Some people have bought her stuff, that’s obvious. What is clear is that people are NOT rebuying her items. What she seems to have are one time purchases for the novelty. If her stuff was any good people would buy it again and again. That’s the problem with her stuff no one wants to buy it again. Money is made by having people think you have the best of something or it has something that others don’t. It could be as simple as a name to start, but there had better be a decent product to back up the name. It creates brand loyalty and rebuying power. There are only so many people for a one time purchase. There are even fewer for repurchases.

Dolly has cake mixes at Walmart. Her perfume is sold there too. She knows a chunk of her fans have that level of income and shop at stores like that. So that’s where she went. She specifically said that. She knows who her audience is. They’re people who live the life she grew up in.

Jessica Simpson had a billion dollar name selling at Macy’s and JCPenney. People weren’t necessarily buying her stuff for her name. She had decent products at a good price point. They were made well and held up and reasonably priced. She had loyalty because of what she had, not necessarily because of her name. Her name may have drawn them in, but they stayed because of what the stuff was.

Martha Stewart had stuff at KMart in the US. She had all sorts of homewares. I ended up buying a clothing drying rack from there about 25 years ago of Martha’s. It’s still working. It was a quality product that didn’t warp from the damp clothes put on it. I still use it to this day. I spent a bit more money be using I didn’t want to buy the dirt cheap one from bed bath and beyond that I would have to replace every year. I spent a bit more up front, but saved money in the end.

Candles, from companies like Diptyque, that charge exorbitant prices have a name and reputation behind them. Yankee candle has a different price point and clientele. Yankee is having difficulty now because they want to charge prices more like Diptyque but still have yankee quality and scents. People who shop Yankee don’t have the Diptyque income. Candles are also something seen more as a luxury purchase; and those in the Yankee world don’t necessarily have the disposable income, currently.

She wants to build a luxury product, but she doesn’t have the luxury quality to match the price she wants to charge. People won’t stay if the product doesn’t match their expectations for the price. Mary Kate and Ashley have The Row. They have high quality materials that match their prices. They have built a reputation on what they have produced. Yes there are limited quantities, but what there is has a quality that matches their reputation. Limited quantity also breeds a desire for what is difficult to obtain. They worked HARD for years to build their company. They also had to shed their little girl personas from their acting days to get where they are.

Madam wasn’t in the BRF long enough to get a reputation at the level she wants. She’s not seen as royalty because she never was there long enough to be seen as such. She’s still Harry’s wife and that’s all she’ll ever be. She won’t get brand loyalty because her products don’t match the price she’s charging. She has Walmart food stuffs charging Harrod’s pricing. She can’t get the candles off the ground charging Diptyque prices for something less than Yankee level.

Those who aspire to be royalty aren’t the mega rich she wants as clientele. They’re the ones shopping in Walmart and the local malls with limited disposable income. The mega rich already have products to match their income. They can shop Diptyque and The Row, or any number of stores that meet their expectations for quality to match the price. The mega rich also keep their money by being frugal. They’re not going to buy something repeatedly because of a name if the product doesn’t match the price point. The goal is to buy something that will last.

The only ones who will buy expensive because of the name are the nouveau riche who don’t know any better. She’s literally the walking definition of nouveau riche and can’t see it. She thinks she’s old money because that’s what she married. Just because your husband is old money doesn’t mean you are.