--- title: Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian description: Mobile games allow fans to interact with their favorite brands wherever and whenever they want canonical: https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/ author: Kevin Chou article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-23T05:01:04.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:55:12.544Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian og:description: Mobile games allow fans to interact with their favorite brands wherever and whenever they want og:url: https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94453e2bd8e5fa3c/69876f3f5f570f43e3b14421/kim-kardashian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Kim Kardashian at Rihanna's First Annual Diamond Ball in Beverly Hills, Ca. on Dec. 11, 2014. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian twitter:description: Mobile games allow fans to interact with their favorite brands wherever and whenever they want twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94453e2bd8e5fa3c/69876f3f5f570f43e3b14421/kim-kardashian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=7dbf8283-01ec-437b-a8cb-ac4ee3baaeda&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) by [Kevin Chou](https://time.com/author/kevin-chou/) ## Kevin Chou Dec 23, 2014 5:01 AM UTC  Kim Kardashian at Rihanna's First Annual Diamond Ball in Beverly Hills, Ca. on Dec. 11, 2014. Kim Kardashian at Rihanna's First Annual Diamond Ball in Beverly Hills, Ca. on Dec. 11, 2014. DAVID CROTTY—AP by [Kevin Chou](https://time.com/author/kevin-chou/) ## Kevin Chou Dec 23, 2014 5:01 AM UTC One of the big ideas for 2015 has actually been sneaking up on us the past few years. Mobile games will play an increasingly central role in a brand’s growth and development. The mobile games market is expected to [hit $25 billion in global revenues](http://www.newzoo.com/insights/global-mobile-games-revenues-top-25-billion-2014/) in 2014 and is projected to hit $30 billion in 2015, surpassing traditional console games as the largest game segment by revenues, according to market researcher Newzoo. Popular global brands pairing with mobile games is a large part of the equation. Consider two phenomena that were watershed moments this year. One is Disney’s _Frozen_ and the other is, yes, Kim Kardashian. Whether you consider Kardashian a paragon or a punch line, her free-to-play mobile game, _Kim Kardashian: Hollywood_, is an example of a brand leveling up in terms of both reach and revenue. [Variety reports](http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/kim-kardashian-game-mints-glu-mobile-43-million-in-three-months-1201352883/) that _Kim Kardashian: Hollywood_: * Generated $43.3 million in sales from the end of June through the end of September * Has been downloaded more than 22.8 million times * Logged more than 1.2 billion sessions, and players have spent more than 5.7 billion minutes with it on iOS devices alone To compare, during the same June through September time frame this year, first-run episodes of the television show _Keeping up with the Kardashians_ (season 9) were watched by a total audience of 23.42 million who spent 1.04 billion minutes with the show. More than five times as many minutes were spent with her game than with her TV program — and this season even included the big wedding to Kanye! Maybe you can’t stand keeping up with any form of Kardashian, no matter how many dollar signs are flashed. You are a Kardashian denier who will not be convinced. Then let’s move to a brand decidedly more family friendly – Disney’s _Frozen_. During a recent mobile showcase, Disney Interactive President James Pitaro highlighted the success of the _Frozen Free Fall_ mobile game, including: * 70 million downloads * 4 million daily players * 147 million daily minutes * 31 billion minutes played [Gigaom writes](https://gigaom.com/2014/11/14/disney-saw-26b-in-revenue-from-mobile-games-and-apps-last-year/) that “Users have spent more minutes with the app than theater audiences with the _Frozen_ movie in theaters.” Kabam has seen its own successes with free-to-play games based on blockbuster entertainment properties such as _The Hobbit_, which generated more than $100 million in revenue in less than one year, and _Fast and Furious_, which has been downloaded 67 million times. Through mobile games, fans have an entirely new way to interact with their favorite brands. And this interaction is no longer constrained by a movie’s release in theaters or a TV show’s weekly schedule. The mobile app is always with the audience and always connected. There is always an opportunity to engage. In 2015, we’ll all be keeping up with Kim Kardashian, and we’ll be better for it. \[\*Statistics derived from: The sum of the [ratings for each episode](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5FKeeping%5FUp%5Fwith%5Fthe%5FKardashians%5Fepisodes) times the [minutes per episode](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HXT6550/ref=pd%5Flpo%5Fsbs%5Fdp%5Fss%5F3?pf%5Frd%5Fp=1944687662&pf%5Frd%5Fs=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf%5Frd%5Ft=201&pf%5Frd%5Fi=B008JSSM0A&pf%5Frd%5Fm=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf%5Frd%5Fr=0SSBAJ535KY9Z121DFT1).\] _This Influencer post originally appeared on_ [_LinkedIn_](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/big-idea-2015-brands-more-like-kevin-chou?trk=mp-reader-card)_._ [_Kevin Chou_](http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinchou) _s_ _hares his thoughts as part of LinkedIn’s Influencer series, “_[_Big Ideas 2015_](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-big-things-coming-2015-top-amy-chen)_” in which the brightest minds in business blog on LinkedIn about their predictions on ideas and trends that will shape 2015\. LinkedIn Editor Amy Chen provides an_ [_overview_](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-big-things-coming-2015-top-amy-chen) _of the 70+ Influencers that tackled this subject as part of the package. Follow_ [_Kevin Chou_](http://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinchou) _and insights from other top minds in business on LinkedIn._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/"},"headline":"Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian","datePublished":"2014-12-23T05:01:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:55:12.544Z","description":"Mobile games allow fans to interact with their favorite brands wherever and whenever they want","url":"https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/","keywords":["Innovation","Frozen","Kim Kardashian"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94453e2bd8e5fa3c/69876f3f5f570f43e3b14421/kim-kardashian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Chou","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-chou/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt94453e2bd8e5fa3c/69876f3f5f570f43e3b14421/kim-kardashian.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Kim Kardashian at Rihanna's First Annual Diamond Ball in Beverly Hills, Ca. on Dec. 11, 2014.","caption":"Kim Kardashian at Rihanna's First Annual Diamond Ball in Beverly Hills, Ca. on Dec. 11, 2014.","creditText":"DAVID CROTTY—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/innovation/","name":"Innovation"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3636849/2015-more-like-kim-kardashian/","name":"Big Idea 2015: Brands Will Be More Like Kim Kardashian"}}]}] ```