
(relating back to entertainment
motives), people will purchase things endorsed by a celebrity in order to close that imaginary gap within their
parasocial relationship. They also add that celebrities in endorsements act like a good friend who is
simply recommending products to you (Choi & Rifon, 2007). Kim does this through explicit ads, but also
discusses products casually that she likes
anyway, so she certainly does this. People then gain some sort of satisfaction
from buying endorsed goods, because
they have this belief that they are like that celebrity in some way, and these products help manifest that to the
world, which helps to substantiate it as part of their own identity.
The authors state
that “both celebrities and products might
symbolize and share popular ideas
and meanings that their consumers or audiences find relevant and important” (Choi &
Rifon, 2007, pg. 318). These ideas and the traits of a celebrity can be
transferred from the celebrity to the
product through endorsement. The authors did two studies related to identifying image components of celebrities, and the relationship between these images
and their perception of credibility (Choi & Rifon, 2007). Although this article
focuses heavily on endorsements, all these
theories can be translated over to a celebrity as a brand themselves, using
their fame to build their brand and market their brand
extensions.
These
authors also made an interesting note that celebrity adoration and worship
helps make them more powerful. They
stated, “advertising is one of the key conduits marketers utilize to get socially desirable images of
celebrities across to consumers in connection with products, and this might help perpetuate the
phenomenon of celebrity idolization among today’s consumers” (Choi & Rifon, 2007, pg. 320). Basically,
although advertising might start out focusing
on the product, the advertising also has cultural implications, further
endorsing the celebrity and their
fame and idolization as well. Over the years, marketing has definitely had an effect on our culture, so this makes
sense. For example, the marketing of De Beers Diamonds changed our culture to associate diamonds with love and marriage
(Goldschein, 2011). Similarly, the
more marketing Kim does, and the more brand extensions and products feature
her, the more cultural currency she
will have, and the more people will continue to look to her as a cultural figure and associate her as a trendsetter
with these kinds of products and industries. We look to her as a trendsetter and for cultural advice because she has
marketed and positioned that way as a cultural brand.
In
#sponsored - Influencer Marketing On Instagram: An Analysis of the Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure, Product Placement,
Type of Influencer and their Interplay on Consumer Responses by Nora Lisa Ewers,
the author discusses influencer marketing, or the “modern
form of celebrity endorsement.” Influencer marketing is defined as “the
art and science of engaging people
who are influential online to share brand messages with their audience in the
form of sponsored content (Ewers,
2017, pg. 4; Sammis, Lincoln & Pomponi, 2015). Influencers are people on social media such as Facebook,
Instagram, or YouTube who have a following of over 2,000 and have an impact on their audience in some way.
Companies sometimes reach out to them
and ask them to promote their brands or products, and sometimes the influencers
even create their own brands and sell
their own products. There are different kinds of influencers, such as lifestyle bloggers, fashion bloggers,
makeup bloggers, food bloggers and many more. Their audience is united by the love of the topic and eventually falls
in love with the person and or brand
as well. Influencers sometimes show off and talk about a product that they love
out of loyalty, or they are paid to talk about a product
in sponsored content.
This kind of advertising has become
a huge part of our society, and in 2019 the industry was worth $8 billion
according to Business Insider (Schomer, 2019).
Although
this kind of marketing is new, the idea behind it is not. It works similarly to Word of Mouth marketing, which is when a
person tells friends about a great product, and then they tell their friends, and so on (Ewers, 2017, pg. 4). Social
media is an online network of people,
so if someone were to talk about or share their love for a product, other
people would see it and try the
product, and then they would post online reviews for it that their network
would so, and so forth. Through
posting, sharing, and even liking and commenting, there is digital word of mouth being shared about products.
Sometimes this endorsement is paid, and sometimes
it comes from a genuine review
of a product that the influencer really liked. Most of the time, content will be tagged in some way. Such
as #ad at the bottom of an Instagram post, or a sponsored label on it
to show that the content was paid for and
is a sponsorship for the featured
product (Ewers, 2017). However, not just any influencer gets deals from
companies to sponsor their products.
