Who would have thought when the confectionary giant Mars launched a new campaign in 1995 for computer animated “spokescandies,” it would become the center of a Super Bowl commercial 17 years later—and all the hype to go with it.  These color-animated candies recruited some of the biggest names in Hollywood as celebrity voices.  Including Jon Lovitz, John Goodman and the late Phil Hartman.

What is it about these colorful little characters that makes us want to purchase everything from coffee mugs and apparel to collectibles and racing gear.  The answer is easy—the brand.

Mars brings the M&Ms brand “personality” to life through animated characters who speak to all ages and create funny, clever even a little racy moments that we can all connect with. All that and what we are really taking about is just candy-coated chocolate!

At HEASLEY&PARTNERS, we believe that great brands are built on three essential brand elements.  The first is a brand must be genuine, so you can’t fake it.  The second is meaningful, it must mean something to the people it serves.  And, the third is a brand must be different—different from anything else out there.  The M&M’s brand, and its lovable little characters, has all characteristics and they own this product segment.

Hershey has candy coated chocolates similar to M&Ms, but few would know it. And who cares? They’re the “kiss” people. In Hershey, Pennsylvania (also known as Chocolate Town, USA) the street lights are kisses. Hershey is genuinely about kisses, just as Mars is about M&Ms. Of course this should lead you to ask, “What am I about? What’s my product about? My company?” Do you think Mars would be spending the big bucks on Ms. Brown unless they knew their brand? Of course not. How much money are you wasting promoting your business without knowing what you stand for? Even one dollar is too much.

So, what will Ms. Brown have to offer?  Will she show us her vulnerable side? Will she connect with fans?  How will she be different? I think she wears glasses? From her close friends and colleagues, “Ms. Brown is very intelligent and has a sharp wit.”  She has been behind the scenes as “chief chocolate officer” for decades, and has finally decided to come out of her shell (no pun intended).

All we know is…if she is anything like her colorful counterparts, I’m sure she will not disappoint us.  We will have to wait until February fifth to find out.   Until then…

What is branding?  Heart & Mind® Branding.

• For making every football Saturday during my four years at Penn State unforgettable, whether we won or lost, and we mostly won.
• For all he did for the “kids” who towered over him as his Penn State players.
• For  his selfless contributions to support excellence at Penn State.
• For his commitment to academics and the achievement of his players.
• For the way he ran on the field with the team.
• For the thrill of winning a national championship my senior year.
• For giving me a sense of pride in my school that began at age 18 and is still with me today.
• For scaring the crap out of me when I walked down my dad’s basement and glimpsed from the corner of my eye a life-size “pop-up Joe” in the shadows.
• For being a fellow Italian who made my dad proud.
• For being a role model of perseverance.
• For the way 50,000 people in Beaver Stadium would shout “Jopa” and the other 50,000 would shout “Terno.”
• For his rolled up pants, white socks and black shoes.
• For the way he screamed at players who taunted the opponent or celebrated too much.
• For being carried on the shoulders of his team more than once, and the joy on his face.
• For being strong while being humble.
• For his fight and his unwavering loyalty to white and blue.

Thanks for the moments. We’ll miss you, Joe.

What is branding?  Heart & Mind® Branding.

The Promise... a cactus 14" x 17" in a 6" pot with a bow.

Because it is the holiday’s we’ll give the national flower network and the local delivering florist the gift of not mentioning their names.

After about an hour of calling customer service at the national flower network and the local florist who delivered the plant, I got them to agree to send out something that is worth the $40, plus tax my sister paid for a cactus that we could have bought from Home Depot for about a buck-ninety-eight. She’ll be visiting in just a few days and the whole thing would be embarrassing for everyone. Who needs more stress around the holidays?

When you think of a brand, please, keep it simple and use our definition. Just two simple words: The Promise and the Experience. When you think in terms of this, the Promises you put out there and the Experiences you deliver should be equal. In other words, what you promise, you simply should deliver. As I have said many times in this blog, the Experiences we have with a brand do far more to make or break it than any Promise we put out there. Paying attention to the experience your customers have with your brand is the most critical aspect of brand and business building.

The Experience…a cactus 2" x 4" in a 6" pot with no bow.

This is the point that too many people miss. An Experience with your brand is more than just an opportunity to deliver what you promised, and it is more than just an opportunity to wow. It is a “moment” with your brand. That “moment” can be stellar, or it can be horrible–which this one was. Did I really need to spend an hour of my time dealing with a bum flower delivery? Of course not. Will I ever buy from either of these companies? You’ve got to be kidding!

