Kylie Jenner is on top of her game. She was recently featured on the cover of Forbes magazine as a young mogul to prove it and even tops the list of Instagram's earners. Still, she stands to lose her wealth according to Business Insider.
Her empire was built on a strong social media influence. Her following, who became obsessed with the young woman's enhanced lips, swiped Kylie Cosmetics' lip gloss kits as soon as they hit the market. However, business experts find a crucial flaw in her brand: Kylie Jenner. Li Jin, an investment partner at Silicon Valley venture firm Andreessen Horowitz, commented on how it is dangerous for Kylie's brand to be so focused on the owner herself.
The major job that her products help consumers do now is to feel like they're accessing a piece of Kylie [...] To become an enduring, standalone business, it's necessary for all influencer brands to go beyond being tied to a single person, and create a 'purpose brand.
Her company is being compared to that of Martha Stewart, whose business virtually evaporated. Stewart reached a famed success with a multitude of products and content that revolved around her persona. Less than two decades later, her brand was worth a fraction of its peak amount of over $1 billion. Jin cites Preserve by Blake Lively and StyleMint by Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen as examples of this concept. These brands have been forgotten by most.
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