The influencers carefully chosen by companies usually have similar targeted audiences and the influencer is seen as a
cultural leader, someone that their audience goes to for advice on whatever they specialize in. This also demonstrates
the idea of the 2-step flow theory of
communication, which states that there are opinion leaders in society that most
people will listen to, and those
leaders will take information from mass media and pass these messages and their opinions on to the rest of their network
(Katz & Lazarsfeld, 1966). These influencers serve as opinion leaders and influence their followers with messages
such as ‘this dress is high quality for a great
price, I love it and you’d love
it too!’ for example. Sometimes
these influencers spread their own messages or are paid to sponsor and talk about a brand or product.
In both cases, the audience
views this and receives the message and opinion from them, and then might go and buy the product. Kim is a cultural opinion
leader, and spreads messages
through her social media and TV show. She spreads ideas and opinions about
many things, and this can also be used to sell products. Sometimes she genuinely enjoys
a product and other times
she is paid to talk about it, but due to her high reach
and ability to contact and connect with a large number of customers, she usually ends up increasing sales for the brand
(Ewers, 2017, pg. 4).
There are also different
classifications of influencers based on their size. There are typical
celebrity influencers such as Kim, and micro-influencers and
micro-celebrities that have smaller followings
and are usually seen as more relatable since they are closer to the average
person and live a normal
life (Djafarova & Rushworth,
2017, pg. 1; Ewers, 2017, pg. 6). However, celebrities like Kim have many more
followers and therefore a greater reach. Some of her followers might trust her just as much as a micro-influencer
even though she lives a more lavish life due to the parasocial interactions that she holds on her social media.
This study showed
that purchase intention was higher in celebrity social media posts
rather than micro-celebrity posts, which
was explained by the celebrity being perceived as more credible. So, although
celebrities might lead a more unusual
and expensive life, they are still seen as more credible and therefore people are more willing to buy from them
as influencers (Ewers, 2017, pg. 26). Due to this credibility and astonishing reach, companies are willing to pay
good money to have their products
sponsored. This is because a familiar face like Kim’s will be more persuasive
to buy from, and since she is also
credible, as she will not be perceived as trying to sell scams. Also, her reach is incredibly large as she has
around 164 million followers on Instagram, or for perspective, is the 7th person with the most
Instagram followers (The Most Followed Instagram Profiles, n.d.). For example, in 2019, Kim made, on average,
$910,000 per sponsored Instagram post (Hanbury, 2019).
Kim might
also be effective as an influencer because of the frequency with which she is on TV, on social media and in the news.
The more frequently someone sees a celebrity and the more intense each interaction is, the more likely it is that a
strong relationship between the consumer
and that celebrity will form (Klimmt & Hartmann, 2006; Knoll & Matthes,
2017, pg. 58). This regularity first
started when TV was a big medium for entertainment, as she was featured on her weekly TV show. She was
also all over the celebrity news in 2007 as part of the aftermath of her home video and has been able to keep these
appearances up through drama such as
her short marriages or appearing in Playboy magazine. While she kept up
appearances in her TV show, she also
started to change the tune of her personal brand from sex to a more serious mother and businesswoman. When social
media started to become more popular, she led that medium with her frequent posts. Nowadays, she is still making
frequent appearances on her TV show, on social media, and in the news for doing
things such as advocating for inmates to be freed
from prison. All these frequent encounters she has had with consumers over this
long period of time (13 years) have
helped people become familiar with her and therefore feel like they know her well and as a friend. People
then develop a desire to keep up with what is
happening in her life, and maybe also a desire to become more like her
(Hoffner & Buchanan, 2005, pg. 326; Knoll & Matthes, 2017, pg.
58).
