Keeping Up With the Kardashianomics

By Nicole Fernandes (University of Melbourne)

What do you get when you mix contouring, capitalism and controversy? A billion dollar business empire. This family turned fame into a viable business model by turning visibility to value, clout to capital and their personal lives into a marketable empire. This article explores how the Kardashians turned selfies, scandals and SKIMS into a foolproof blueprint of generational wealth one Instagram story at a time.

Welcome to the fame economy where attention is the Kardashians’ only form of currency traded. This family is known for their ultimate skill of mastering the art of attention-seeking. Kim Kardashian got her first taste of media attention by being the friend and stylist of Paris Hilton¹. The family then decided to capitalise on this media attention through multiple scandals from the deliberate leakage of Kim’s sex tape back in 2007 to her schemed 72-day marriage to NBA star Kris Humphries to strategically timing their locations to that of the paparazzi². Social media is their Wall Street because every like, comment, share or post builds their empire. Kris Jenner, who is the momager of the clan and the brains behind all the beauty, is the ultimate investment banker of pop culture. The devil works hard but Kris Jenner definitely works harder.

Lip Kits, Loungewear & Billion-Dollar Brands

Their fame has transpired into launching multi-million dollar merch empires encompassing lip kits to loungewear. Kylie Jenner became the family’s first billionaire thanks to lip filler criticisms, which she cleverly turned into a beauty empire by launching Kylie Cosmetics, capitalizing on the public’s fascination with her lips to sell millions of lip kits by age 21³. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian’s effort to sell body image turned into a business of selling actual products through SKIMS and KKW. In addition to that, after being accused of cultural appropriation for initially naming her shapewear line ‘Kimono’⁴, this didn’t stop her from internalising the externality (by just an apology) and carrying on with her shapewear line under the name of SKIMS. Why sell your soul when you can sell shapewear? Despite the various criticisms that they face, the one thing that never fails to inspire me is how they can turn critiques into a business model. These ladies are not just influencers, rather they own what they influence. Kim’s focus on body image through shapewear to Khloe’s focus on fitness to Kylie’s focus on glam through makeup to Kourtney’s focus on wellness to Kendall’s focus on high-end couture through her runway career and premium tequila brand; it’s interesting to observe how each sister has built a niche to capitalise on.

Their empire doesn’t just stop at their reality show or the multiple businesses they run. They are now securing their bag for the next generation too. The brand building game begins from a young age. For instance, North West made her rap debut in Paris at Kanye West’s Yeezy Fashion Show in 2020 at just age six⁵. The Kardashians are meticulously building their wealth with a solid plan such as trademarking their babies’ names (yes, Psalm West is actually trademarked⁶). With that being said, being a Kardashian is a generational job title because you are basically born having more brand deals than most adults.

Clapback Economy

An important aspect to their fame that I would like to address is the ‘Kardashian Clapback Economy’ where hate is turned into capital. According to the Kardashian economic model, hate is a highly monetisable element. Every tweet, tabloid outrage, rumour or meme adds to their visibility and in an ‘Attention Economy’, visibility equals value. Counterintuitively, they are able to turn these negative externalities (hate) into profit because public backlash generates free publicity which boosts clicks and views which ultimately turns into conversion. With Kim’s crying memes being sold as merch to Khloe’s photoshop scandals birthing an entire fitness brand to Kylie’s denial of lip fillers leading her to own a billion-dollar lip business, the only constant is that criticism fuels this cycle. In a classic domino effect, outrage stimulates engagement which increases demand and thus drives sales. In economic terms, it’s obvious to identify that they have profited from internalising multiple externalities.

However, let’s be real, this model does come with its fair share of critiques. This model is largely built on privilege, unattainable beauty standards and the proximity to fame. It is vital to note that the Kardashian-Jenner sisters were born into a family of connections and money. Prior to their reality show, Kris Jenner had strong connections. For instance, her marriage to Robert Kardashian, a prominent lawyer⁷, opened lucrative connections that were leveraged for their reality TV show. But on a realistic note, is this replicable for an average person? The chances are highly unlikely unless your mom is Kris Jenner or your ex is Kanye West.

How to Kardashian Your Life

But if you’ve made it this far to the article and feel disappointed after knowing that this model is highly unlikely to be replicated for the ordinary person, you might be mistaken. This is how you can possibly Kardashian your life, with a touch of economics. Firstly, drawing on attention, which is the currency of the Internet economy, should be treated as a scarce resource. By capturing attention, you could potentially convert that into income. For instance, supplying your content, through viral formats, on platforms with high demand, such as trending apps with high user rates should be a lucrative move if you are successful at maximising user utility by giving them content that they’ll love. Secondly, monopolising your niche which will help you gain market power in a creator economy. Specialise in a unique area and think of yourself as a one-of-a-kind product in a saturated market. Third, focusing on capital conversion. Turn your personal capital into financial capital by leveraging your own social and cultural capital such as your influence and lifestyle into monetizable assets like merchandise, consultancy or partnerships.

In addition to that, it would also be best to diversify your income streams by mixing brand deals, working on a side hustle, focusing on your 9-5, leveraging social media, etc as it reduces exposure to risks. Fifth, optimising your marginal gains by posting consistently and tracking what gets the best engagement, which is essentially your own marginal utility. From this, invest time in what works. Lastly, thinking intergenerationally. Build assets that appreciate over time such as real estate, brand equity and long term partnerships by leveraging lucrative connections from attending networking events or utilising LinkedIn/social media platforms. From capturing attention through controversy and paparazzi to monopolising their niche with their own businesses to quite literally monetising their personal life through their reality show, this family has strategically leveraged clout as currency, drama as a business model, fame as a full-time brand, attention as capital, and controversy as a marketing strategy.

The Kardashians didn’t just walk into fame, they franchised it. They have turned their life into content, content into capital and capital into a kingdom. As many say, they may not have the talent but they did manage to turn transparency, hustle and drama into an ultimate economic model, and they did it all in heels and nail extensions!