From now on, every time a "product person" tries to convince me that marketing isn't important and doesn't drive revenue growth by citing the fact that Tesla "doesn't do any marketing", I'm going to respond with just two words:
No, I'm not cursing them to a watery demise with my reply.
I'm referring to the three-year-old start-up that, according to Bloomberg, is currently valued at $700 million and on track to generate $130 million in revenue this year.
And they've accomplished this incredible growth by selling water in a can.
Water. In. A. Can.
Okay, fine, that's not quite accurate.
Because what Liquid Death actually sells is an irreverent attitude. A lifestyle. An image.
A brand.
Which is my point, of course.
In a previous post I made about Liquid Death, I wrote the company was "quickly becoming one of my favourite case studies on the power of a brand."
And in that post, I did some math and showed how Liquid Death's stellar marketing has led to its ability to sell water in a can at 1,000 times the cost of an equivalent glass of tap water, both of which would be equally thirst-quenching in this part of the world where clean water is, for the most part, readily available.
If you could do nothing and sell a product people want, or invest in marketing, build a brand, and sell that same product for 1,000 times the price you could otherwise sell it for...
... what would you choose to do?
Now tell me again how marketing isn't important and doesn't drive revenue growth.
P.S. Oh, and that "Tesla doesn't do marketing" line? That reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of what marketing is and does.
1. Marketing is not just "promotion". "Product" is (and always has been) one of the "four Ps" of marketing, which means having a good product that people actually want IS marketing!
2. Tesla is owned by Elon Musk, and Elon Musk is a master of generating publicity for himself and the companies with which he's affiliated. And publicity? That's a part of marketing too.
P.P.S. I'm going to take a moment to celebrate the fact that this is my 451st post!
Why would I celebrate this odd milestone instead of a nice round number like my 450th post? The same reason you don't need to wait until Monday to start your new exercise regime, until New Year's Day to quit smoking, or until you're retired to start pursuing a passion project: once you decide to do something, you can just do it! Also... I forgot.
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