To
summarize, Celebrities are now being recognized more as their own brands rather than simply endorsing another brand, which
means products they sell are brand extensions. The brand represents the qualities and characteristics of the person
that are attractive to customers (“fans”),
and the products they create (“extensions”) provide an outward expression, and
object that helps represent the
things the celebrity represents. When celebrities have their own brand and market, promoting and maintaining it,
not only does this help feed the famous for being famous cycle, but it also adds value to their brand, and these
brands can similarly inspire emotional
and cultural connections. One interesting result of celebrities having their
own brands is that these celebrities
will be more reliable to have endorsement deals with, since they are upholding the reputation of both their own
brand as well as the endorsed company, so they will be more careful with their behavior so as not to have scandals,
and are more likely to endorse brands
that they actually like and use as its consistent with their lifestyle. It also
seems that perceived fit between a
celebrity brand and their brand extensions is still an element of effectiveness, for example, Kim would sell
more self-branded perfumes than motorcycles. This is because when consumers buy something with a celebrity’s
brand, they are assimilating or transferring
the meaning of that brand into their personality and external look. Also, the
more Kim markets her self-brand,
brand extensions and other products, the more she is seen by the world and the more cultural
currency she will have because
people will associate her with being a trendsetter with these
industries. Another interesting result that came along with the advancement of social media was the term
‘social media influencer marketing,’ where people with a following of at least 2,000 promote products, either paid
or not. This system of 2-step flow of
communication helps constitute these influencers as cultural leaders, as we get information about products from them and
look to them for more and see them as cultural
opinion leaders. Also, frequent communication from these people
on social media
can lead to a bigger following and reach as well as
credibility, which makes them more appealing for companies to have endorse.
C6) Literature Review Conclusion
Based on
the analysis above, we can see how Kim managed
to rise to fame and stay at
the top. Many of the techniques she
used can also be adapted to most any brand; utilizing trends, parasocial interaction, direct and indirect
persuasion, playing to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, understanding entertainment theory, acting as a cultural opinion
leader, understanding meaning transfer,
perceived fit, using the 2-step flow of communication, credibility, and
frequency of communication. The
analysis section that follows will apply these concepts to brands and explain how they
can be used for effective marketing.
D) Analysis: Application To Businesses
One might
read this paper and think, “how will you apply this to businesses? A business is so different
from Kim!” And while they may have their differences, Kim’s brand and her brand extensions are not all that
different from many businesses. With a little practice, firms could act much like a celebrity in the way
they engage with their audience. For example, when I was a kid, I idolized Nike, thought that they were god-like and
untouchable, that they could do anything, and that they would never interact with a lowly citizen such as myself.
This is the same way that
many people view celebrities. This phenomenon is explained in Celebrity Firms: The Social Construction of Market Popularity
by Rindova, Pollock and Hayward. This article helps to extend the concept of celebrity from an individual, to the firm level. The authors argue that our media socially creates celebrity firms
by attributing extraordinary qualities to them, but I believe this is done by both our media and people and society in
general (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward,
2006, pg. 50). A celebrity is more important and valued than other celebrities
if they have lots of public attention, far reach, and they generate
more interest from the public.
The same can be applied to a
company, they will be more of a celebrity than other companies if they generate more attention and have a greater
reach. The authors state that “one defining characteristic
of celebrity is that a social actor attracts large scale public attention... a
second defining characteristic of
celebrity is that the actor elicits positive emotional responses from the public” (Rindova & Pollock &
Hayward, 2006, pg. 51). Successful companies similarly have lots of attention and are well known and have
the most loyal consumers when the consumers feel positive emotions towards said company. Companies simply
need to take advantage of their reach and
the strong brand image
they have already likely created.
Many
people think of the word ‘celebrity’ as a status for a person only; however,
the authors describe celebrity as a property of a person’s relationship
with an audience instead of a characteristic
of themselves. This is because celebrities are made when they receive lots of attention and positive emotional responses
from people. I could say that I’m a celebrity, but if I do not have the fans to prove it, then that statement has no
merit. Same goes for a company; just because
they are big and profitable does not mean that they are also celebrity-like;
they could be missing the loyal fans
and the personality that usually comes with these celebrity brands. People act similarly towards
companies as well, eliciting positive emotions
when they see their products’
branding and logos, giving these companies attention and continued business
(Rindova & Pollock &
Hayward, 2006, pg. 51). Brands are also symbols representing consistency and quality, so seeing a certain brand will
make one think of a specific experience; for example, Gucci products are high quality. A celebrity self-brand
similarly stands for a consistent image; for
example, you can expect seeing Kim in person to see her wearing stylish clothes
and talking monotone in a valley
girl-like way. So instead of thinking of ‘celebrity’ as a characteristic, think of it as an intangible asset. Small
businesses just starting out do not have the same celebrity asset as Coke does, for example. The Coca-Cola
brand has credibility because it is been around for so long, consistently delivering what people expect. They are
frequently seen in restaurants, convenience
stores, advertisements and sponsorships, and they play to people’s need to
belong, have friends and be loved.
