Music exec Mathew Knowles talks building the brand of Beyoncé at Conversation with a CEO event

• Elizabeth L Brown
• September 9, 2024
• Business News, Events

TAMPA - Before he launched an all-girls group, Destiny's Child, that included his daughter Beyoncé, and before he started his own music management company and record label, Music World Entertainment, Mathew Knowles sold copiers.

The 72-year-old music mogul began his career in sales at Xerox and quickly climbed the ranks, becoming the number one sales executive of medical equipment and diagnostic imaging worldwide.

Decades later, that background in diagnostic imaging would save his life. Five years ago, five red dots on his shirt led him to ask his doctor to recommend a mammogram. Shortly after, Knowles was diagnosed with male breast cancer.

Knowles talked about that cancer scare, his jump into the music industry, his advice to his younger self, the three-second rule of spotting talent, and a host of other topics during an hour-long Campus Conversation with a CEO event on Monday at the University of South Florida Muma College of Business.

He sat down with David Blackwell, the Lynn Pippenger dean, before a crowd of about 150 students, faculty, and community members.

Not surprisingly, one of the first questions Blackwell asked was about how Knowles built the brand of Beyoncé.

Knowles, who earned his MBA and PhD, said he could spend a semester teaching a course solely on that topic.

"It's really complex to build a brand and understanding that marketing is not a step, it's how you get your message heard," he said. "It's about brand development. If you don't have anything to brand, you don't have anything to market. For me, marketing is everything. Without Destiny's Child, there wouldn't be a Beyoncé."

Knowles said he set out to create strategic partnerships with companies like Loreal and Pepsi. To showcase his point, he played a Pepsi commercial starring Beyoncé that was aimed at expanding her brand to men.

"When you can put your song in the commercial, that's how you build your brand. All of this was strategy. Think about the titles of the songs. Those songs are strategic. That's how we build the brand around female empowerment," he said.

He also shared that part of his artist development plan included practicing for when things go wrong.

"We practice failure. So when they rehearse, they never know when the music was going to cut off, if a shoe would break, if the lights wouldn't come on the stage," he said.

Knowles is a distinguished music executive, entrepreneur and educator. As the founder of Music World Entertainment, he transformed the company into a global powerhouse with over 450 million records, managing some of the world's most iconic artists including Earth, Wind and Fire, the O'Jays, Kool and the Gang.

Knowles said he likes to "keep it real" whether he's teaching or speaking, and shared some advice for business and life.

On spotting talent: Knowles said he goes by the three-second rule. "In three seconds, people sum you up. They say things like, 'Oh, they know what they're doing,' They sum you up. In sales, people buy you first, not your product."

On advice he would give his younger self: "Continue to learn and build relationships. You gotta get out there and get known."

On the biggest mistakes that entrepreneurs make: "They do too much too soon. This is not a microwave," he said.

Knowles said entrepreneurs need to go through the creative process. Then build the right team, and answer those crucial questions around the who, the what, the why and the where.

He shared other important life tips:

• "An internship is the most important class you take. You take what you've learned and you apply it."
• "Failure or mistakes are opportunities to grow."
• "You should ask yourself 'What am I passionate about?' When you live your passion, you never work a day in your life."