artisanship, vertical integration, global reach, and a premium price.
Let’s dig into each of these more deeply.
- An Iconic Founder
Nothing builds a self-expressive benefit brand more effectively than
the constant personification of the brand in the form of one person,
especially the founder. CEOs come and go, but founders are forever.
As a poor teen in the 1830s, Louis Vuitton walked three hundred miles
to Paris, barefoot. He established himself as an expert box maker, and
before long was crafting exquisite trunks for the empress of France
and wife of Napoleon III, Eugénie de Montijo.^20
Vuitton was the prototype for the iconic founder. These
entrepreneurs have life stories with compelling ups and downs, along
with a skill set that is more commonly found in museums than in
stores. Art, and the democratization of art (artisanship), fuels and
sustains their brands. These founders usually rise from the artisan
class. They are blessed/cursed with knowing early what they must do
with their lives: make beautiful things. They have no choice.
It’s easy to be cynical about bling and the frivolity of the sector.
However, drive a Porsche 911, see your cheekbones pop with NARS
Orgasm Blush, or find your gaze more intense, your objective more
resolute, because you are the guy wearing Brunello Cucinelli. That’s
why artisans have created more wealth than any cohort in modern
history. “Some people think luxury is the opposite of poverty. It is not.
It is the opposite of vulgarity,” said Coco Chanel.
To grasp the power of Steve Jobs as the icon for innovation, think
of young Elvis. If he had died in his twenties after the Sun Studio
sessions and before he left for the army, we never would have seen him
waddling across Las Vegas stages in white-bangled bell bottoms. Elvis
exited before he hit forty. If he had hung around a few decades longer,
he’d be doing oldies acts on retirement cruises, and Graceland would
be a mobile home park. Dying removes the icon from the inevitable
judgment of everyday existence, including aging, and elevates persona
to legend—ideal for a brand. Imagine what the Tiger Woods brand
would be worth to Nike if, instead of fading into mediocrity, the once-
iconic golf star had been run over by his wife that night she discovered
he couldn’t keep his putter in his bag. That’s arguably one of the few