This is the kind of brand experience that gets you blazed on Yelp!, flamed on Twitter, and blasted on Facebook. And it sure demonstrates the importance of enlightening everyone in your company to the higher purpose, the true heart of your brand. I’m sure the CEO of the flower network and the flower shop owner would both be shocked by all this. In all our businesses, it only takes one person who doesn’t care, doesn’t get it and who doesn’t understand the true business you’re in to mess things up. Before you start firing people, it’s not their fault in most cases. It’s the leader’s fault for not enlightening and inspiring them.  Do your employees know what business you are really in? Do you?

As we approach the New Year, make a resolution to not just think of branding as a logo or an ad or the hook that you put out there to snag customers. Think instead of the experience you deliver. When you deliver on your promises you’ll be shocked at how many customers you will attract and how quickly your brand and your business will blossom…just like a Christmas Cactus.

What is branding?  Heart & Mind® Branding.

The reason service plays such a huge role in brand building can be best answered by starting with the basics. First my definition of a brand is simply two words:  the Promise and the Experience.  The Promise is everything you use to telegraph who you are, what you do, how you do it and how much the people you serve will love what you offer. It’s your website, social media; advertising; public relations; business cards; even you and your team’s attire, grooming, attitude etc. These things and the many others that precede you leave impressions whether you know it or not. One question worth asking is, are they leaving the impressions you want? If they aren’t then some Promise work is in order.

The Experience is the follow through on that promise. It’s your product or service, it’s the sales process, the customer service process, the technical support process, the billing process, along with the attitude, the tone the personality of the people you employ. It’s every interaction you and the others in your company have with the people you serve or wish to serve. If you are promising the moon and the sky, but delivering something short of that, then Experience work is in order.

Experiences can happen anywhere and everywhere. Cold Stone Creamery was my client for many years and based on the brand platform, the company was in the “Making People Happy Business.” I would often travel visiting franchisees as part our branding work. I would carry a Cold Stone Creamery briefcase and invariably someone would see it and say, “Hey, Cold Stone! I love Cold Stone!” In those days we encouraged everyone associated with the brand to give people who “showed the love” a Free Creation certificate right on the spot.

So I’d say, “Thanks!” or “Cold Stone loves you too!” and give the fan a free creation. It was a little thing, but imagine what a big thing it is to an airport security check-point worker who mostly deals with people at their worst. Imagine the unexpected surprise and the inevitable conversations that took place about this one little act of generosity.What I just described is a “moment,” a small instance of time, unexpected, that makes someone feel special. Moments generally don’t cost much, they just take understanding and creativity to first discover the company’s genuine brand, and how it is meaningful to the people the company serves and then how to make it different from the competitors. These three words: genuine, meaningful and different are the key to great brand moments that are unforgettable and get people talking. And it’s all that talk that creates buzz and buzz is what builds what we call breakthrough brands.

During the session, I showed attendees how to use our proprietary tool called Moments™ Maps. When HEASLEY&PARTNERS works with a company to build the Experience side of the branding equation, we develop Moments Maps to identify the right moments and infuse them into the sales, service, support, or whatever processes a company wants to bring to life. For most companies, that’s all of them.

The foundation for all of this is HEASLEY&PARTNERS’ Heart & Mind^® Branding, a five-stage process that takes a company from brand creation to brand planning to full execution. Through this process, businesses and people can finally connect heart-to-heart with the people they wish to serve. The heart is where buying decisions are made, after all. We put the “why” behind the “what” and systematize it so companies win through more engaged workforce, less employee turnover, increased productivity, more leads, happier customers, more referrals and increased sales and profits. This is the closest thing I know to a silver bullet in business and it took me decades to bring it to life. Lucky for you, it’s here now.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

For some of you the term “higher purpose” may be a foreign one. What I mean by this is “a reason for being greater than yourself.” In the workplace, it’s feeling like you can’t wait to get to work in the morning to start your day and make a difference. It’s feeling like you want to work harder, contribute more, and challenge yourself to become a better you because it matters.  

My father was a high school industrial arts teacher for 32 years.  He went into teaching to share his knowledge of craftsmanship. He was a man who took great pride in creating something by hand, and he believed teaching a trade that students could use throughout their entire lives was a noble mission.  He didn’t become a teacher to make a lot of money, gain status or feed his ego.  My dad went to work every day with a higher purpose and a responsibility to teach and inspire young people and change their lives forever. In his life, he accomplished his mission.

