Kanye West: marketing mastermind or massive tool?
You either love the man, or you loathe him entirely. There is no in-between. One thing Kanye’s haters and fans can agree on is that he knows how to draw a crowd (whether that be online or at his shows). He’s not one to shy away from confrontation and certainly doesn’t pass an opportunity to speak his mind. His recent online antics have got me thinking, is Kanye losing his marbles or is every Twitter rant and every album rework a cleverly calculated marketing strategy to keep us all talking about him? Whether it’s his fashion, music or lifestyle, Kanye West is at the top of his game and he shows no signs of slowing down.
It’s really no surprise that Kanye West made the move into fashion industry. He’s now done three collaborations with Adidas and fans have gone completely nuts over his clothing. I think it’s time someone comes out and tells the truth. His designs are not high fashion. In fact, I’m not even sure if you can call it fashion at all. So what possesses people to purchase his ‘hobo-chic’ clothing line? It all comes down to successful marketing. Who can forget Kanye’s first fashion show? The front row was jam-packed with A-list celebrities. Sitting front and centre was Kim Kardashian and North West, Anna Wintour, Beyoncé, Jay Z and P Diddy (is that what he goes by these days?). Arguably the five most influential people in music and fashion were there in support of Kanye’s fashion venture. The most popular item to come from the collaboration was the Yeezy Boost sneakers. These sneakers are highly coveted, with people camping out for days outside shoe stores just to get their hands on a pair. Kanye crashed one of Drake’s shows to give him a pair of Yeezy Boosts to unbox in front of over a thousand camera phones. Naturally, the pictures ended up all over the Internet. Marketing gold. But he wasn’t finished yet, no sir, Kanye West never does anything small. Backstage after a Dave Chappelle show, Kanye literally took the Yeezys off his own feet as a gift to Dave. Of course, Kim Kardashian was there to document the gesture for her 67 million Instagram followers. In the lead up to the release of the already hyped sneaker, the man himself delivered Yeezys to fans in Adidas stores. He was everywhere, and so too were his sneakers.
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Kanye West at the Yeezy Season 3 fashion show & The LIfe of Pablo album launch earlier this year.[/caption]
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Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post was seen by her 62 million followers[/caption]
Fashion isn’t the only time Kanye West has disguised strategic marketing and made it seem like he was ‘just being Kanye’. His latest album The Life of Pablo was drumming up publicity well before its release. He announced the track list via Twitter then changed his mind on the album title four times before sticking with The Life of Pablo. Not a week has gone so far this year without Kanye launching himself into very public Twitter rants, sometimes dragging in other artists. From his feud with Wiz Khalifa and beef with deadmau5, to his support of alleged rapist Bill Cosby, Kanye was had everyone hooked on his Twitter feed, waiting to see what he would say next. Again, marketing gold. Whether they were fans or not, everyone was (and still is) talking about Kanye West.
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After all the drama and constant reworks, The Life of Pablo was finally launched. But, it was only available on Tidal, the streaming service owned by his good mate Jay Z (not that this matters anymore, because now you can stream or purchase The Life of Pablo from your preferred music service). I don’t know about you, but I am a poor university student, there was no way I was paying US$9.99 per month to listen to it. However, clearly not everyone shared my view, with the Tidal app becoming the top downloaded app on the Apple Store shortly after The Life of Pablo was released. Having said this, the album was illegally downloaded over half a million times in the first day of its release. Kanye was even caught on torrent websites, raising the question; did Kanye West upload his own album to illegal file sharing platforms? Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if he did; it’s an excellent way of gaining fans that wouldn’t have otherwise paid for the music. But, he could probably use the money right about now. This was yet another publicity stunt to keep people talking. And they have done just that.
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Celebrity endorsements have been around for over a century, but we, as consumers, are quick to notice and discredit this promotional method. This is where more celebrities are turning to branding as a more subtle form of advertising their products and music. Essentially, branding uses a celebrity’s position of influence to create interest, buzz and encourages conversation around a product. Usually, most celebrities aim for a positive brand image when selling themselves. However, Kanye West isn’t most celebrities. The perfect example of this is his ongoing love-hate relationship with Taylor Swift. After his infamous hijacking of her acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV VMA’s, Kanye apologised to Taylor for the incident in 2010, took back his apology in 2013 and was friendly with her again at the 2015 Grammys. This friendship didn’t last long, with Kanye reigniting controversy in his 2016 song Famous with the lyrics: “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, I made that bitch famous”. For Kanye, any publicity is good publicity.
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A sign of a short-lived friendship between Taylor Swift and Kanye West[/caption]
Life would be dull without the constant Twitter rants, fashion fixes and most importantly, the music Kanye West blesses us with. To answer the question, I personally believe that Kanye West is a genius when it comes to selling himself, his music and his fashion. I think every tweet, every surprise appearance and every album rework (they’re still happening) is done as a form of strategic branding. Quite frankly, it is working for him. #Kanye2020
