How do you go from selling clothes to electric cars George Blankenship, Teslaa4ぎa4г vice president of design and store development knows.
A 20-year veteran of global clothing store GAP and the man responsible for Applea4ぎa4г successful retail stores, Blankenship jokes that these previous jobs were practice for his time atあTesla.
But jokes aside, what plans does Blankenship have to turn Tesla from a boutique $109,000 electric sports-carあmanufacturer into a name synonymous with electric vehicles We caught some time with Blankenship last week and chatted about his new position at Tesla.
Youa4ぎa4вe coming up on five months with Tesla &8211' congratulations! How have the first five months been
George Blankenship: Ita4ぎa4г a wild ride. Ita4ぎa4г everything I thought it would be, and then about ten times more. We have so much going on and therea4ぎa4г so many exciting things happening almost every day that ita4ぎa4г actually hard to describe.
You sorta jump into this thinking of it as a startup. Then you start finding out a little more and getting involved a little more.あ It is just&8230' every day therea4ぎa4г something new and ita4ぎa4г really exciting.
So far, what has been the most exciting moment for you at Tesla
GB: I think Ia4ぎa4ёe been able to bring a couple of other individuals into the company, and then secondly the opening in Tokyo last Friday which was an incredible event.
It was interesting because Akio Toyoda likes fast cars andあsports cars. He and Elon just get along famously. To see the two of them sit in one of our Roadsters and drive out of our showroom together in Tokyo and drive down the street is a little spine-tingling.
Are there more stores opening this year
GB: This has been a really active six months.あ We opened in Zurich and Copenhagen and Paris and then off to the other end of the world in Tokyo.
Coming up in December wea4ぎa4ll be opening in Milan, so thata4ぎa4г coming up very soon. And then we will open in Washington DC.
In the spring wea4ぎa4вe going to open our new prototype design store, which is shifting to very high foot traffic locations. Wea4ぎa4ll open a couple of those in the spring and roll some more out in the fall.
Is that part of a move to create more Apple-like stores for Tesla in shopping malls Howa4ぎa4г that going to work
GB: What wea4ぎa4вe trying to do with that store is truly shift the customer experience when it comes to how they think about a car purchase and how they think about owning a car. Todaya4ぎa4г model is very structured around the world with a few minor exceptions.
What they do is, somebody decides what car you should have. And when you come there as a customer their number one job is to sell you a car that they have on their lot that they have already pre-chosen for you.
We dona4ぎa4д want to do that.あWe want the car-buying experience to become very special, individual. This isあyourあcar. Not one that someone has chosen for you. We want you to become engaged in buying the car.
Wea4ぎa4ёe designed a store that is meant to be very inviting to come into. We have what is a fairly expensive car, and we want kids to open the doors. We want kids to enjoy the car. We want parents and people to sit in the car.
Wea4ぎa4ll have an entire section of the store devoted to understanding electric vehicles and understanding what ita4ぎa4г like to own a Tesla. So we invite them in and then we want to be informative.
We want to engage them and engage them in the buying experience.
The new stores are designed to do that. They are designed to make you want to be there. To make you feel welcome and explain to you electric vehicles and the fun part of owning a Tesla.
So your job is to effectively do what you did at GAP and Apple with Tesla
GB: I guess I come from a background of vertically integrated companies. I mean, you think of GAP. When I joined we still sold a lot of Levi&'s material and then we ended up going completely vertical so you could control the product: you could design it' you could make it: you can market it the way you want to. You can listen to the customers directly and take their comments and do what the customer wants because ita4ぎa4г all you
Applea4ぎa4г the same way. We designed the hardware and the software. We put them together in front of the customers in a great environment, listened to the customers, took care of the customers at the genius bar. Understood about the product and how the customer interfaced with it and then went back to the beginning of the design.
This is exactly what wea4ぎa4вe doing here. Completely vertically integrated. We control the entire process. We can make it as fun as engaging as we want and we can learn from the customers directly &8211' and then we can affect the product and go through that virtuous cycle again.
Is the ultimate goal for Tesla to have a store in every town
GB: You dona4ぎa4д need a store in every town. Herea4ぎa4г the beauty of the new model wea4ぎa4вe going to.
Ita4ぎa4г not a great big dealership on the outside of town that costs a lot of money for the land, a lot of money for the building &8211' a lot of money invested in the interior and the huge inventory of cars. That is not the model.
The model is go into a place where people frequent on a day in and day out basis where you can be a part of their lives every time they go to a shopping center or high street.あBe a part of their lives that they see on a regular basis.
Then what you do is make it a fun and inviting environment so they want to stop in. So what ends up happening is you can be where they are already. You can be a part of their daily life.
