Kylie Jenner boosted this Gold Coast start up’s fortunes with a priceless social media post

CALL IT the Kardashian effect. The reality star clan’s youngest member, model Kylie Jenner, has given this start-up a million-dollar boost.

HiSmile founders Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic just got a priceless marketing boost. Picture: Supplied

CALL IT the Kardashian effect.

The reality star clan’s youngest member, model Kylie Jenner, has given this Gold Coast tech start-up a million-dollar boost.

HiSmile, an online teeth whitening company started by Gen Y entrepreneurs Nik Mirkovic and Alex Tomic less than two years ago, has built an eight-figure business on the back of social media endorsements by beauty bloggers and celebs.

In a major coup for the duo, who last month celebrated turning over $10 million in 18 months, Jenner recently broadcast an image of herself with a HiSmile teeth whitening kit to her 76 million Instagram followers.

The post, which includes the hashtag #ad, attracted 1.6 million likes and more than a quarter of a million comments from adoring fans, with one writing: “She’s pretty when she smiles with her teeth omg”.

Jenner tweeted: Smiling with @hismileteeth #ad #hismile #teethwhitening

Mirkovic and Tomic have declined to reveal how much they paid Jenner for the post but, as previously reported by news.com.au, HiSmile has invested heavily in social media endorsement to build their brand.

After launching in December 2014 with just $20,000, the innovative pair set half of their first batch of product to online influencers, free of charge. Celebrity endorsements were secured with the likes of Big Brother contestant Aisha Jade and Australia’s Next Top Model veteran Brooke Hogan, who took over HiSmile’s Snapchat account for a day.

With almost half a million Instagram followers and hundreds of thousands of Snapchat and Facebook fans, the strategy appears to have paid off.

“We push a lifestyle, rather than just a product,” Tomic told news.com.au last month.

“When others look at marketing they’re looking to sell, we’re looking to build a brand and build a loyal customer base ... We took all the methods that worked on traditional media and brought them to today’s day and age.”

The company was expected to quadruple its turnover in the following 18 months, after cracking the United Kingdom and United States markets — a mission that Jenner’s endorsement will no doubt give a helping hand.

“In this day and age, no one’s really watching TV ads, no one’s really looking at billboards or reading magazines — everyone’s on their phones, everyone’s on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,” Tomic said.

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