Helloo0O Ladies and Gentlemen!!! Welcome back to Graceland Ontario, your one stop blog for learning success lessons from the actions of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll. Today, we’re delaying the final Olympic Blog Post for one more week to talk about your enduring popularity. I hope you enjoy it!
So, if you’re a big Elvis fan, you probably know that on August 16th 2012 Elvis Presley celebrated 35 years of no-Elvis. Yep, it was the anniversary of his death. Yet, a crowd still showed up at Graceland, they stilled played Elvis records on the radio, Elvis Presley Enterprises still made money. 35 years after his death, Elvis is still popular.
“Why?”
He’s got a brand; a set of distinctive attributes that can be uniquely associated with him.
“But he’s a person, a dead person. How can he have a brand?”
Well, it’s what he did while he was alive that made it possible −the songs, the looks, the pictures, they were all part of his image when he was alive, but they also gave him immortality. You see, as soon as he died, people could then use what he created in life to keep making money in the future.
He had the fashions that made him unique, the jumpsuits, the Tupelo Gold Suit. People recognized Elvis’s image, with the sideburns and slicked back hair, and it could be used to market him after death as well as in life.
So Elvis Presley Enterprises (E. P. E.) took control. Graceland became the base, the centre where Elvis fans could meet and reminisce. The products remained Elvis’s tracks and movies, which could be re-mastered and remixed as much as needed. Then there were the spin-off products; the books, the posters, the t-shirts and dolls, the licensing. Collecting royalties from all this made Elvis one of the highest paid dead-men in the world.
But that’s not good enough − the brand must be dynamic; it must move and change and twist and keep growing. Remember the old business adage? If you’re not growing, you’re dieing − and E.P. Enterprises knew that so they kept changing things, remodelling this and that, putting out new publicity campaigns, licensing new odds and dodds.
And what has it brought them? A successful business thriving thirty five years after the man who inspired it was discovered dead in his Graceland bathroom. It worked for Elvis and it can work for you.
The key is not to be boring. When you don’t grow, that’s predictable, that’s boring and that won’t make you any money. On the other hand, when you create an exciting brand, a cool brand, as Apple’s done, and keep growing even when the inspiration for the business has been dead for thirty five years, it keeps you on top of the tower.
So, what’s important for you? Get your brand going. Whether you know it or not, the way you show yourself, your business, the place you hold up, the stuff you create or sell is all part of that brand. Advertise that brand as E.P. Enterprises has and collect for the image you promote. Then, keep growing the brand. Don’t change everything but adding this and taking that away, improving this and innovating that keeps you growing. And as long as you’re growing, you won’t be dieing. That’s how Elvis did it.
So, thirty five years on, Elvis isn’t dead, not really. He’s a living, growing entity with a unique brand. And as long as that brand keeps growing, he’ll never die. He’ll be immortal.
Elvis’s Lessons:
Create a brand. A brand is a set of attributes (like a house, image, fashion, book, recordings, t-shirt, etc) that can be associated with you. Then, as Elvis’s estate did, change the brand slowly so that it keeps growing and never dies. When you have your brand - with its subtle changes over time - you will be moving towards Elvis’s current station, true immortality.
Creating a brand is like creating an image, it reflects who you are and what you stand for. For more on creating an image, check out what I say about it in this post.
P.S. This ’35 years without Elvis’ post happened to be my 35th post, and not purposely − it makes you wonder…
P.P.S. Remember to leave a comment − I’d love to hear from you.
P.P.S. If you’d like to see a Youtube clip from Graceland this year, 35 years after Elvis’s death, here’s a news broadcast with Elvis's ex-wife and daughter, Priscilla and Lisa Marie, talking about Elvis's legacy.
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