Coke does this through their advertising campaigns such as Share A Coke With a Friend by giving a bottle to
your friend with his/her name printed on it. This celebrity asset can open a company up to many resources and
strategic opportunities such as partnerships, alliances
and sponsorships (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward,
2006, pg. 51). Think of when Netflix aired its third season of
Stranger Things and partnered with Coke to create old fashioned 80’s bottles
to sponsor in the show; it was reminiscent of a celebrity
guest star and was profitable for both Coke and Netflix (Huddleston Jr., 2019).
Also note
that there is a difference between a celebrity CEO and a celebrity firm, where the business has a persona, or
firm-level characteristics and behaviors that allow the firm to tap into the same benefits that a celebrity
might have access to, versus a simply famous person who is known for leading said company, like Steve Jobs. The Apple
founder and former CEO was famous
because of his high-quality work and innovation at Apple, but Apple still has
its own celebrity status separate from him.
Trying to
get one’s brand or firm to have a celebrity property can be utilized as part of
a differentiation strategy. Companies
who stick to industry norms and do what is ‘usual’ might feel like this is a safe approach to business,
but that will not likely differentiate the company from its competitors and end up being worse for them, even though it felt like a safe decision.
The authors describe how positively
evaluated under- and overconforming behaviors from the firm can lead to the firm becoming a celebrity
firm. In other words, firms who go beyond industry norms, or try not to meet industry norms, can actually
differentiate themselves and compete better,
contingent on their consumers being receptive to these new ideas. This is
because by nonconforming, the company
differentiates itself from its competitors, and by doing so is more interesting and attracts more attention
from consumers that turn into fans (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 60). Take, for example
Elton John, who became popular for his beautiful singing and unique performances onstage, which differentiates
himself from every other average joe
singer with nothing ‘unsafe’ as part of his performance. But it is also
important that the audience perceives
this differentiation positively, because otherwise they could villainize the company. The authors consider these firms
to be either rebels, who underconform and deviate from existing norms, or market leaders, who overconform to
existing industry norms and therefore
lead the industry with new behaviors and values. For example, a rebel company
that underconformed to existing norms
was Starbucks in the early 1990’s when they underconformed to the usual practices of the coffee
industry leaders like Nestle and Maxwell House by roasting their coffee very dark and selling their
coffee only in specialty coffee bars (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 64). An example of a
market leader who overconformed to existing norms and therefore led the industry with new norms was Nike in the
athletic shoe industry in the 1970’s and 80’s. Their
shoes were well designed, colorful and ‘avant-garde’ for the time, so much so that the National Basketball
Association (NBA) banned their red and black Air Jordan shoe since it broke their dress code; Nike was breaking industry
norms with their colorful and different
athletic shoes. Years later, the industry’s norms have adapted, and Nike served
as a market leader by overconforming
and leading the charge for more colorful shoes (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 64). For
both of these paths to be successful, they need to be positively interpreted by consumers. The rebels and market
leaders risk social rejection by not conforming
to standards, and the market leaders are also at risk because they can only
maintain their celebrity status as
long as other companies do not innovate to catch up with these new industry standards set by the market
leader (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 63). It is a useful strategy for a brand to become a
celebrity because when they are using their fame to position themselves and be highly visible, their products (or
product extensions of their celebrity brand)
can greatly benefit (Rindova & Pollock & Hayward, 2006, pg. 52). To
summarize, it can be really useful
for a company to try to garner fame by over or underconforming and use it as another tactic to achieve a strategy, and
to help achieve a competitive advantage over their competitors.
There
were many things that helped Kim rise to and sustain her fame, and some of
those tactics translate nicely over
to business like underconforming. These suggestions could help firms in a larger differentiation strategy
or could create a new intangible asset that the company could use to build a competitive advantage,
for example.
D1) Ride The Wave
Kim got
lucky with the timing of her emergence as a star. and being at the height of
reality television, as well as riding
the social media wave. It is not every day that new media communication technologies are invented, but companies could exploit what they can similar to the way Kim did. For
companies, it is important to be at the forefront of these trends and be
a leader in this everchanging market. For example, TikTok is the latest
in media communications technology.
