Kanye West’s Personal Branding Success
A popular way to get another stream of income for famous icons and other content creators is starting your own personal brand. A personal brand is an effort used to influence and create products while promoting your own voice. The “voice” aspect can range from person to person, meaning not everyone will push their brand the same exact way (Freberg 2019).
Famous rapper Kanye West started his personal brand known as “Yeezy” with Nike in 2009. At first Yeezy was strictly a shoe line that took off, but then in 2013 Kanye West signed with Adidas to expand across products. The brand is so popular because of how they were sold, styled, and marketed. The simplicity of the boxes and price tags it comes in is an eye catching aesthetic to where as though the five hundred dollar price tag does not mean much. Since Kanye West is one of the most influential rappers, he promotes products to millions of fans using his social media platforms. His bi polar disorder is no secret to the public, he is known for tweeting all things that come to mind whenever he is going through a “manic episode” and “going against the grain” whenever there is a controversial issue. For example, him announcing that he was running for president in 2020 was a random event that took place whenever he wasn’t stable. With this being said, anytime he had a new idea for the Yeezy line, he would tweet his ideas with photos to keep his crowd engaged.
Another reason why Yeezy is so successful is because of the limited resource there is. Whenever a new sneaker or clothing article releases, only 40,000 items are allowed to be sold. Sneakers usually sell out in minutes whenever a new release drops. This is great marketing because despite the price, the item is already going to known as “rare” because it’s something that not everyone can have or buy due to the quantity. The people who do get a lucky chance to purchase items from Yeezy often resell the product for double or triple the amount due to the rarity. The apparel itself already appears to be different than other brands because of the creativity and unique comfortable yet stylish look. Kanye west currently has a deal with Adidas and recently signed a 10-year deal with Gap to collaborate with Yeezy. The brand has grown so much over the last ten years that it made almost 3 billion dollars in 2019, the majority of Kanye Wests income comes from Yeezy over rapping.
As you can see, starting your own personal brand is a strategic way to make money, but it requires some skill. Kanye West exemplifies great marketing skills and with that is a clear reflection of his success with Yeezy. Using your voice and knowing how to content create for an audience is a skill that is needed to achieve the same common goals and interests that our most influential icons have.