So what happens is that they stop in and say hello. They run into another owner. And they chat. And then you can show them owners in the Tesla area that wea4ぎa4вe talking about havingあvideos of current owners who can share the story of what ita4ぎa4г like.
Why not go the franchized dealer model, like most other automakers
GB: Once you take a portion of the experience out of your own hands youa4ぎa4вe relying on someone else to deliver your vision and our vision is to be the best place in the world to own a car.
In order for us to deliver on that vision we feel that its important that we monitor and deliver all parts of the experience.
As soon as you go away from that model you start to loose control and if you loose control of the part that touches the customer that arguably is the most important part. So we do not want to leave that to anyone else other than ourselves because we consider that to be one of the most important parts.
Having our technology being 4 to 5 years ahead is important too, but when it comes to time to touch the customer I really dona4ぎa4д want that in anyone elsea4ぎa4г hands than ours.
While Apple is considered a premium brand by many people, Tesla is much more expensive. How is Tesla going to penetrate the market with an $109,000 electric sports car
GB: When I joined Apple ten years ago there was one thing that most people knew about Apple: They didna4ぎa4д want one. It wasna4ぎa4д for them. It was for a few crazy people and some creative people and they knew they didna4ぎa4д want one.
That was the point we were starting from. When I joined Apple what I looked at great technology and a pipeline of great products ahead of us. We were starting from he position of people not wanting us. They knew they didna4ぎa4д want us.
What did we do We went out and got in front of them in a place they were comfortable and a place they were looking for something new and exciting. A place they were looking to buy.
We did it in a way that made them feel comfortable and confident. When we delivered a new product we had a team of knowledgable, courteous sales people who could explain that product.
I mean, think back to the iPod. When it first came out &8211' herea4ぎa4г this white brick with a cord coming out of it that happens to be wired to a pair of headphones. Its 3 to 4 times more expensive than the other music players on the market. It has a white dial on the front. No-one knows what to do with it.
So people start coming into Apple stores and we start explaining it to them and people say a4ぎAWow, thata4ぎa4г really coola4ぎ. What we did was we came up with a way of explaining it. 10,000 songs in your pocket.
So youa4ぎa4ёe got this ability to explain it and what happens People start buying it. But ita4ぎa4г still 3 or 4 times more expensive than everything else in the market. But some people bought it. Then what hap[pens is the next one comes out. The iPodあmini. More people can buy it and more do. Then you bring out colors. People want more. Then you bring out the Nano and ita4ぎa4ll fit it their shirt pocket. Then what happens is the iTunes music store comes out. Then iPhone. Then iPad.
Therea4ぎa4г a progression.
How does that relate to what wea4ぎa4вe doing
Right now wea4ぎa4вe selling a $100,000 sports car. Okay. People are enjoying and embracing it just like they did the iPod. What wea4ぎa4вe doing in a couple of years is our iPod Mini &8211' theTesla S. Ita4ぎa4г more in line with a wider demographic.
People will know us from the Roadster. Theya4ぎa4ll know us from being fun to drive, being electric, being fun to be around and then theya4ぎa4ll go a4ぎAwow. I understand a little bit more than I did before. I want one of thesea4ぎ
What I try to get across to everyone is that ita4ぎa4г not important at all that you have those products. Ita4ぎa4г not. Whata4ぎa4г important is why you brought those products You brought those products because you wanted to.あ You wanted that product. You wanted to have an iPad. You wanted to have an iPhone. You wanted to have an iPod.
Thata4ぎa4г where wea4ぎa4вe going with Tesla.
We are going to have people who want to buy our car. Thata4ぎa4г our goal.あ Our goal is to have people want to buy our cars because they want to &8211' not because they have to buy a car. Thata4ぎa4г where the dynamic shift happens.
In the 1990s Apple allowed certain clones to run itsあoperatingあsystem. Is that what Tesla is doing working with Toyota and Daimler &8211' Allowing these automakers to run a4ぎATeslaa4ぎ clones
GB: I see it differently. Let me use a different analogy. What wea4ぎa4вe doing withToyota or Daimler is not cloning. I see it more like this: I was at Apple when we designed iTunes forあWindows. We wanted to be able to have the iTunes music store which was the best place in the world to buy music to be available to a larger crowd.
At one point we were a4ぎAWe will never ever write software for the other sidea4ぎ. But if you go back and look at the marketing &8211' whenever the marketing came out for iTunes for Windows the tagline was a4ぎAHell Froze Overa4ぎ.
We said a4ぎAwe need to let others use our technology to see how great it isa4ぎ. The rest is history.
How many people use the iTunes music store today How many billions of songs are sold.
