Whether you’re aiming to break the internet, or just trying to get higher in search engine rankings, Kim Kardashian could teach anyone a thing or two about PR. Love her or loathe her – Kim knows her brand, and has managed to cultivate herself a prominent, practically permanent, presence in the global headlines. Businesses can learn from these clever PR strategies, and implement them to forge a formidable reputation for themselves.
1. Keep up with what’s kool
Being up-to-date with current affairs and popular culture ensures that brands and PRs have every opportunity available to them when trying to position themselves effectively in newsworthy situations. Newsjacking is an increasingly popular means of doing this, and is a fast and efficient way to latch onto popular news stories.
Snickers, for example, sent Jeremy Clarkson a box of the bars entitled “You’re not you when you’re hungry” following his apparent punch-up with a producer at a hotel in North Yorkshire. Always being talked about and doing something different is key to Kim’s success. Dying her hair platinum blonde recently made the news worldwide, as did her questionable outfit choices at Paris Fashion Week.
2. Keep a konsistent brand identity
Although being open to change is important, keeping a consistent brand image is imperative for effective brands. Kim is always ‘on brand’, primed and ready for any waiting paparazzi with perfectly coiffed hair, flawless makeup, and stylist-picked attire. Even baby North is never seen without a hair out of place. By having and maintaining a consistent image, current and prospective customers alike are able to strongly identify with a company through their products and values, and therefore build an often profitable, lasting relationship.
3. Keep kompany with similar brands
To help maintain a strong brand identity, associating yourself with brands that enhance your own is a great way to help. Kim, along with the rest of the Kardashian clan, is forever pictured wearing Balmain, and in turn they are often featured in Creative Director Olivier Rousteing’s Balmain campaigns and as well as his personal Instagram page. This relationship ensures huge exposure for both parties, but both are seen as high-cost, luxury brands. By forging profitable, two-way working relationships, both brands’ reputations can be enhanced and reach more audiences due to positive associations with each other.
4. Komment on what you know
It is highly unlikely that Kim will ever pass comment on as rocket science or neurology, and this is a key lesson all businesses can learn from. Hosting content on your website that is of little or no relevance to your brand is a wasted exercise. If it is not relevant to you, then it is also likely to be unrelated to your audience. For example, if a haulage company were to blog about London Fashion Week, or an airline were discussing the benefits of botox versus fillers. If there is no obvious link between the two, then it is probably best to steer clear. Stay specific – it is better to show you are an expert in your field rather than dabbling in multiple trades.
5. Kommunicate with your audience
Social media for many companies is a huge asset, as it allows them to quickly and easily keep in touch with their audiences. Maintaining a steady flow of communication via sites such as twitter, Facebook and Instagram ensures that you remain at the forefront of reader’s minds, along with nurturing a two-way means of communication with them. Kim to date has over 30 million followers on twitter, 28 million on Instagram, and close to 26 million fans on Facebook. By retaining a strong link with social media followers, and keeping them updated on her life and what she is doing, Kim encourages fans to come back and view her social media pages time and time again, therefore creating a loyal band of followers.
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