Recently Kylie Jenner was announced as the youngest-ever “self-made” billionaire by Forbes. This is due largely to her success with her beauty company Kylie Cosmetics. It is expected that by 2022 Kylie Cosmetics will hit 1 billion dollars. This is incredible considering Loreal took 80 years to reach that mark and Bobbi Brown 25 years. While there is lots of controversy around her ‘self-made’ title there is no denying that her accomplishments are extremely impressive as a businesswoman.
For comparison, Jennifer Lopez commonly known as J Lo a successful actress and singer struggled when she decided to extend her endeavors into the fashion business with her clothing line Sweetface. It was unfortunately proven to be unsuccessful after launching in 2003 only to shortly shut down in 2009. JLO’s story is one of many instances of celebrity businesses failures. This is all to show that fame and recognition alone cannot guarantee a successful business.
So, what made Kylie an anomaly? Well, it all comes down to Kylie’s business strategy. Before even starting her business, Kylie was able to build her own personal brand. This was formed through her social media presence that allowed her to become a fashion icon on multiple platforms. In addition to this, she was able to build a loyal following who enjoyed the inside scoop of looking into her life of luxury.
No celebrity had ever been so public about their private life the way Kylie did. This built a personal connection between Kylie and her fans. Her strong social media presence and photo shoots gave her even more recognition in the beauty industry that couldn’t be ignored. With all this attention on her appearance, many people noticed her changing looks.
There was a lot of speculation around whether Kylie had gotten cosmetic procedures done because of her drastic changes. This brought lots of press and attention to Kylie especially because of her young age. It was later revealed that she did indeed get lip fillers. Instead of letting the criticism given to her changing lips affect her, Kylie found a way to change all the negative attention surrounding her into something more profitable. Her very own makeup collection. This consisted of her infamous lip kits.
Aside from her online platform and financial advantage. One thing that made Kylie Cosmetics different from other brands is the limited availability of her products. Her scarcity marketing has been proven successful with her lip kits selling out after only 10 minutes of posting. This made her limited lip products coveted.
Despite Kylie having a big advantage at the beginning of her career, there was lots of thought that went into it. Kylie’s success with her cosmetic company shows how much work and strategy is needed to run a business that may seem so simple.