When
building an empire, nothing is random. You have to know how to build up a good
story for each of your projects. How to set a statement.
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| Beyoncé está en las portadas de Elle y Elle Fashion de USA para el mes de Mayo |
Recently, I
was reading an interview with Beyonce at Elle magazine. For some people,
fashion magazines are vain, but they miss great business lessons from great
interviews with insiders of an industry that rules the world. Like this one.
Beyonce
recently launched her own athletic apparel line in collaboration with Topshop.
And here are some lessons I would keep from her confessions on how she
developed this project and sealed the deal.
1. Associate your brand with an
emotional story
The name of
this new clothing line is Ivy Park. But it’s not just a tribute to her very
young daughter, but a whole statement. “I called it Ivy Park because a park is our commonality. We can all go
there; we're all welcomed. It's anywhere we create for ourselves. For me, it's
the place that my drive comes from. I think we all have that place we go to
when we need to fight through something, set our goals and accomplish them”
–says Queen B.
But wait! There’s more… The journalist recalls: “The singer's
lucky number 4—the date of her birthday, Jay Z's birthday, and their wedding anniversary—appears
subtly throughout; the name Ivy, too—shared, of course, by her four-year-old
daughter, Blue Ivy—is inspired by the Roman numeral IV”.
A lot of thinking through it, right? Again, like I said,
nothing is random. You gotta put a lot of meaning into it.
2. Be
prepared and convincing
This was Beyonce’s inititative, not the other way around. Not
a move from the brand to use her image. Beyonce had everything already figured
out. The way she wanted it. When she wanted it. All her vision perfectly stated
in her business plan for Ivy Park.
“I thought of Ivy Park as an idyllic place for women like us.
I reached out to Topshop and met with Sir Philip Green [chief executive of its
parent company, Arcadia]. I think he was originally thinking I wanted to do an
endorsement deal like they'd done with other celebrities, but I wanted a joint
venture. I presented him with the idea, the mission statement, the purpose, the
marketing strategy—all in the first meeting. I think he was pretty blown away,
and he agreed to the 50-50 partnership.”
It’s like the key all teachers gave us in school, the more
prepared you are, the more convincing. (Although I bet anything ‘Beyonce’ is
convincing enough).
3. Know
what you want. Feel what you want.
You might not know the business completely, but you have to
know what you want and find the people to do it right. No need to rush things,
or launch something that is not polished enough.
“I've learned that you have to be prepared. And when you
visualize something, you have to commit and put in the work. We had countless
meetings; we searched for and auditioned designers for months. I knew the
engineering of the fabric and the fit had to be the first priority. We really
took our time, developed custom technical fabrics, and tried to focus on
pushing athletic wear further. And because I've spent my life training and
rehearsing, I was very particular about what I wanted.”
4. Don’t
be afraid to speak up your mind
Above all, your personality has to stand out. No matter how controversial
your thoughts can be, you should always be you, it’s what’s going to set you
apart from everyone else. Or like a popular quote says, “Be yourself, everyone
else is already taken”.
About speaking up her mind or presenting her political and social views in her latest video, Beyonce says: “I mean, I'm an artist and I think the most powerful art is usually misunderstood. But anyone who perceives my message as anti-police is completely mistaken. I have so much admiration and respect for officers and the families of officers who sacrifice themselves to keep us safe. But let's be clear: I am against police brutality and injustice. Those are two separate things. If celebrating my roots and culture during Black History Month made anyone uncomfortable, those feelings were there long before a video and long before me. I'm proud of what we created and I'm proud to be a part of a conversation that is pushing things forward in a positive way.”
Based on
Beyonce’s recent interview for ELLE mag
