“Final” ‘Project’
When I first started this assignment, I really wanted to pick and write about someone who was sus. Point out all their flaws on social media that makes them sus (like Norm Kelly). But then I thought about all the negativity in the world, and I was like, wow that would be so sus.
So instead, I’m going to take this once in a lifetime opportunity to write about someone who joined Twitter the same year I did! Only 6 months before me! My favourite Kardashian, Kourtney. Pretty sure we all know who that is, but I’m just going to do a quick introduction for those that pretend they don’t pay attention to them — “the Kardashians, who is that?” — said no one ever. The eldest sister of the Kardashian clan, Kourtney has always been my favourite. She’s so little (like me), but so full of vigor. Her rise to fame is typically attributed with the cult classic (yes, don’t try to argue), Keeping Up with the Kardashians, one of the longest running reality TV shows. However, it’s also falsely synonymous with her success. To put it in the simplest terms, she has done a lot more than just ‘that’.
To be honest I was late to the Kardashian train. But thanks to my good friend, Emma (she put me on), I have been keeping up with them since 2013. I literally went back and watched all the seasons until I caught up. I’m telling ya, I was absolutely amazed. Mesmerized by the entire family. I don’t know why people can’t look passed the “glam”, because to be honest, they have really good family values, and really smart business sense. Don’t roll your eyes. You and I both know; this entire family knows how to successfully capitalize on themselves. And we all know this society has become obsessed with the idea of ‘building your brand’, especially with the use of social media (which to be honest I don’t enjoy, but whatever). Look at you and your friend(s) trying to “brand yourself”. You’re sitting there listening to some workshop on how to ‘build your brand’ — ‘is this post on brand?’ While there are real people out there actually accomplishing just that, yet get bashed with this thought-train of, “what are they actually famous for?” … famous for being famous? Like please. Trash??? Are you in deep denial of the facts? They are famous for being themselves! Since when… was being yourself… a bad thing? If that’s… what everyone… wants to be… Is it because a family, majority women, found a way to capitalize on “misfortunes”, and rose from the ashes, despite the criticisms on how they choose to live their life?
Anyway (I could discuss that all day but back to the point), Kourtney has opened up clothing boutiques, clothing lines, taken on business ventures with her mother and sisters, on top of appearing on the show, and models. So it’s been about ten years, let’s look at some metrics of Kourtney’s social media platforms:
- 11.9K tweets - 72 following - 22.1M followers
- 3,111 posts - 80 following- 55.3M followers
- 15,204,587 likes
So, interesting numbers, right? Instagram is literally more than doubled the amount of followers on her Twitter, yet it seems like she posts much less. Why? Perhaps it’s because we honestly just love visuals, as we learned — “Seeing is Retweeting” and we witnessed the “power of visual marketing” (RTA902 — Week 7). About 99% (I didn’t actually do the math) of Kourtney’s Instagram feed consists of photos that feature herself in it. The other 1% (again, did not actually do the math), if she’s not in it, it’s photos of her kids, or a quote, or some interior-design related post. So what does this have to do with marketing? Uh, she’s marketing herself. She is an i n f l u e n c e r.
What’s that you say?
An influencer as we learned, is someone who has influence. And influence is basically that power to persuade someone into doing something. In this context, Kourtney has the power of influence to convince her followers to purchase or support something that she endorses. So in the basic sense, if she posts something, people will follow. From what we learned in class, there are three markets that have the largest influencer base; 1) Food, 2) Lifestyle, 3) Parenting. And Kourtney, being the businesswoman she is, touches on all three markets.
Food. Don’t even get me started on Kourtney’s dietary restrictions. If you want to criticize something, let me tell ya. When Scott asked if they even knew what gluten was, I died of laughter. There was an episode where he literally replaced all the organic, gluten-free food in the house (with Kourtney’s later disapproval), and it was hilarious. But that’s the thing. Eating clean, eating healthy, gluten-free, vegan friendly, there’s a HUGE market for that. Sure, she posts #ad sometimes on ‘questionable’ products (like diet solutions), but it is, what it is. And Kourtney is on that.