TikTok is an app where users can post 15 to 60-second-long videos and can
easily edit their videos to put
popular songs and sound effects over their content. The videos mainly consist of dancing challenges and trends,
as well as memes and jokes. TikTok uses a unique algorithm to serve consumers more of the content that they enjoy
(Li, 2020). There are not nearly as
many companies on TikTok as there are Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, and
TikTok is apparently notorious for
being difficult to advertise on. Companies could be keeping up with this trend
and riding TikTok’s
current wave of popularity by joining the app and making content.
Although
the app is not the easiest platform to use when it comes to paid
advertisements, there is still an
opportunity for building brand awareness and brand celebrity through creating
an account and posting content like
every other user. This can be seen through The Washington Post, who has had an employee chronicling his
quarantine adventures daily and representing The Washington Post on TikTok. His videos have been well received by
the audience on TikTok, with 21.3
million cumulative likes on their videos and 446 thousand followers on their account (The Washington Post, n.d.).
While this might not translate directly into increased sales, it is building brand knowledge and increasing the brand’s
celebrity to this relatively young audience.
When they grow up a bit and become more avid news consumers (and have an income to spend on news), they will more likely
recall The Washington Post and want to buy from them since they have a built-up trust from repeated viewings on
TikTok. Besides new media technology
trends, brands should ride out other trends as well. For example, while
processed foods used to be the norm,
now Americans are more concerned than ever with eating wholesome and natural food. Using Kim’s
techniques, a company will want to adapt to these trends by making
healthier food, and even create
new trends. For example, if organic chocolate is becoming
popular, why not innovate and create a new organic and fair-trade chocolate? Tomorrow’s norms are today’s changing
trends. If there is a meme circulating, hop on it, and be one of the first to help
circulate it. The world
moves fast online, so it is important to be quick
and take advantage of these trending opportunities and stay at the
forefront of what is popular
the way Kim did.
D2) Parasocial Interactions and Parasocial Advertising
Kim uses
parasocial interactions to help build her brand and fan base and keep people coming back for more. Parasocial
interactions, or talking and interacting on social
media as if you are only talking to one person who is your close friend, causes
people to see a kind of friendship in
her, even if it is an illusion and one sided. Celebrity brands do this often, and firms can take advantage of this way
of communicating to their audience as
well. Take for example, McDonalds on Twitter – they post very impersonal, straightforward ads – it is very obvious
to the consumer that they are being advertised to, and it is hard to feel stimulated and attracted
to those ads. While people are seeing it (around
500 from the likes on the tweet), it might drive a few people to purchase a
Shamrock Shake, but it does not
encourage more interaction than maybe a like, but overall,
it is boring.
Compare
that to Wendy’s on twitter – they are freaking hilarious, and notorious for
their out-of- the-box humor and
challenging other brands such as McDonalds. They have built up a celebrity brand and persona, as they
are consistent in their humorous posts and playful digs at their competitors. People see them as a funny friend and
enjoy their personality as if they were a
person, and then follow and interact with the brand. Again, this might not
directly translate into sales, but
it is about the long game, and building brand recognition and loyalty so that
people think of them later. They are,
like what Kardashian has done, building authenticity, trust, and people are sharing
in their brand
personality and enjoying it. They will most likely help elicit a warm friendship emotion from their
followers since they make people laugh and will more readily come to mind next time they are thinking about getting fast food. This illusion of intimacy
and friendship has led Wendy’s to have a pretty dedicated community of 3.6
million followers on Twitter. By
posting something and leaving a discussion open ended like Kim and Wendy’s does, this allows for ongoing communication in the comments and engages
the audience to discuss or
post their opinions and thoughts. This engagement helps strengthen the parasocial relationship between the brand
and consumer, as well as encourages a sense of
community to form between all their fans. This could also serve as a
focus group which would be beneficial
for the brand to do some social listening to and respond to them by
implementing any suggested changes.
Lueck says that, “the idea of Parasocial advertising is to promote a lifestyle, not a single brand” (Lueck, 2015, pg. 22),
but I think a brand can be a lifestyle. For example, a Target lifestyle looks different from a Walmart lifestyle or a
Patagonia lifestyle. Yes, promote products
occasionally, but always promote the brand, which encompasses things like
lifestyle posts and memes; each is
different to the brand’s persona. Companies could post things that coincide with the brand and the way the
brand’s persona would live life; for example, Target posts modern but fun, playful and unique things, while Walmart
mostly posts about simple, clean photos
and cheap deals, and Patagonia will post exciting, adventurous pictures about
being outside and being kind to the
Earth and others. These kinds of posts and the
personal way that brands talk to consumers is
effective parasocial advertising.
