As absurd the example with Kik is, this is unfortunately how many people think (and therefore companies act). They have the tendency to over-complicate things and sometimes facts are not enough to convince them otherwise.
Even is SMTs were already here, I'm not sure, if Kik would have chosen them.
It's not so much the facts that count, but politics, sentiment and marketing.
Ether is better known and Stellar is an Asian project like Kik. (please correct me if I'm wrong).
As @tolkatore said. as long as Steemit Inc. is lead by a CEO who has no idea about PR and marketing, it will be hard to convince anyone with facts alone. Especially the crypto world seems very resistant to facts and work highly non-logical.
Of course I would be more than happy, if this would change in the future!