Lifestyle. Probably the main reason why anyone criticizes anyone to be honest — lifestyle is the way a person lives; consists of a set of attitudes, habits, possessions. And just like anything else, this idea of ‘lifestyle’ and what you might enjoy compared to what that person sitting over there might enjoy, is entirely subjective. Kourtney consistently posts her outfits to stunt on the ‘gram, she posts her vacations, the party she attends, her friends, her kids, her interest in interior design; all of these things play a part in her lifestyle.
Parenting. Kourtney was the first of the sisters to have children. Now she has three, and she is definitely not afraid to embrace the ‘mommy-side’ of her life. She posts pictures of her kids, and since the beginning, she was investing her time on children’s clothing. So I mean, you have to admit, she definitely holds a high spot in the market when it comes to parenting… y’know… since she is a parent after all.
So take these three big markets, and Kourtney Kardashian, and you have a massive empire, just based on Kourtney alone. I know it’s been about 1000 words and you’re like, she has yet to mention her app/website! Well. I was building up to that. Enter: https://www.kourtneykardashian.com.
The cherry on top. Each sister basically has their own app/website. But Kourtney’s position is rather interesting. She’s like, the mommy-blogger of mommy-bloggers. Her website features six main sections: Health and Wellness, Décor, Delish, Kourt, Kids, and Style and Beauty. Well, well, well. That sounds like all the markets that have a huge influencer base! Health and Wellness consists of; workout routines, skin care, music on her gym playlist, detoxing tips. Décor is dedicated to her love of interior design, from how she organizes her own closet, to her kids’ room, to cleaning solutions. Delish, is of course food, and all the recipes she uses or wants to share to maintain a healthy diet. Kourt, is basically a section where she shout-outs her favourite followers, or posts things that she does on a daily basis (things you probably would see on her social media accounts). Kids, obviously is about her kids, which is obviously about parenting; from toys to bed time routines, and fun gifts for kids. Lastly, Style and Beauty covers everything from what she wears, to make-up tips. She literally taps into all the markets that have the largest influencer base — is this not a good business tactic? And that’s not even the best part.
While access to her lifestyle via social media is obviously free, and some content on the website is available to all users there are some locked content. Meaning, you’d have to subscribe. So for $2.99 a month, or $24.99 annually, you can have an all-exclusive-access-pass to Kourtney’s lifestyle, food tips, and parenting tips. So you’ll notice tweets like:
You click the link, and it brings you straight you her website, and if you paid that subscription fee, you have access to it! And if not, you’re prompted to sign up! To make things easier, you can just easily download the app straight your mobile device.
And so, back to the use of social media. Everything goes hand in hand. It’s Kourtney, it’s the show, it’s what she’s wearing, it’s what she’s saying, it’s what she’s not saying, it’s what she’s eating, it’s what she’s posting, it’s what she’s sharing. Is she posting a #ad? Is it really that alarming — I mean what is actually so wrong about that? The product? Then don’t buy it? Social Media basically gave her a platform to interact with her fans — she retweets fans that tweet at her or about her. It’s all marketing. It’s all encompassing. But it’s all about her. You may (incorrectly) think she’s famous for being famous, but like… she’s famous for being herself. A mom. A sister. A daughter. A friend. A businesswoman. A human being that uses the internet, and has a convenient documentary about her life and all those memories viewed and shared with millions of people. She actually made it. So please stop the hate. And admire what you all helped to create. It’s like you want something, but then criticize it the moment you get it. You think you want a female role-model, but then criticize them because they like clothes and make up like you do? Or because they have money and you think they should spend it on this and that, rather than things that fit their lifestyle? We live in a society that constantly prides itself on finding beauty in everyone, but the moment a woman uses that to her advantage, it’s shallow? Kourtney uses social media strategically, to help ‘build her brand’ — and thanks to the countless number of times I heard ‘Build. Your. Brand.’ I think this is something we all try to reiterate in our own lives.
