Blockchain 4 Kylie Jenner
Here’s just one way blockchain technology can be used for brands like Kylie Cosmetics right now. (The same tech is already being used at LVMH to authenticate handbags!)
THE BACKSTORY
Welcome back Crypto Witches! Today we are going to talk about Kylie Jenner, consumer safety, and the power of blockchain, baby! From Birkin Bags 👜 to your grocery run 🦞, see how blockchain tech is changing the game.
Kylie Jenner launched Kylie Cosmetics in 2016, with products available to buy exclusively through her direct website. Right away, there were a flood of knockoffs, with counterfeits being sold through websites posing as Kylie Cosmetics and within discount beauty retailers.
Soon, users began posting their bad reactions to the knockoffs on social media. From glosses that glued lips together to a trip to the hospital for one user … it got dangerous. Kylie herself came out on social media and through her reality show to caution users against purchasing counterfeits and show users how to recognize the real product from the fakes.
The LAPD conducted a raid in 2018 and seized more than $700,000 worth of counterfeit beauty products — including Kylie Cosmetics, Urban Decay, and MAC products. After testing, these products came back positive for containing bacteria and human waste. (Gross.)
HERE’S HOW BLOCKCHAIN CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM
If Kylie Jenner implemented a blockchain supply chain, that would enable her to record date, location, quality control, and authenticity for her product lines — reducing fraud. This would both reduce any risk to the public + she wouldn’t have to tweet cautions or spend time on counterfeit education for her followers. It could even provide a traceability source for her customers — providing a QR code or similar product with purchase that verifies authenticity.
We’ll use VeChain (VET) for this example — one of our favorite blockchains! Here’s how it works …
WHAT’S VECHAIN?
VeChain is a cryptocurrency that offers enterprise solutions and is designed to optimize supply chain management. It runs on its own unique blockchain and uses a primary token (VET) along with a a secondary token (VeThor) as the gas for transactions. VeChain uses proof-of-authority (PoA), an energy efficient protocol and holders of VeChain also receive VeThor. (Think of it as dividends you are paid out in real-time.)
HOW DOES THIS HELP BRANDS? WHAT ABOUT CONSUMERS?
Using a blockchain enterprise solution like VeChain helps consumers in multiple ways. Want to know where the food you purchase at the grocery store came from? How old is it? What temperature was it stored at? How was it transported?
VeChain has partnered with companies from Walmart to prestige olive oil brands to help consumers track the origins and journey of a product via a QR code or NFC tag. (A sticker or wristband with small microchips that store on data which can be read in range mobile devices.) Tracking product origins and journey is important, especially with products such as oysters — a product that has a limited shelf life and needs consistent temperature control. Using a blockchain solution like VeChain gives consumers transparency and more control over their purchasing decisions. In the case of Kylie Cosmetics — where consumers were seriously hurt because they purchased counterfeit Kylie Cosmetics products online, the brand could deploy proof of authenticity tags for their products.
Luxury labels from LVMH have already been test implementing VeChain as …