D3) Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Kim
promoted her brand, brand extensions and other products two ways, directly and indirectly through the Elaboration
Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion. ELM persuades people through direct, high cognition messages which are very
obviously advertisements, whereas indirect
or peripheral messages
convince the audience
to buy things through low effort
thinking and peripheral cues like attractiveness and subtle placement, such as
product placement in movies that has
characters “regularly” using products, but not outwardly advertising for them. Direct
advertisements are obvious and
usually present a lot of information and require thought and consideration,
such as buying a car, whereas
indirect advertisements are subliminal or peripheral, such as a main character in a movie drinking Coca-Cola.
Celebrity brands can similarly promote themselves directly, through very obvious advertisements (using a hashtag
‘#ad’, or it simply is positioned and
looks like a typical ad). Things can also be indirectly promoted, such as
through Target’s Twitter and
Instagram posts. They repost people talking about how they love ‘Target runs’
and always buy things they did not
need when they go. This is indirect, but it persuades consumers to go to Target since it is whimsical and
fun, and you find wonderful things you did not know you needed. Think about the products that a company sells and how
they might align with the ELM method;
most car ads will require more direct and high-level persuasion such as including lots of information like price
and APR, whereas food ads might be more indirect as people buy those on a whim. When posting a more direct ad,
consider these. When a brand is posting
to build itself up, a more indirect approach would work well since the goal is
not specifically to sell a product,
but to get people to think about the brand. People could either follow and interact with a brand because
they agree with what the brand says and stands for (direct), or more indirectly, maybe the brand offers an
attractive delicious product like ice cream or can draw them in with humor like Wendy’s.
D4) Mere-Exposure Effect
Kim and
other successful brands post on their social media often enough to remind consumers and make it feel like they are
part of a community, but not so often that it is annoying and overbearing. Consistent and frequent postings help build a brand’s
fame due to the mere exposure effect. If a brand posts
less often, people will not be used to it, but if a brand posts more often, people may show an increased
liking since they are repeatedly being exposed to the brand. The message here is not overdo it, but
still be consistent. Also, the more a brand posts and advertises, the more people will interact with it and share it,
spreading both digital and real-life word
of mouth. Simple exposure is helpful, but the more frequently a brand posts
post and the more intense each
interaction is with their fans, the more likely it is that a strong relationship between the consumer and the celebrity
brand will form. Therefore, it can be helpful to post frequently enough to keep people engaged and at the very least
exposed to a brand to help be reminded of the
brand and build a liking to
it.
D5) Be Accessible
Kim
quickly moved to social media and took advantage of being accessible, better
than most other celebrities at the
time. Media and communication technology has evolved to the point where celebrities can post and reply to
fans in an instant and seem more human to them since they reveal the more private, behind the scenes parts of being a
celebrity. Kim really differentiated
herself and built her brand on her unapologetic realness; although she lives a glamorous life by day, she still argues
with her siblings and cries on her show. She illustrates that although she is an extremely famous
celebrity, she is still human. Brands and firms
could do the same and maybe get the same results. By letting fans see the
messiness of behind the scenes of
making the product, making jokes about the brand (such as Target joking about how easy it is to get distracted in
Target), and showing empathy and care towards
consumers, this can help build a sense of authenticity and trust between
the brand and the audience. When people
comment on posts, or when they share or talk about the brand’s content or product, and when brands share these
opinions on their page and reply to them, this can build trust and a feeling of friendship between the brand and
the consumer. Kim took advantage of social media’s amazing
interactivity, and it could similarly
be beneficial to brands if they did the same.
D6) Tap Into What Motivates People
The
entertainment theory explains that people consume entertainment for two
reasons, either for a playful motive
(because it is an easy and fun mindless distractions) or for an aspirational motive, where consumers try to emulate the
brand or its attributes. Kim utilizes both, as people watch and follow her because they want to be like her, or
because it is a mindless distraction, or both.
