I would like to provide some further perspective on my brief comments on CNBC, as these principles are indisputable and validated on every business I have ever worked on, and in the research I have done for my book, “Grow: How the World’s Best Businesses Use the Power of Ideals to Outshine the Competition.” And, by the way, these principles are recession-proof.

Create a compelling corporate culture.

This culture needs to be based on a higher ideal, or a higher purpose behind your brand or business. Employees want meaning in their work and in their lives, and if companies do not offer that, inspire that, you simply won’t get the full energy and the full potential from your people. And at the end of the day, every business and every brand is only as good as its people. I have often said that brands are simply the collective intent of the people behind them.

Two brands that do a super job at creating a compelling corporate culture are Method and Discovery. Method, based in San Francisco and founded in 2001, is a disruptive force in the home and personal care markets. These markets are dominated by my alma mater, Procter & Gamble, as well as Benckiser, Unilever, and SC Johnson. Method entered this category less than ten years ago, and has been growing very quickly behind a higher ideal: to inspire a healthy home revolution. Their products are effective, sustainable, beautifully designed, and profitable. This is why they are growing. And their employees are simply inspired by the mission, and bring their best to work every day.

The Discovery Channel is one of the most amazing and fastest growing media properties in the world. They’ve had a long track record of superior results in their category. Their ideal is to satisfy people’s curiosity about the wonders of the world. And they live that every day, they set their culture and their priorities based on that, and they attract amazing talent and let them create content that is unlike any other in the world.

Think more broadly about innovation.

Too many companies stop at product innovation. You simply must innovate in the product, the customer experience, and in pure marketing innovation. And when I say marketing innovation, I mean innovation without touching the product.

Motorola’s Droid X is a great example of this. They collaborated with Verizon and Google, and delivered a device that is beautifully designed, delivers a superior video experience, and is very fast. Response from consumers, technology experts, journalists, and analysts has been simply terrific.

Here are two other brands that think broadly about innovation:

– Ray-Ban, one of the many brands in the Luxottica eyewear portfolio, is a fast growing brand, behind a great product portfolio, but also a terrific retail shopping experience.  Their marketing is highly creative, leveraging music and social media.
– Brown-Forman’s Woodford Reserve premium bourbon is growing through this recession.  It is a fantastic product, but it also has a steady flow of point-of-sale and special occasion/seasonal innovation.

Engage customers, communicate and advertise!

There are so many great ways to communicate today, to be more personal and more efficient and effective. Gatorade is a great example in this space. They have recently re-staged their product lineup, and their communication strategy behind the G Series has been a wonderful balance of highly effective media. This includes their highly acclaimed partnership with Fox Sports in recreating games and matches behind high school rivals, called Gatorade Replay.

Reward beyond the financials.

We need more innovation in measurement and reward systems. Too many companies still reward simply on the financials. This is short sighted. Leaders and managers must be rewarded for delighting the customer, for growing key areas of brand equity that drive long-term share growth. Leaders also need to be measured for how they are developing the capability of their organization, so that their impact lasts beyond their time in position. P&G does an exceptional job at this as does Zappos.

Simply put, “Buying Days” is a one-month event where Luxottica hosts its major customers/clients from around the world. Each client visits for about two days, culminating in an evening fashion show, where the latest eyewear collections are showcased in a glamorous and energetic way. The meeting is held in a beautiful setting, with each one of the Luxottica eyewear brands (i.e., Chanel, Dolce & Gabbana, Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada, etc.) displaying their latest styles and collections. Buyers interact with Luxottica people, and place their orders for the upcoming months ahead. It’s a fabulously successful event.

This concept of bringing your customers to an off-site event/location to discuss how to grow your businesses together is a powerful one. We did this at Procter & Gamble, by developing innovation centers around the world where we would bring customers to learn about and experience P&G brands, and also to plan together on how P&G brands could help the customer grow their business.

There are five principles that really drive the success of a concept like this. I am confident if you apply these principles, you could have a similarly successful event to Luxottica’s breakthrough “Buying Days.”

