Page 100 - Midas Touch

out to be a gift from heaven. At this meeting, my education into the rock-
and-roll business began. I realized that, not only can a brand be worth a lot
to the owners of that brand, but licensees of that brand can make a lot of
money too.

Once I saw the light, I was offered similar deals by hot groups and artists
such as The Police, Duran Duran, Boy George, Ted Nugent, Judas Priest,
and others. Older mega-groups such as The Grateful Dead and the Rolling
Stones were also on the negotiating table. Sadly, The Beatles were not
available as a licensable brand at the time.

As rich dad made clear to me, you are either a brand, or you are a
commodity. To be a brand, you must have a relationship with your
customer, and these bands and artists had great relationships with their

customers. The licensing agents were offering us a chance to become a
part of that relationship between the fans and the recording artists they
loved.

The first meeting with Pink Floyd’s people and others that followed saved
Rippers by giving us access to a market of rock-and-rollers all over the
world. It was like opening a door into a whole new world of business, a
world I did not know even existed. We were saved because Rippers

became associated with some of the most powerful brand names in rock
and roll.

We’re with the Band
By 1982, the name Rippers had disappeared from my conversation. Rather

than say, “Hello, I’m Robert Kiyosaki from Rippers,” I would simply say,
“I represent The Police and their licensed products.” Nobody knew who
Robert Kiyosaki or Rippers was, but they did know The Police, the mega
rock band. In fact, one of my first dates with Kim in 1984 was to a Police
concert. It was neat saying to her, “I have backstage VIP passes to the
Police concert. Would you like to go?” In other words, the power of a
brand even worked in getting a date with a beautiful woman who would

one day become my wife. Sure, she probably just wanted to meet Sting,
but being the one who arranged it, some of that cool was bound to rub off
on me.

The Power of the Real Brands