Everyone talks about living a purpose-driven life, but what about a purpose-driven career? Everyone has gifts, something they do well, something they are really good at—such as art, writing, programming, public speaking, people skills—the list goes on and on. Once you identify the gift in yourself, how does that translate into a career that allows you to do what you love and love what your do? Into a business that brings out the best in you and your employees?

Now, I know some of you might be asking,  “Is a workplace like that possible? Aren’t these exceptions?”

To that I answer, “Yes, it is possible and it should be the rule!”  A work environment that inspires employees to want to do more, to contribute to a greater good, pushing them beyond their own limits—where work isn’t just a job, it becomes your life’s work—something we all should experience.  Life is too short to have it any other way.

After 25 years of working in a variety of companies, I finally found one where I can fully use my gifts to contribute and add value with purpose.  It’s a work environment that lends itself to inspiring people and letting them soar beyond their own abilities.  I’m happy to say, at last I have found my place and a company that not only inspires me to a higher purpose, but it teaches other companies to achieve the same kind of power and the same level of success.

At HEASLEY&PARTNERS, we practice what we preach. We work with companies to help build their brands; and one of the ways we do that is by creating work environments that inspire people to want to do more, where employees like to come and work every day and are moved by a higher purpose.  Unless your brand is happening inside your building it can’t happen outside it. When you have employees who are inspired, they work harder, stay longer and you know what…they sell more stuff. Your company becomes more successful.  Here through the work we do, I’ve realized the secret to creating a strong brand, a strong company, and to making life a whole lot easier.

Does your company inspire you to a higher purpose?  As a business owner or leader, what are you doing to instill higher purpose in your business? Let us know.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

I guess you can say the Kardashian’s are models, in a way. Kim Kardashian was discovered through an explicit sex video that launched her “claim to fame.” Then, Ryan Seacrest discovered the entire Kardashian clan for a reality show. But what is their brand position, really? What do they stand for? opportunism comes to mind, but I hope there is something more.

To make their brand position even more confusing, I read earlier this week that Celebuzz has teamed up with the Kardashian Kollection and Sears to kick off a t-shirt design contest. What? The winner’s concept will be put into production for the next Kollection line, and they’ll also receive $1,000 to spend at Sears.

Talk about confusing brands! Now the Kardashian’s, Sears and Celebuzz are in the t-shirts business? Which is it then? T-shirts, designer wear, appliances? I’m confused. Maybe you the winner of the $1,000 will buy a new washer or dryer with their new-found fortune?

At HEASLEY&PARTNERS, we work every day defining brands for companies, products, programs  and people. We look for what is Genuine, Meaningful and Different. Is the brand genuine to its audience, meaningful to the people it serves and different than the competition? I don’t believe the Kardashians or Sears are being “genuine” (except for their genuine desire to cash in from from each other). And what does Sears mean to Kardashian fans? What does Kardashian, a brand that’s all about $20 million engagement rings and being married to a pro basketball player) mean to Sears lovers?

Perhaps Sears is simply trying to attract a new, younger shopper and are hoping the K-Kollection can do it, that it’s “different” enough to drive new shoppers. I doubt Sears gave the Kardashian’s fashion foray a home expecting nothing in return; certainly they expect the brand to carry clout.

Before you think I am a Kardashian basher, guess again. I’m a fan, and avid viewer of “Keeping Up With The Kardashians.” They offer a good entertainment reality show. Not many families live the lifestyles they do, have their family dynamics and act out in such outlandish ways. But, that is what makes them entertaining, that is what makes them genuine, meaningful and different as a reality show family. But does it mean they are clothing designers? Does it mean they are a “brand fit” with Sears? Momanager, Kris Jenner may have taken the brand one step too far this time…in the wrong direction.

*Update- With the recent news of Kim Kardashian filing for divorce after only 72 days of marriage, business could be good but the Kardashian brand will most likely be damaged.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

People are quick to say Steve Jobs’ mind was his strength. That his genius made him great. I say it was his heart. That’s what pushed him to share his genius with all of us. To push through the obstacles of his business and physical ills and to give the world everything he had in him.

Much will be written about Steve Jobs today and for generations to come. He won’t be forgotten ever. But I know how I’ll remember him. I’ll remember him as a man with heart first and a masterful mind second.