1. An event like this puts the customer first, and it organizes everything you do around educating, delighting, and partnering with the customer. Luxottica clients travel from around the world to spend two days with Luxottica, learning about all its brands, and which brands are right for them. Technologies are demonstrated, commercial ideas are shared, and customers leave with the brands and the plans to grow their business.
2. When partners — customers and suppliers — get away from the everyday business, this changes the dialogue on both sides and helps strengthen the partnership. Day-to-day business is filled with details and negotiations, but an event like Luxottica’s “Buying Days” focuses on the long term, and how both sides can work together to achieve competitive advantage.
3. These events bring internal teams together, and unify people. There is nothing like preparing a brand for a full month of customer presentations; this unifies everyone on common goals, plans, priorities, and breaks down silos within an organization. There is nothing like a date with destiny with the customer to unify a team, and imagine what one month of meetings with customers can do for team unity.
4. The importance of your business/brands is elevated. Luxottica ends its two-day event with a fashion show, placing its brands within various lifestyles. You realize the role your brands play in people’s lives, and the importance the brand is to image, confidence, excitement, and overall lifestyle. Also, you realize that the eyewear is as important a part of a person’s image and presentation as their clothing, thereby elevating the importance of the category.
5. Great relationships build great business. We too often forget that. Events like this, especially when repeated yearly, build very strong, long-term relationships. And this leads to long-term business growth.

While not every business is a global powerhouse like Luxottica or P&G, every business in its own way can follow these principles. They work.

One of these companies is method, in San Francisco, California.  Many of you are likely aware of method, and their story is nicely told on their website www.methodhome.com/.   I have visited them before, and I visited on July 12 to go much deeper with many of their leaders about what makes them special and successful.

Here’s a sample of some of the leaders I interviewed, and their quirky and wonderful titles:

While I learned a tremendous amount on July 12, I wanted to share a few top line lessons we could all benefit from.

It’s all about the people behind the brand. So many companies say this; the way method brings this to life is simply amazing. They urge everyone to “bring yourself to work,” so that each person’s individual personality can make the brand better. But the most powerful story about how they focus on their people is the story of their recruiting process.

In all of my experience, and I have known companies who are terrific recruiters, this company sets a new standard. Everyone who is interviewed as a new employee receives up to 12 interviews from people all across the company, not just in the department in which they are applying. If the person makes it through the first round of interviews, they are given a homework assignment and asked to come back the next week.

The homework assignment is typically how the recruit would address some of their business challenges, and what they would do to continue to keep the culture “weird.” As they make a decision on a candidate, about 50% of the review is based on their experience, and the other 50% on whether or not the candidate is a cultural fit, and how they handled the homework assignment. The percentage of time their senior team spends on recruiting is staggering.

And they make very few mistakes in who they bring into the culture. They realize one bad hire is toxic.

I was also very inspired by the level of passion and energy with each person I met. And it was authentic; it wasn’t “spin” for my visit. Most of the people came from other companies, many large CPG companies. They came for the mission, and how this company treats their customers, consumers and employees. They feel free to bring their best ideas, and their best ideas are welcome. They truly are on a mission — to inspire the revolution for healthier, happier homes.

Never be complacent about your business mission, your “brand ideal” as I call it. This company has been mission-based since its founding nine years ago, but they continue to push it and ensure everyone in the company understands it, and is operating against that mission in their daily work. After my day of interviews, we went out for drinks and dinner, and the major topic of conversation was: “Is our mission well articulated, well understood, well deployed, well activated?”

Only do what competition can’t or won’t do. This brand is all about differentiation, in a category that previously had very few highly differentiated brands. They differentiate on mission, design, fragrance, sustainability, and efficacy. And, they get that balance right for their end consumers. Much like Steve Jobs at Apple does not go into a category he cannot disrupt, this brand never does anything competition has done, or likely will do.