I dona4ぎa4д consider any computers running iTunes for Windows as being a clone. I see them as using the most advanced technology on the planet.
Thata4ぎa4г what wea4ぎa4вe doing at Tesla. Wea4ぎa4вe taking the best drivetrain and putting it into some RAV4s and some Daimler products.
GAP and Apple are well-known major retailers. Why the switch to Tesla
GB: I was very fortunate at GAP. I worked there for 20 years. I left on my 20th year anniversary and I decided 5 years before I left that I was leaving on my 20th anniversary. I had this whole 5 year plan. I resigned from GAP in September of 1999あ and told them I was leaving in June of 2000. I gave them 9 months of notice so they could get my replacement.
I ended up on the phone in March 2000. Ia4ぎa4m sitting in my office and the admin comes in and says a4ぎAI have Micky Drexler and Steve Jobs on the line for youa4ぎ. I thoughtあa4ぎAI know whata4ぎa4г going on here &8211' the guys from the Philadelphia office were calling for a practical jokea4ぎ
As I reach for the phone to pick it up and say somethingあsmart the admin comes running down the hall, goes into myあoffice and screamsa4ぎANo no no no! George! It really IS Drexler and Jobs!a4ぎ
So I pick up the phone and it is Drexler and Jobs. Jobs wants to talk about retail stores. Drexler drops off and Steve (Jobs) says a4ぎAListen, can we have luncha4ぎ
When Steve Jobs asks you to lunch you say a4ぎASure, why nota4ぎ
So I met him down at hisあoffice and we chatted for a while and he invited me to join the company.
I then spent the next 3 weeks explaining why I wasna4ぎa4д going to do that, but finally ended up going a4ぎAOkay. Ia4ぎa4ёe been practicing for a while to do this job. Ia4ぎa4ll do this for a year and go help them get started.a4ぎ Six years later, I left.
I retired from Apple in 2006 and then did some consulting. In the spring of 2010 I kept getting these emails from this lady named Mary Beth Brown. She kept sending me these emails over and over and over again.あElon Musk would like to meet with you
Elon Musk would like to talk to you.
When youa4ぎa4вe in real estate you get emails like that ten times a day. People want to talk to you about every little shopping center they have everywhere in the world.
I kept deleting the emails.
One day, I read the email. It read: a4ぎAElon Musk would like to speak to you about the things you did at Apple. Please give me a calla4ぎ.
So I called Mary Beth Brown and I get on the phone. She thanks me for calling and says a4ぎAElon would like to talk to you. Hold on...a4ぎ And Elon gets on the phone.
There I am, sitting on the phone in Florida talking to Elon Musk on the phone talking about his company.
Then we talked for about an hour and he says a4ぎACan we get togethera4ぎ I said a4ぎASure, leta4ぎa4г get togethera4ぎ.
Wea4ぎa4вe trying to figure out when. Musk says a4ぎAIa4ぎa4m sorry to be pushy, but can we do it this afternoona4ぎ. I said a4ぎASure, but Ia4ぎa4m in Florida.a4ぎ
So he says a4ぎAOh&8230'. okay...a4ぎ wea4ぎa4вe looking at our calendars and he says a4ぎAOh, youa4ぎa4вe in Florida. Can I see you tomorrow Listen, I have to meet at Cape Canaveral tomorrow with Obama at noon and wea4ぎa4вe doing a presentation. The airport is going to be closed until 5. I could get to you for 6 oa4ぎa4clock tomorrow.a4ぎ
I thought. Wow. Youa4ぎa4вe meeting with President Obama and then youa4ぎa4вe coming to see me.
We met at Fort Lauderdale airport. The next day he said &''You have to come to LA and meet some peoplea4ぎ.
I did.あIncredible people. Talented, committed,あ passionate, driven about the job they were doing.
Then they gave me the keys to the car. I was in the car 60 seconds and I knew I had to join the company.
As I thought about it. As I look at Tesla today and I think back 10 years ago. I look at Tesla today with the same opportunity and future as I saw through the glasses I was wearing 10 years ago when I started at Apple.
What are the differences between Apple, Gap and Tesla, and what are the similarities
GB: At GAP I learned that less is more. It was quality, value and style. With Steve and Apple you learn that therea4ぎa4г nothing that cana4ぎa4д be done.
Written by Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield, this article originally appeared on AllCarsElectric.com, one of VentureBeat&'s editorial partners.
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Companies: Apple, Gap, Tesla
People: Barack Obama, Elon Musk, George Blankenship, Steve Jobs, Toyota
Companies: Apple, Gap, Tesla
People: Barack Obama, Elon Musk, George Blankenship, Steve Jobs, Toyota
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