The success of Kanye West’s rollout of Yeezy Season 6 came as a surprise. It continues to grow bigger and better each day. Modelled by Kim Kardashian, this season’s idea is a complete head-to-toes outfit. Kim incorporated ideas from Carine Roitfeld and shot in faux-paparazzi style during her normal daily routine. The quick and wide spread has proved Kanye’s significant influence even in his silence and dormancy.
Kim’s Instagram posts pasted on walls in Miami became the beginning of the marketing of Yeezy Season 6. The photos have drawn more attention than was expected from her posts. It is difficult to predict the future of Yeezy using the current trends.
Marketing Strategy
The Yeezy Season 6 marketing campaign has included more IG models and popular friends. These influential characters are committed to support and boost the campaign by wearing the clothes head to toe. They are located in the same places as Kim’s pics. The new campaign instantly drew media attention and is continuing to grow in fame.
To bring a fresh idea into the brand, West recruited trendy personalities such as Paris Hilton, Jordyn Woods, Amina Blue, Sami Miro, and Kiresten Noel Crawley. Others include; Abigail Ratchford, Erica Jardim and Shannon with Shannade Clermont (the Clermont twins). The promotion is set to be bigger this time.
Kanye showed his commitment to his wife’s business by foregoing the New York Fashion Week to attend the Yeezy assortment. Missing in action at the traditional runway show was a big surprise for both the fans and organizers.
Social Media
Since the first photos emerged with the hashtag #YeezySeason6, social media was filled a string of photos of the models. The images were posted by the models in the Kimye Camp. They all wore a striking resemblance to Kim’s paparazzi-style. These models are friends of the brand dedicated to reenact the iconic Kim moments. The popular Kim’s paparazzi images emerged towards the end of last year posted by Kanye. They not only appeared in the same looks but also locations as Kim’s pictures on Instagram earlier.
The wide spread of the photos proved Kanye’s undeniable influence on social media. It also showed social media as the most effective way of marketing. The social media marketing campaign proved both creative and intriguing.
The idea is trendy, modern, attractive, and most importantly; unique. It succeeded in creating something most fashion brands have no thought of at the moment.
In addition to all of these influencers posting on instagram, large posters of the original instagram posts started to appear plastered over public walls, with the majority in New York City
Legality
Concerning the legality of the strategy; little has been discussed concerning the legality of this innovation. Experts believe that Mr. West could have violated the law by engaging in anticompetitive business practices. The last time it happened, Lord & Taylor was found guilty of facilitating the presentation of native advertising. This was back in 2015 when the company enlisted 50 select fashion influencers promising to pay between USD 1,000 and USD 4,000. Without closing the deal meant the models got the dresses and marketed them for free. This advertising scheme attracted rival complaints compelling the FTC to investigate and forced a settlement. Lord & Taylor was since barred from presenting content coming from independent sources like magazines or influencers.
Downsides
Undisclosed ad campaigns attract complications eventually. Since the first posts of the Yeezy posts emerged, confusion of the originality set in. Potential customers could not understand that the imagery is part of formal marketing strategy. You may not instantly know that the models are part of a business, in which they are being compensated. The compensation could be as insignificant as just the free clothes but it still counts as compensation. The posts were part of an official ad campaign but cannot be interpreted easily as such. Instead, the Yeezy photos appeared as leisure photos when they were meant to be part of an official marketing plan.
Verdict
Regardless of whether potential customers accessing the photos on Instagram could tell that the photos were related, the purpose was achieved. It is clear to tell that there is a material connection between the original photos with Kim and the modelled images. It is very unlikely to view them as part of an ad campaign.
The Yeezy campaign does not resemble a traditional campaign much. It has too much of the casual-feeling to be associated with a business strategy on the Internet. Moreover, logo-less clothes were used without emphasis on the brand. The style contradicts most other fashion ad campaigns.
Conclusion
Although the Yeezy campaign is controversial, it will surely attract more media attention and fame. Consequently, the marketing is likely to achieve its purpose even without emphasis on the logo. Associating with Kim’s imagery on paparazzi is enough to sell the brand. Kanye and Kim succeeded in pulling off one of the most unique strategies to fight competition. This is however, not an original idea because Lord &Taylor used in back in 2015 using 50 friends and got penalized by the courts.
Only a few days after the first images appeared, there was a lot of media attention and rising popularity. The strategy to involve friends in an official marketing campaign mistaken for a casual leisure image-posting on the internet could be illegal but effective. Kanye West needs to be careful with the legality of his ad campaigns lest he attracts a heavy penalty and harm his business.