Win with a compelling story for your retail customer. method sells to retailers, as many businesses do. I had the pleasure of talking with their Chief of Retail Health, George Shumny, and he did a role-play with me, where I was the customer and he was the sales person. His story hit everything a customer looks for — differentiation, image enhancement, margin growth, and collaboration. And, importantly, this brand is not for every retailer, and they don’t duck that. They don’t want to be everywhere.

CFO as chief storyteller. There are few CFOs who see their role as chief storyteller, but Andrea Freedman, Chief Financial Person Against Dirty, sees her role very much as keeping everything in perspective and keeping everyone’s eyes on the “horizon.” Their business is like most, it has its ups and downs. Andrea sees herself as the person who keeps telling the story about what this brand is, what success is, and how they are making progress against it in the short, medium, and long-term.

Always be looking to learn outside your category. When I arrived at method, I walked into their lobby and there was a “class” going on. The teacher was Dan Germain, head creative at innocent, a UK based company that is another fantastic story in brand ideal, mission, and outstanding performance. Dan was in the middle of teaching a writing class to several method employees, and this was the culmination of a week he had spent at method, learning from them and sharing his experience to help them be better. And by the way, innocent is another business that I will be profiling in my book, Grow.

Finally, many thanks to Eric Ryan, Adam Lowry, and the entire method team for their inspiration, hospitality, and budding friendship.

1.  It’s about the people we serve, consumers, not us.

Know your business and your consumer, and hold everyone on the brand team, including your agencies, accountable for the same.

Embrace the consumer when and wherever s/he is receptive; including the store.

As a team, let the consumer guide all decisions and actions.

2.  Create, or renew, a “brand ideal” for your brand that inspires your team.

Your “brand ideal should be rooted in the brand’s heritage, and it should represent a meaningful goal for the brand that inspires everyone to better serve consumers.

3.  Be a “leader integrator.”

Get all of your agencies at the same table on a regular basis. Your brand will benefit from the synergy and creativity that happens when they collectively debate the future direction for your brand.

Own identification of decision makers for all activities, and be clear about who has authority.

4.  Go for the “and.”

Set very high standards and accept no compromises.  Your advertising must be persuasive and likeable, rationale and emotional, distinctive and relevant.

5.  Build a relationship with your Creative people.

Learn to speak the language of creatives and embrace the creative brief. Be sure you and your leading creative are on the same page about what makes great advertising.

Create an environment where your brand team interacts more often and more collaboratively with your creative team.

6.  Say “I do.”

A true agency partnership is a long-term commitment. Treat your agency as a real partner.

Get your agency team involved early and often in opportunities to influence and contribute to the brand strategy, brand direction, and brand equity.

Don’t be afraid to take risks, and own them jointly with the agency. The best advertising doesn’t result from “being safe.”

7.  Open up.

Evaluate each other formally at least once a year.  This will ensure the expectations on both sides are understood, and that we are holding ourselves accountable for delivering against them.

Deliver feedback with respect, honesty and candor. Receive it with an open mind and appreciation.

8.   “Be the “magnet.”

Be personally responsible for creating a culture that attracts and inspires the world’s best creative talent within your agency.  Make it part of your workplan.

Know the people on your business as individuals. Show appreciation for their commitment, passion, and tremendous effort, even when mistakes occur.

Habit #10:  Live Your Desired Legacy

This is the culminating habit.   If you are practicing the other nine, this one should be relatively easy to put into practice, to make a habit.  But it still takes deliberation, discipline, and action.

Living your legacy means that you think ahead about the lasting impact you want to leave behind you.  In Habit #2 we talked about being clear about what you stand for, and to be visible inside and outside the organization, acting on your beliefs.  Habit #10 goes beyond that, this is about focusing on what you will be remembered for, what lasting effect you will leave behind.  And if you do not think about that while in your role, and focus on it, it will not happen.

Vineet Nayar of HCL is a good example of a leader who is acting now to leave behind a legacy that will forever change HCL, and maybe even business at large. Tom Peters has said Vineet Nayar could be the next Peter Drucker.   Vineet’s new book “Employees First Customers Second:  Turning Conventional Management Upside Down” is an account of his personal journey to hold himself and his team accountable to employees, so the employees can serve their customers better and fufill the mission and promise of HCL.   That will be his enduring legacy.

