Elon Musk and The Power of Brand Diversity
Hey #TeamKhendriix I’m back with another break down! Hope everyone’s doing well & staying safe.
Lately I’ve been having many conversations around branding, brand diversity, and standing out from competition amongst my social media followers on Twitter. One particular conversation was about Elon Musk’s latest product, “Tesla Tequila”. A friend of mine tweeted about it & was genuinely confused by Tesla’s random affair into alcohol, and even suggested it was “off brand” for them to do so. I rebutted against her position, and explained the reason I felt it was actually a smart business move, and more importantly why Tesla has permission to endeavor in any industry they choose. In this article, I’ll be breaking down what Brand Diversity is (or what I like to call “LogoMania”) former companies who’ve executed it correctly, how Elon Musk turned what was previously a simple troll joke, into one of the most innovative products of 2020, and my predictions of what to expect to see from LogoMania within the next 5–10 years. Now, let’s begin!
What is Brand Diversity (LogoMania) and How’d It Start?
Brand Diversity is the arbitrage of a companies brand reputation, manifested into different forms, often forms that distribute into a wide variety of industries. Now in layman’s terms, you could say LogoMania is when a company takes their brand, hops into an entirely different industry & slaps their logo on a product. The idea of this is not only taboo, but extremely hard to pull off. When a company has felt as if their brand has built enough reputation and trust in a certain field, whether that’s the automotive industry, liquor industry, sneaker flipping, etc., a smart & effective move is to take their logo elsewhere, and disrupt a new industry or extract attention from an industry into another (hence the term LogoMania).
You could say the godfather, or godfathers of Brand Diversity / LogoMania started all the way back as early as the 1950's with the brands like Guinness Beer. ,In 1954, a director for Guinness attended a pub, and a conversation came about on who the fastest bird in Europe was(pub conversations tend to be random). Months later, Sir Hugh Beaver (Guinness Managing Dir.) was in need of a boost sales for the brewery, and to get more people talking about Guinness. Now, this is where my paramount statement of putting the consumer first comes alive, because I believe every decision, business decision, should be made in thought of the consumer first, and what THEY want, not what the CEO or Brand Dir. wants.
Guinness seen the consumer behavior in pubs, and the context of conversation around places that consume alcoholic beverages, remarkably thought “What a better way to get awareness for our drinks, PLUS get people talking about our brand?” thus Guinness Book of World Records was created, a phenomenal book packed with insane facts & conversation starters.
Now calling it “Guinness Book of World Records” and not something else, forced the word “Guinness” to be said over and over again, causing pub goers to subconsciously order Guinness Beer as that name became more and more house held. This dramatically increased Guinness’s brewery sales and completely changed the course of their company forever. How? two words —
BRAND DIVERSITY.
They understood where their consumers were, and strategically produced a product that encapsulated that psychographic data.
Tesla Did What Now?
I’m sure you’ve heard about and seen Tesla’s newest product “Tesla Tequila” an ultra-premium aged vodka, that’ll only cost around $250 a bottle (pretty cheap right?) Now for those who may not know, this idea about entering into the vodka industry has been circling around for quite sometime now.
Starting to see a pattern here?
Great entrepreneurs not only listen to their end users, but they take that empirical data and put it into action. Great businesses put the consumer first, and only first because they understand the ROI of doing so.
What will LogoMania Look Like in 2025?
As we seen throughout history, the brands that weren’t afraid of change, dove head first into change and conquered. Tesla entering into the tequila business, Guinness Beer entering into the book industry, and even tire brands like Michelin going as far as the restaurant industry with the legendary Michelin Guide, all these brands share one thing in common; they believe in diversification. Once a brand has built the proper reputation, the possibilities are endless. Who’s to say Nike couldn’t start a high end restaurant for professional athletes to wine & dine after big play offs wins or casual dinners? What’s stopping Adobe from going into an OTT / DTC platform ? or building an Adobe Movie Theater? What’s preventing Gucci from getting into the wine business & decorating their bottles with their legendary designs? All these brands have more than enough reputable respect to simply try any of these concepts, it’s only a matter of A: What the consumer wants , and B: How willing are executives and shot callers to go FOR that change, and capitalize on the opportunity. LogoMania is back, and it’s only gonna get better.
Thanks so much for reading!! If you liked this article, please lmk on Twitter ❤