Thank you Steve Jobs for giving your heart to all of us for so many years. Let his legacy be a lasting guide to how all of us can do great things.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

He reassured grandma and grandpa that he was eating hearty meals and was safe. With mom he said how much he missed her and that he was doing great and was even having fun! Then with dad he went into more detail about drill sergeants yelling at him; but, that all of his fatherly advice was helping him succeed. When I opened my letter I started laughing, because a brother-sister relationship is very different and even unique…The entire letter was filled with jokes about his fellow recruits, how he needed to hear the latest football scores, and wondering what our dogs were up to…needless to say what he had to tell me, he would have never told grandma, mom or even dad. And if he did it certainly wouldn’t be in the same tone.

Clearly most of us naturally target our messages when we talk with friends and family members and these letters were great examples of that. We all send out different messages every day; either on Twitter, Facebook, email, text message, phone… the list goes on forever. A different tone can not only shape the kind of message your audience receives, but also and most importantly how they react.

During school I wrote in a more serious mood and style for an academic paper, a not-as-serious mood for a blog entry and a light/casual style for an email to a friend. Before I send anything, I always take that extra few minutes to re-read what I’ve written just to make sure I have the right tone and mood.  Is it too sarcastic? Too formal? Too casual? Can the readers relate to this?  It also never hurts to get a second opinion. They may notice an underlying tone that you didn’t. Viewing your work through others’ eyes will give you a new perspective, and even some good ideas!

Here at HEASLEY&PARTNERS we believe in, and deliver, Heart & Mind® Branding. We help and encourage people and businesses to use their heart when writing. When you write with your heart, what you truly feel, your message becomes more genuine, meaningful and different–that is how you stand out from the competition and connect with readers.

Do you have a go-to tone that you use in your writing? Or do you tailor it to each different platform?

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

With Steve Jobs announcing he is stepping down from his role of CEO of Apple, people are speculating about what made him so powerful, so successful and so iconic. Everything from his off-the-charts intelligence, his insane attention to every detail, his intensity and his relentless micromanagement just to highlight a few.  But I’ll say it is all of these and none of these at the same time. That’s putting too much emphasis on the micro aspects of a macro human being, a total person.

There’s no doubt that Steve Jobs isn’t just the founder of Apple he is a brand unto himself. The same things that makes Apple a great brand is the same things that makes Steve Jobs a great brand. They are the three key tenants of Heart & Mind Branding: Great brands are always Genuine, Meaningful and Different.

Genuine

Too many people want to complicate the power of brands by looking at them under a microscope. The real power of a brand happens by looking through the telescope. On a grand scale, Steve Jobs is and has been since the very first Apple computer, the genuine Steve Jobs. He may have grown older as we all do and wiser and richer, but in general the Steve Job we saw in the old Apple product launch reels is not at all different from the Steve Jobs we see in the launch videos today. And its clear to anyone watching his attitudes, behaviors, delivery and passion is not an act. How many of you as entrepreneurs, how many of you as employees, as managers can say the same of yourself or your leaders? Are you genuine or are you holding back, putting on aires, trying to be someone else or matching who you are to who you are with?  Steve Jobs is Steve Jobs and that’s what makes him and his brand powerful.

Meaningful

Steve Jobs isn’t just genuine, his genuineness is meaningful to people who love technology, music, video, business, entrepreneurship and every other area of life that the products his company creates enhance. Furthermore, Steve Jobs has a way of delivering and communicating what could be just “boring technology” in a way that connects with his audiences. And he always has. His message matters to legions of followers. It also repels others who don’t connect with the genuine Steve Jobs and like any great brand, he appears okay with that. By choosing to be one thing as a brand, we by definition dismiss everything else as off brand. More things are off brand to Steve Jobs than on brand and that’s the way it should be.

Different

Clearly Steve Jobs has taken a stand on the nature and the future of technology and that stand is not just a part of who he is as a brand, but also what his company is as one too. It’s a strong stand and by that measure alone, the Steve Jobs brand is different. He owns his personna, he owns his attitude, he owns his fire. This made him a standout in a world where getting noticed was the precursor to success. I’m talking about 30 years ago, not just today. Back when Steve Jobs was nearly unknown, his uniqueness began fueling his and his company’s brand engines. He began to get noticed, as did his company’s products.

So you can look and talk about all the micro attributes of this gifted man and analyze them over too many glasses of wine. Or you can look at the whole person for what he is–a leader–who stayed true to himself and his mission, a mission that is meaningful to so many and by shear virtue of those two things, made him different from everyone else. So instead of trying to work into your daily work the small behaviors of a great man, instead look up at the great leader and find the great leader in yourself.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.

