Kim Keeps It "Real"

Truth be told, I seriously contemplated changing my "organization" of choice for this blog. I mean, how much of Kim Kardashian can we all take? I'm not a fan of her, nor do I watch her shows (until I started this project, of course. Thanks to Netflix for the access to old episodes!). However, I do live on this planet, so I can't really help hearing news about her.

Then last Monday, to no one's utter surprise and amazement, I heard news that rocked the world and made people weep and wail: OMG, Kim was divorcing her husband-of-72-days Kris Humphries!

How can I not forge on with renewed determination? So it's back to Ms. Kim Kardashian as the subject of academic research and analysis. This week's topic...

Kim Keeps It "Real"

Say what you want about Kim Kardashian, but Kim Kardashian is a successful business person because, as Rohit Bhargava stated in "Personality Not Included", she has "created a new niche...by forging into new areas to make the competition irrelevant." Competition? A socialite with her own reality TV shows seems like Paris Hilton to me. Kim K. surpassed what Ms. Hilton has done and more.

Kim Kardashian is great at positioning. In episodes of "Keeping Up with the Kardashians", she refers to herself as a princess, and presents herself as a rich and glamorous girl. As for creating a twist, she's both a good girl and a bad girl - doesn't drink and doesn't smoke - yet she is a sex symbol.

How could Kim Kardashian not appeal to the viewing public? With multiculturalism alive and vibrant here in the U.S.A., she represents the half-and-half generation (half-Armenian, half-English) with a strong respect for her cultural heritage. In an interview with ArmenianPulse.com,

"I am 4th generation Armenian, born and raised in Los Angeles. My great Grandparents from my fathers side came to LA from Armenia right before the Genocide. My great Grandfather was Armenian and my great Grandmother Turkish-Armenian. My mother is English, so I am half Armenian, but, I was raised with a huge Armenian influence, always hearing stories of Armenia, eating Armenian food and celebrating Armenian holidays!"

What's more, she shares old and new family photos in her official website, which makes her seem all the more authentic, real and accessible to her fans. Value-wise, she presents another twist - she might be a rich girl but it's really a result of hard work, a value instilled in them since they were young. Of course, Ms. Kardashian has been accused of always being motivated by profit, but honestly, anyone who starts a business and stays in business AIMS to profit.

Kim is an expert social media practitioner. She interacts with her fans using social media, engages them in serious or trivial matters, which increases her fans' trust in her as a person. According to the article "Kim Kardashian Inc." in The New York Times, "When fans ask her what she is wearing or what lip gloss she uses, she answers them and then creates products in the vein of what they like."

Her experience as a stylist makes her an expert in all things pertaining to fashion and beauty - an expertise she is only too willing to share to her followers. After all, if she knows what she's talking about, then it adds to her credibility and strengthens her brand all the more.

Despite Kim's many business endeavors, there is no single corporate site to encompass all her projects. By keeping it that way, she maintains the image of being a celebrity first and foremost, and secondly, an entrepreneur, but not a business entity.

As for branding and her "organization", her name IS her brand. She successfully associated her name with the glamorous life. The spokesperson for Kim Kardashian the brand IS Kim Kardashian herself. Her double K logos - despite the design differences for her fragrance line and her watch line - bear a sophisticated look. Her official website's header spells out her name using a sparkly font. Her fragrance and watch lines use mostly the color black, as well as gold, purple, and white. On the other hand, her fitness workout series uses pink, red and blue. Her website itself has a black background, although her Twitter page has a photograph of her with her sisters. Choosing black makes sense symbolically - black epitomizes elegance, luxury, sophistication, wealth and even sexuality, which is what the Kim Kardashian brand seems to aim for.

Reading her blog, Facebook and Twitter pages, Kim does sound like the Kim you see on TV. Yes, it is true that she openly promotes her current projects, as well as her siblings' in her pages. After all, why not? The family has products and a lifestyle to sell.

As part of the Kardashian clan, Kim and her family seem like they're everyone else. And yet they're not. With their privileged upbringing, the Kardashians most assuredly are nothing like most of their audience. And they know it too; otherwise, why is the title of their show "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"?

Thus, it cannot be denied that Kim Kardashian's impressive and consistent branding, coupled with her ability to communicate to her fans with a strong uniform voice, will continue to add fuel to the Kim Kardashian fire.