As cliché as it may be I love Bravo TV. I follow Top Chef as if they were all my family members and get personally offended when a millionaire breaks the rules on The Millionaire Matchmaker. I feel loyal to Bravo partially because I feel that I am personally indebted to them for introducing me to Skinny Girl Margarita’s, Bravo star Bethenny Frankel’s creation.
For those of you who aren’t addicted to everything Bravo comes out with like I am, Bethenny was an original New York City housewife. She is loud, crass, and brutally honest and I can’t get enough of her. Previously struggling to make it as a natural chef on ‘The Apprentice’ she emerged as a favorite housewife because she was entertaining and funny but still real. She was single and working to make a name for herself and her brand. After meeting her fiancé and becoming pregnant Bravo saw the opportunity and gave her her own show. The show killed the Housewives in the ratings and Bethenny became a standalone star. Now with a baby, a husband, and a growing brand in natural cookbooks, recipes, and her infamous Skinny Girl Margaritas she continues to share her whole live with her fans and consumers. People see who she is what she stands for and how she lives. Her willingness to share her whole life on TV and with her consumers and fans has done wonders for her brand.
Skinny Girl Margarita’s are great! They are light and refreshing and can be served over just ice while still being less than 100 calories a drink. My roommate and I swear by them and her and everything she stands for. The alcohol business is extremely hard to emerge in. With household names like Grey Goose, Smirnoff and Absolut the liquor department is even harder. What made Bethenny’s brand succeed is that buying each product is in turn buying into her and the 'Bethenny brand'. She created a brand around herself because she lives every day with her products. If it has Bethenny’s name on it I will buy it and although I have obviously never met her I feel like I completely trust her. Her success is a testament to transparency when promoting and making a brand successful. She has genuine fans of the brand that is her life which translates to being fans of her products which is remarkable. While some may say this is similar to any celebrity who has a brand that is themselves I think this speaks to something else. Consumers want genuineness. Any celebrity can come out with a clothing line and put their name on it hoping to capitalize on their fame but it’s not that simple. Consumers don’t take your word for it anymore you need to live breath and exude your brand if you want it to succeed. More and more it is becoming evident that in order for a brand to succeed the people who run it must in term become a brand themselves. Bethenny does this in a unique way by living completely for her fans and in turn building trust with them. Building trust that translates to her products that aren’t just bottles with her name on them but a genuine good product that you can tell she knows you will enjoy.
Emily Kieczykowski is a BEM major with a concentration in Marketing and a minor is Psychology at Wake Forest University
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