According to several reports out there, the Kardashians, especially Kim Kardashian, once able to push almost any product online, have hit a serious stumbling block. Their show, which was once one of the top shows on reality television has lost almost all of its viewership and worse, no one picks up magazines with Kim Kardashians face on it. It is reported to be on the block, to be canceled after this season.
“I’d pay her $600,000 personally not to go to Red Egg,” said Travis Bass, referring to the Chinatown hot spot he co-owns. “Kim Kardashian would be crushing to us. We’d have a meeting Monday and talk about how that happened.”
This is an important note to performance marketers, because Kim Kardashian in particular was an early adopter of Twitter, and was reported to have been paid thousands of dollars to promote products on Twitter. In fact, many people saw Kim as an unofficial spokesperson for Twitter’s success. This raises some questions if that people are tired of the Kardashians, could their focus on twitter also be starting to turn?
Additionally, it really brings attention to how finicky people can be. If Kardashian only a year ago could sell almost anything, and do no wrong, but now is considered a pariah to brands, what does that mean to something like Facebook? Could one mistake for Facebook cost them their almost 1 Billion users? One bad rumor about Facebook, perhaps spread on Google+ could cause a mass exodus and destroy the brand — like perhaps a sex tape of Zuckerberg?
Business Insider has insight on how they destroyed their brand
The wedding of Kim Kardashian to New Jersey Nets basketball forward Kris Humphries took place on August 20, 2011. It is estimated to have cost $10 million. However, by most reports, it did not cost the Kardashians a dime since it was financed by a variety of media and sponsors that used the wedding to promote their products. Unfortunately, the marriage lasted a mere 72 days when Kim announced through her publicist that she is filing for divorce. This caused the segment of anti-Kardashians to grow and for many to label the wedding a sham and a publicity stunt. Even noted saxophonist, Dave Koz, who played during the ceremony, told the press that he thought the wedding lacked authenticity and seemed more like a scene in a movie than a real wedding.
Whatever is happening with the Kardashians, it shows how fast people can go from a $100M a year brand to being completely hated. It’s a great example of how marketers need to stay focused and understand their audience and how to avoid bad press, or worse, associating themselves with something getting bad press.
Poor Kim has even been replaced by Bulldog in the upcoming Sketcher’s Superbowl commercial.
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