Can it really be that simple?  Of course it is.  The hard part is actually creating an environment where people care.  But read on because this article is your pathway to a caring—winning—culture within your company.

A Real Life Story of Big Time Caring

The most important event of the year was five months away.  It was the Annual Franchisee Meeting where nearly two thousand business owners converge with higher than high expectations and a year’s worth of issues they want solved and questions they want answered. On one hand our team felt like we had all the time in the world to plan. On the other, we were seasoned in this game, so we knew that time was short. Soon these franchisees would be expecting a stage production that was entertaining, informative and inspiring all wrapped up in a meeting that provided answers and didn’t miss a beat.  It was up to us to make it happen.

By nine a.m., our team was present and accounted for:  the graphic designer, the videographer, the video editor, the lighting designer, the audio designer, the technical director, two producers, the project manager, the writers and the set designer.  We were all assembled in our chairs, pads of paper, markers and a rather large tray of bagels and cream cheese all within reach.  Creativity requires fuel and particularly carbs, after all!

I always found it remarkable how effective these meeting were. How everyone contributed, listened, got inspired, contributed some more, laughed, shared experiences, contributed again and ultimately agreed on a path at the end of the three-hour session.  A path that once executed as a full stage production, changed the lives of everyone who experienced it and achieved all the business objectives of the company.

This meeting would be no different.  We began our discussion and within no time at all, each person was sharing his or her vision for the production.  “I’m envisioning a giant hundred-foot-wide screen as our back drop for the stage,” the producer said, arms outstretching in a wide arc.

“We could strategically place set elements in front of the screen that would be luminous when we wanted them to be, yet transparent when the screen was carrying video.” That came from the set designer who always seemed to be able to do the impossible.

“And we could up-light them so that they would appear to glow from the ground up,” our inspired lighting designer said, drawing a diagram for his own reference.

This is how the meeting would progress and by the end of all the fun and the laughter and the “can we afford that?” reality checks, we’d emerge with a plan and a set of next steps that everyone was fully empowered to perform.  And most important, they did.

It sounds ideal, and it was.  But before you quit what you currently do to become part of a creative team that develops stage productions, know that this magic has less to do with the kind of team we were and everything to do with the culture that every company and every team within it can foster.  Even this team didn’t start out this caring and cohesive.  It took time and a leader who understood the only way to achieve greatness—without killing herself or someone else in the process—was to ensure that in every chair sat someone who cared.

The Pathway to a Caring Culture

A week before the meeting, the leader defined our mission and to her, that was easy.  Our mission was to create a life-changing, meaningful event for the attendees.  Our goal:  Create “moments” that our attendees will never forget.  After that, it took having the right people on the team.  Not all made the cut, but in the end, the following ensured a person who cared was in every chair:

Each person was open to learning. No one was practicing here, on the contrary everyone was highly accomplished.  But that did not mean any of us was through learning.  We were all open-minded sponges because we were creating something that had never been done before.  We knew it would take learning new things to solve problems, overcome barriers and make our collective vision come to life.

Each person respected the talents of the others. In fact we looked at each other in awe of our collective talents and never felt threatened.  That meant there was no gossip and no backstabbing.  We all needed each other to be successful, and we trusted in each others’ abilities.

No one’s creative DNA was any better than anyone else’s. Egos were left at the door.  None of us was better than all of us.  We talked in terms of “we’s” not “I’s” and enhanced each others’ creative gifts by playing off each other, not competing.

Everyone was a leader. Anyone whose ego or self interest was getting in the way of achieving the goal or building the effectiveness of the group was called on it.  If it happened again, the leader would privately ask the person to either get on board or be cut loose.  It only happened once the first year and never again.

Everyone loved their craft and loved the cause. This was not about the money for any of us.  It was about doing what we loved and loving the higher purpose we were called to achieve.  We were helping people, and that was much more important than any one of us.

I can talk about the outcome, but I’m sure you can guess. We achieved our goal and our mission:  “moments” were everywhere. Lives changed and clients were insanely happy. We gave and got a lot of hugs and high-fives.  We recognized many personal bests, but like any good team after achieving a big success, we bonded even more and knew that next time we’d care just as much about the project and the goal and the mission.  But we’d care a whole lot more about each other, too.  And at that moment, caring got exponentially more powerful…because caring became personal.

What is branding? Heart & Mind® Branding.