A few years ago, my wife and I were thinking about building a new home. We spoke to a number of builders in our community, and after a few meetings something started to become clear… any one of the builders would build us pretty much anything we wanted.

Sure, there were a few specialists, but those ones were only on the high end building expensive luxury homes.

Rock stars specialize… so why don’t more businesses?

Ozzy Osbourne doesn’t record acoustic ballads. John Mayer doesn’t bite heads off bats. Each of them does their thing, and does it very, very well.

Rock star brands specialize as well.

Consider the case of Coca-Cola. I think we can agree that Coke is a reasonably successful brand, right?

Coke makes Coke and Diet Coke, along with variations like Cherry Coke and Vanilla Coke. Frankly, they probably make too many variations for their own good, but that’s a post for another day.

Coke makes hundreds of other drinks, but they aren’t called Coke.

Coke also makes water. They call it Dasani.

Coke also makes a sports drink.  It’s Powerade.

Coke even makes mixers for alcholic drinks. They are the makers of Baccardi Mixers like mojito, pina colada, and daquiri.

Coca-Cola makes over 3,500 products in over 200 countries, but there’s only one Coke.

How can we apply this to home builders?

If you really can build any home for any one, then create several independent home building companies that share back-office functions.

One division specializes in custom-built luxury homes.

Another division focuses on the everyday homes from plans.

Yet another division builds entry-level homes with attractive price points.

And another builds cottages and recreational homes.

You see where this is going.

You can apply the same lesson to nearly any business.

If you want to make your business famous for something, choose ONE thing and do it really, really well. And if you want to do something else, start a new business that does that new thing very, very well.

Focus is essential to business. And focus is a big part of the book Brand Like A Rock Star: Lessons From Rock ‘n’ Roll To Make Your Business Rich And Famous. The book is on sale at on-line and in-store retail locations everywhere, and you can order it instantly right now in digital download or paperback.

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John Mayer has gotten more press in the past week than he has in years after making racially insensitive remarks in an interview in Playboy magazine.

He’s developed quite a reputation as a womanizer over the years, and he added to that perception by referring to ex-girlfriend Jessica Simpson as “crack cocaine”, talking longingly about his other high-profile ex, Jennifer Anniston, and publicly declaring his love for pornography.

John Mayer’s brand has a strange gap in it.

John Mayer plays what many people consider “wimpy” music.  His songs are more likely to be heard on the “soft ‘n easy” radio station than the local hit music station.  Hearing John Mayer next to Phil Collins, Celine Dion, and “Circle of Life” era Elton John is not the least bit unusual.

Yet John Mayer’s look and his words work against that image.

His most recent song, “Who Says”, includes the lyric “who says I can’t get stoned?”.   That might account for why it hasn’t been played much on the radio next to Celine and Phil.

His look, with a full sleeve tattoo, doesn’t fit with those artists.

And the comments he made to Playboy further distance himself from the pack.

Does John Mayer intentionally record soft music, yet put forward a rough image, in order keep credibility with a young and hip audience?  Click here to see how youth-focused news outlet MTV is handling the story.  The MTV angle is that an outspoken musician is better than a formulaic edgeless one.  Rolling Stone’s Caryn Ganz said “it’s better to have a rock star who isn’t afraid to open his mouth.”  Ganz went on to tell MTV that “he hasn’t converted me, but he has almost certainly convinced people to buy his albums based on his ability to speak his mind.”

Could John Mayer’s behavior be a calculated PR move?

It would be a bold and difficult juggling act to maintain.  But it is possible that his actions are a conscious effort to remain relevant to a young audience while keeping his musical appeal with older, more conservative, fans.

Still, a non-congruent strategy like that seldom works.

Rock star brands are almost universally true to their image across all of the senses.

For example, you won’t find a topless pool on your Disney Cruise.  It doesn’t go with the Disney brand. You’ll have to go on a Celebrity Cruise for that privilege.

Try buying a Porsche mini-van.  It won’t happen, because a mini-van just doesn’t go with the Porsche brand.  Even their Cayenne SUV stretches the limit of the Porsche brand!

If John Mayer is carefully trying to balance both ends of the spectrum, good luck to him.  Very few brands have successfully accomplished it long term.

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