CVS Celebrity: Gene Simmons
Please note that these are unofficial profiles only and have not been verified. Description is only based upon public information and may represent either primary or secondary MDNA profiles. This profile is intended for educational purposes only to demonstrate the possibilities of MDNA for those that have been personally assessed.
Gene Simmons
CVS (Compelling Value & Stewardship)
Gene Simmons is a musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur, most famous for being co-founder of the one of the most successful rock bands of all time, Kiss. Kiss has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide. Simmons also starred in the reality television series Gene Simmons Family Jewels for seven seasons.
Gene Simmons is an interesting celebrity to profile. His MDNA may surprise you. Like most celebrity musicians, it would be easy to assume that he is an EIA (Empowering Inspiration and Attraction) with nicknames such as “The Demon” on stage and “Dr. Love.” Absolutely with no doubt, Gene Simmons understands the social spotlight and how to entertain the masses like many EIAs in popular media do.
Upon closer examination however, Simmons’ and Kiss’ success does not stem from being EIA. Gene Simmons is a CVS through and through.
Simmons does not consider Kiss a rock band, but rather a rock brand. He understands business—especially the aspect of brand licensing. Kiss is one of the most licensed brands in the world. Some reports say there are over 3,000 licensed products with the Kiss brand available. When it comes to business, the core competency of the CVS is “Valued Accessibility.” Whether you appreciate the music or not, Simmons has done a masterful job of creating access to Kiss while generating substantial value and ROI.
Another quality of the CVS profile is the ability, flexibility and adaptability to start a diversity of new ventures. Many CVS are serial entrepreneurs and love funding new businesses. Simmons is no different. The rock star has a multitude of side projects from car dealerships, clothing lines, publishing, restaurants, financial services and of course, record labels, associated with his name. His latest venture is the L.A. Kiss arena football team. Simmons is a capitalist and is completely unashamed of it.
An interesting fact about Simmons is that he is adamantly against drugs or alcohol use, which may be surprising considering his career. The CVS typically is very careful about being a steward of his or her body, seeing physical health as a valuable resource. Second, if you listen to many of Simmons’ interviews, you will see that he has no problem with ideological tension, from religion to the institution of marriage. The CVS prefers not to see the world in absolutes, and neither does Simmons. Finally, the CVS has no problem pointing out the deficiencies in others without wanting to be confronted with their own past issues. Again, there is an interesting pattern of this in all of Simmons’ interviews.
What is fascinating is that, even as one of the best-selling bands of all times for over 40 years, Kiss has never been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One theory is simply because Simmons sees Kiss as a business first, rock band second. He has no illusions of where the value is.
How many other would-be-successful performing artists could benefit from the same CVS approach?
As a final side note, an equal contributor to Kiss’ success is co-founder Paul Stanley (aka “Starchild”). After reading additional articles about the relationship between the two, our initial theory is that Stanley is a UCD (Unyielding Conviction & Design). The CVS and UCD are a very potent combination in business as demonstrated by pairs such as Bill Gates (CVS) and Paul Allen (UCD) of Microsoft, and Warren Buffet (CVS) and Charlie Munger (UCD) of Berkshire Hathaway.