It can be easy to post things as mindless distractions, such as fun simple videos and pictures, and that can be a
good tactic to use to get people to follow the brand. But it is even better when people consume the
brand because of the aspirational motive, because then they will aspire to
be like the brand and its attributes and be more likely to get involved
and make a purchase. A post
that tries to motivate people through aspiration might have a call to action or an ad that will encourage the
consumer to consider their life with the brand, such as a Snapchat filter that features the brand
and its persona. Switching between these two kinds of posts could encourage
people to follow, and then pursue their aspirations
to be like that brand and purchase the brand’s products. Also,
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory that describes how we need physical needs like food, water and
safety before we aspire to fill needs
such as love and belongingness, and finally self-actualization, or meeting our
full potential as an individual,
which we are all eventually striving to accomplish. People will aspire for
love, belongingness, friendship,
trust and acceptance in interpersonal relationships, which is a reason people interact with celebrities, even if it is mostly one-sided. The same could happen with a firm if their
fans feel like they are part of a community
because they buy a
brand, that helps fulfil these needs for these people to help
them on their way to achieving their full potential. Take for example
Peloton, where its users share a community
together, interact with each other,
and discuss how much they enjoy the product. They feel like they belong
and are accepted, and are friends
with the brand and its ambassadors, and maybe even love it. This product
fulfils a physical need of being in
shape, as well as being loved and belonging to a community, both of which help them to reach their full
potential. Brands can similarly figure out what part(s) of Maslow’s Hierarchy their brand might fill
and strive to post and advertise towards these
motivations. For example, with Peloton, you’ll be in shape and you’ll
also be part of an exclusive community that cares about you.
D7) Identify The Brand’s Cultural Meaning
Kim’s
self-brand has a cultural meaning, and so do many companies and their products;
for example, Kim’s brand represents
to her followers the ideal look and beauty, fashionable, cool, friendly and relatable, Vans to their
followers represents a skater subculture, whereas Nike represents being athletic to a sporty subculture. Brands, as
mentioned earlier have broader cultural
meanings as well, which are transferred to the consumer, becoming part of their
identity. When they buy and
represent that brand, the consumer also helps promote that identity. Kim, as we have
seen, is a cultural opinion leader for fashion and beauty, and she stays on
top of trends as well as
creates them. Companies could emulate Kim’s tactic by staying on top of trends relating to their cultural meaning, just
like Target did by collaborating with the trendy Magnolia and creating the Heart & Hand
collection, thus staying on top of what is chic, clean and stylish. Also,
advertising helps create cultural meaning and connections between the product and a specific cultural
meaning. Brands could emulate Kim’s success by trying to be opinion leaders and staying on top of
trends, ride them out when possible, and carefully associating the product with a desired cultural meaning. For
example, many people look to Apple as
a technology leader in our culture, even though they are often years behind
Samsung’s innovations (Petro,
2019). Either way, everyone still perceives them as the technological leader, and as if these technological advancements are only cool and popular when Apple does it. Brands
can also transfer meaning by brand associations. Whenever Kim endorses a
product, she transfers her cultural
meaning to that product; so, if she is fashionable, beautiful and stylish so is the eyeshadow palate she’s endorsing. New
cultural meanings can be created for the product through endorsements, or even by teaming together,
such as when similar companies
team up and do giveaways; they are associating with each other and
sharing their cultural meanings, or strengthening
them if they are already similar. Kim is also in a way a cultural currency, and companies could try to do
the same with their brands to gain celebrity firm status. Self-branding can be for commercial gain
as well as for cultural capital, and it is important to focus on both. Sometimes it might be outright commercial gain,
but cultural capital might gain more
loyal followers and consumers and therefore sales in the long run since people see the brand
as a cultural opinion leader. It seems also important to be consistent when
self-branding, and to try to
establish a unique persona for the brand the way Kim has. Also, by continually promoting the brand, it will likely
increase recognition and loyalty and therefore makes fame more attainable. Also, culture can have significant
effects on people’s identities since parts of our identities form based off our culture and its influences, such
as people being very outgoing and independent
in America versus more dependent on others in a more collectivistic culture. It
is important to note that a brand
might be influencing some people’s identities, as they are a reflection of culture. Having a strong and
consistent voice, as well as inspiring emotional and cultural connections through posts as opposed to bland,
straightforward advertisements may help build customer loyalty and eventually sales.
