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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
Powershift summary
Daymond John with Daniel Paisner
Transform Any Situation, Close Any Deal, and Achieve Any Outcome
4.2 (105 ratings)
17 mins
6 key ideas
Audio & text
What is Powershift about?
Powershift (2020) is a guide to setting yourself up for success. Drawing on author Daymond John’s experience as an entrepreneur in the clothing industry and show business, it provides a host of tips, tricks, and ideas that will help you expand your influence and win others over to your cause.
About the Author
Daymond John is the founder and CEO of FUBU, a lifestyle brand that has racked up over $6 billion in global sales. A regular guest on ABC’s Shark Tank, he’s one of America’s most respected businessmen and consultants. John is the author of numerous bestsellers including The Power of Broke and Rise and Grind. He was also a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship, a position created by Barack Obama in 2014 to support young entrepreneurs.
Daniel Paisner is a New York–based journalist and author best known for his collaborative work. He has published over 60 titles, including 14 New York Times best sellers, among them The Girl in the Green Sweater with Krystyna Chiger and Last Man Down with Richard Picciotto.
Table of Contents
Powershift
summarized in 6 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 6
The most successful brands don’t sell products – they sell lifestyles.
Here’s a basic fact: not all sweaters are alike. On the one hand, there’s the generic sweatshirt you can pick up just about anywhere. It’s basic, cheap, and functional. It’s the kind of thing you buy because you’ve forgotten to pack a sweater for your holiday. Who made it is pretty much irrelevant.
Then there’s the sweatshirt you buy because you want exactly this model by this brand. It’s not just that these sweaters cost more, although they usually do – it’s that there’s more to them than the fabric. They stand for something. They fit your idea of yourself and express something about who you are.
The key message in this blink is: The most successful brands don’t sell products – they sell lifestyles.
Author Daymond John first made his name in the fashion industry by making clothing that allowed its wearers to do just this. But before we get to that, let’s take a closer look at the different kinds of clothing out there.
The first type is represented by that generic sweatshirt. This category is unbranded and low-cost. Think of the basic T-shirts and pants you find in large supermarkets all over the world.
Those supermarkets also stock a second category. These clothes cost a little more and are branded, albeit with the no-frills logo of the house label. Think about Costco’s Kirkland brand. You don’t buy jeans or socks because of this label, but it’s there all the same, setting them apart from their cheaper counterparts.
If you always buy one brand of sneaker because it has better grip or padding, by contrast, you’re buying products from the third category. In this segment of the market, choices are driven by trust. When you buy from one brand, you know what you’re getting.
The American clothing label Under Armour started out in this category. Initially known for its sports T-shirts, which wicked away perspiration more effectively than competitors’ shirts, it gradually expanded into leisurewear. At this point, Under Armour was selling more than products. Wearing the label’s clothes wasn’t just about achieving a specific outcome – it was a lifestyle.
The key to this transition? Well, Under Armour practiced what it preached. It really did make the best sports shirts on the market and that built credibility. Eventually, people could use the brand’s sporty image to tell a story about who they were and what they stood for. As we’ll see in the next blink, this insight isn’t just about selling clothes – it’s also key to personal branding.
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Best quote from Powershift
We wanted them to know we had their backs. We were doing them a solid, and when we needed them to do a solid for us, we werent coming at them cold.
—Daymond John with Daniel Paisner
Who should read Powershift
- Entrepreneurs at the start of their journeys
- Hustlers looking to build a reputation
- Dealmakers struggling to create sustainable partnerships
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