Analysis: Fenty Beauty in Comparison to Kylie Cosmetics, Comparing Recent Political National Conventions
In recent years, celebrities and influencers have branched out of their social media forums and careers to hit the market of Cosmetics and Skincare. Some examples of this shift in change is Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and Kylie Jenner’s Kylie Cosmetics.
Fenty Beauty launched in 2017 and now has 10.2 million followers on Instagram while its competitor Kylie Cosmetics has 24.6 million followers and had its launch back in 2015.
When comparing the two brands on Google Trends search data, it is clear that in the last year Kylie Cosmetics has had a consistent lead in searches in comparison to Fenty Beauty. Specifically in November, there was a spike in Kylie Cosmetics searches and again we see another mini spike in June.
When thinking about what could be the reason behind the difference in Google search numbers, one could be the the announcements and PR packages Kylie Cosmetics has had since the time it dropped. Influencers all over Youtube and Instagram come online showing what new things the brand is about to come out with. Some popular releases have been the Winter Collection, the Stormi Collection, and the release of Kylie Skin which all could have lead to the increase in searches.
Fenty Beauty has done similar PR packages and posts when coming out with releases but they don’t come out with releases as often. The recent release of Fenty Skin gave the searches a bit of a boost but not as much as its competitor.
Another factor between the two companies is the consistent publicity surrounding Jenner in that she is always in the tabloids. Recently she has been in controversy surrounding her appearing in music videos meant for women of color, or her involvement in the shooting between singer Tory Lanez and rapper Megan the Stallion.
Rihanna, although famous for her discography, tends to stay out of the tabloids and has kept to herself surrounding her personal life in recent years. Fans await her release of new music since it has been years since her last album in 2016. A guess would be that the more times one name is in the press, the more searches towards one’s brand will be made.
Comparing Recent National Conventions
Last month, both the Democatic and Republican National Conventions took place. Both conventions seemed to take over social media and news outlets.
The Democratic National Convention came at a good time for the party in that it had just been announced that Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his Vice President in the running. This seemed to bring great publicity for his campaign in that not only did he choose a woman, but also a woman of color. This type of representation is rare and shows the growing of opportunities for woman in politics such as Harris herself.
Speeches were made throughout the convention by notable political figures such as Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, and others. Days later, the Republican National Convention took place which also had speeches by those of that party such as Mike Pence, Melania Trump, and many more.
Within the Google Trends search data between the two national conventions, there was a clear difference in numbers of google searches. The Democratic National Convention hit its highest number of Google searches between the two parties on August 18, 2020 and day by day that number went down. Meanwhile, the Republican National Convention hit half that number as it’s highest on August 25, 2020.
One guess for this difference in numbers could be the recent announcement of Biden’s vice president in the running. Also something in mind was that at the time of the Republican National Convention, there was protests going on for the recent police brutality case of Jacob Blake. Lots of the country’s attention was on this which would explain why there would be less attention towards the conventions.