D8) Perceived Fit Between Personality and Products
Perceived
fit is one of the strongest conditions that makes a celebrity brand or brand extension
effective, which is the perceived connection between the brand and the product
being sold. This can be seen with Kim and her brand extensions such as
the SKIMS shapewear line and her KKW
Beauty makeup line; these are related to fashion and beauty, and Kim is a
cultural leader in fashion and beauty,
so the perceived fit is very good. This is important because when people buy things, the meaning of the thing is
transferred to them. People will buy things
that have a specific cultural meaning and when they consume it, that product
and its attributes become part of
their identity; for example, buying Gucci may allow one to feel they have a lavish lifestyle. However, if one buys a Harley Davidson,
that identity aligns with being as
tough as nails and the nonconformity of being part of a biker gang. These
meanings are transferred to their
consumers, and these people display them as part of their identity; one can learn things about people by what brands
they wear, what they buy and eat, etc. Kim’s brand (fashionable, sleek, beautiful) fits well with the types of
products she sells. When building a brand,
it can help to fit the brand’s persona with the products being sold. For
example, Magnolia (a retail store for
home décor and furniture) puts out a clean, sleek, rustic, warm, stylish
persona and voice, which fits well
with the actual style of the products they sell: rustic, warm, and inviting furniture. A brand personality
that would not fit well with these products
would be the persona of Wendy’s: wild, hilarious, pushing
the envelope, etc.
However,
Wendy’s fits well with their product, food, which can be fun, enjoyable,
unafraid of trying new things, bold,
etc. Also, influencer and social media marketing works as a digital version of word of mouth marketing.
Organizations or firms starting something popular or viral online could get people involved through
word of mouth, and then people share these things with their friends online and in person. Shareable content that is
worth talking about helps to reach more than just direct
followers. Kim reaps the benefits
of word of mouth all the time, as she
will post something on her snapchat story, and then people share it both
online and in person, and the media will repost and share her story on different outlets
for more people
to see (Ahlgrim, 2018).
E) Conclusion
Marketing
is a wonderful, beautiful mix of business, psychology, social psychology, culture, and more. When applied to a brand
it is important to try to understand the implications and motivations behind consumers when they act the way they do.
There is much that goes into marketing,
and a lot that has helped make Kim a very effective brand. First, she simply
got fortunate with the timing of her
home video and hitting the peak of reality television as well as the creation of a modern celebrity as a
personal brand rather than just an endorser. Then, when social media began to emerge following the creation of the
smartphones she cleverly hopped on those trends
and became one of the first and biggest names
utilizing these new technologies.
Unlike
other companies though, she did not simply post ads for her brand extensions,
she posted in an informal way that
created parasocial interactions between her and her fans. She showed them intimate, behind-the-scenes pictures,
and talked to them in a voice similar to that of a close friend, causing people to feel like they were truly friends
with her, even though the relationship is
illusory and one sided. Along with this, she posts both direct and indirect
kinds of posts to persuade people to
buy her brand extensions, as well as posts often so that people are repeatedly exposed to her brand. She also taps into
people’s motives for following her, either because it is an easy distraction, or because they aspire to be like her, or
because she helps build up our identities
through consuming her brand, and also because she fills needs such as love and belonging that we all crave. She is also a
cultural opinion leader and has a cultural currency, and we all keep coming back to her because of her leadership, and
further substantiate her cultural meaning every time we do. She inspires emotional
connections through psychology and cultural
connections as a self-brand. She also has a good perceived fit between her
brand and business ventures and helps
advertise for her brand extensions through online word of mouth and through using a two-step flow of communication.
She is credible because she has been around for a while and has built up a good audience and has a much larger reach
than many other celebrities and companies.
She has had an incredible career so far, and is continuing to evolve her
cultural meaning, as now she is an
advocate for justice and prison reform. Instead of dismissing her fame and success as being talentless, take a
closer look at what she has accomplished. Companies can use these same tactics to help build up their own celebrity as a
business tactic and use their fame as
an intangible asset to help build a competitive advantage. From this analysis
of her life and the tactics she has
used to sustain her fame, it is clear to see that we could learn a thing or two
from Kim. She is not just any
ditsy celebrity; she is a marketing
mastermind.
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