In 2016 Walker | Weltman was hired by Chinese automaker Sokon Industry Group to work as strategic consultants for their launch into the US of their electric vehicle company to be headquartered in Santa Clara. We were hired for a few reasons. Our brand and marketing expertise in national and global launches and Josh’s creative director background and entertainment experience as co-producer of Mad Men. We were also hired for our knowledge of the US consumer and the partners and resources to reach them. But to Josh and I, beyond our experience, the most important thing we bring, is a west-coast point of view. It’s a lens than any business benefits from looking through. Because the West has had an outsized impact in creating new companies and cultural trends in the world.
It’s been going on a long time. In 1851 Horace Greeley was given credit for popularizing the phrase, “Go West Young Man.” The phrase symbolized the idea that agriculture could solve the young nation’s poverty and unemployment in its big cities.
Over 150 years later, ‘go west’ continues to ring true when it comes to innovation, new solutions and solving problems. The difference today is that the problems being solved are not just those of a country, but the world.
Of the five largest companies in the world by market cap, the top 4 are from the West Coast. 1. Apple. 2. Alphabet. 3. Microsoft. 4. Amazon. They are all companies grown from a unique culture of optimism and ambition thriving in the western United States. From the San Diego to Seattle, companies are changing the world in categories like mobility, retail, entertainment, communication, cloud services and the environment.
It may sound obvious, but you don’t go west into the unknown unless you can imagine a better world than the one in which you live. The west is filled with people who can imagine things differently. Steve Jobs imagined what people could do if a powerful computer was simple and easy to use. Bill Gates imagined how productive an organization could be if everyone had a computer on their desk. Jeff Bezos imagined what the world would be like if everything was just two clicks away. And Larry Page and Sergey Brin Imagined what the world would be like if people could find out anything anytime anywhere. The list goes on. In the west, first we imagine, then we make it so.
It’s not surprising that the company that has led the way in the future of transportation, Tesla, came from Silicon Valley. What is fascinating, is how many companies are coming to the Silicon Valley, especially from the East, to compete in the rapidly evolving clean mobility category. As a participant in the clean mobility revolution, it has been fascinating to watch California become one of the epicenters of the clean mobility movement. What Tesla started, companies from China and around the world have joined. SF Motors, Byton, Nio, Hozon Auto, Faraday Future, Fisker and others have set up operations and headquarters in Silicon Valley and Southern California. They join Apple, Alphabet, and Tesla in the development of smart technologies, connectivity, A.I. and batteries that are driving a promise of a better future for our planet.
“Go west” is still alive and well. It’s just also coming from the East too. And we’re looking forward to what lies ahead.
Walker|Weltman is a West Coast Communications Consultancy based in Los Angeles & Seattle founded by Josh Weltman, Author of “Seducing Strangers” and co-producer of Mad Men and Jim Walker, a marketer and strategist with expertise in US and Global brand launches. “Seducing Strangers” is also available in Chinese and French.