My good friend John Pepper, the current Chairman of the Board of Disney, had a clear focus on his desired legacy when he was Chairman and CEO at Procter & Gamble.  He wanted to firmly establish the Purpose, Values and Principles of a rapidly globalizing company so it would never lose its special culture.  And he wanted to enter China and Central and Eastern Europe in a way that would be the foundation for a healthy P&G business for generations, but also the beacon for how businesses should operate in these emerging economies.

Most CMOs are not good at this.  My two examples above are from CEOs.  CMOs think too short term, and don’t fully embrace the lasting impact they can have.  In my consulting I try to work with CMOs to isolate the few things they can focus upon that will make their companies stronger, their employees more inspired and energized, and their customers and partners more loyal.

My practical advice is to write down the 2-3 things that will be your legacy, and do this at about your 6-month anniversary in the role.  You will know enough by then to get it “about right.” Build a plan to achieve it within 3-4 years, and revisit it every six months.  Share it with your colleagues.  Be accountable to yourself and them to do it.

When A.G. Lafley offered me the GMO job at P&G in the summer of 2001, I took about a week and wrote a one page memo on what I hoped to do in the role, what I would leave behind that was better because I was there.  I shared it with him.  It became my guiding light in the role, and essentially did not change throughout my tenure in the role.  And what I am most proud of (and it continues to evolve, a measure of a strong legacy) is that P&G’s approach to brands has forever changed … from a narrow view of their functional benefits to an expansive, life-changing, purpose-driven view of their impact on the lives of the people they serve.

The last thought I will leave with you on legacy is that this process will greatly enhance your satisfaction with your job.  It provides a “north star” for all you do, and also helps you decide when you have done what you set out to do.  Then it is time for a new adventure!

Professor Boyko, distinguished members of the faculty, parents, guests, friends, and graduates of the VCU Brandcenter Class of 2010. Good afternoon. I am honored to be with you today at your commencement.

The first thought I want to share with you is congratulations to each one of you; you have been through one of the most innovative programs in higher education. It’s amazing — a program only about fifteen years old, and it has already had a significant impact on our communications industry, and on higher education. In preparing my remarks to share with you, I enjoyed looking through your work, and from what I see, you are ready to go out into our industry and make a big difference.

What I love most about your school is its mission: To Radically Transform The Business Of Advertising And Branding By Training The Next Generation Of Leaders To Make Business Smarter, Less Conventional, And More Responsible. Smarter, less conventional, responsible — this is the right mission for you and frankly for all of business. I cannot remember who my commencement speaker was when I graduated from Franklin & Marshall and Penn State. That’s sad! I would like you to remember my remarks to you — one year from now, ten years from now. So, I’m going to make it easy. I’m going to give you three numbers to keep in your mind when you think of this speech: one trillion, one, and ninety-three.

One trillion. Do you know what that represents? One trillion dollars. This is the estimate of the size of the market you are entering. One trillion dollars a year are spent on marketing and advertising. Imagine that. And now imagine the incredible power of this, if it is directed and spent the right way. Imagine if all of that money was spent on brands who believed in and acted on your school’s mission.

I’m going to the Cannes International Advertising Festival this year to urge the industry to spend this money in a different way. I will be hosting a dialogue on June 25 called “The Burning Question.” You can follow it on line, and the buzz has already begun. I am trying to bring your school’s mission to life.

As you now leave VCU, and you enter jobs, or look for that perfect job, or begin your own venture, I’d like you to help spend that one trillion dollars a different way — a way that is aligned with your school’s mission.

The number one. One is for each one of you individuals. You came into the school two years ago with a unique story. The story continued to develop and unfold over the past two years. You learned about advertising. You learned about collaboration. You learned more about social media. You learned about leadership. You learned about impact. You might have fallen in love; I did in my graduate program.

Well, I’d like to ask each one of you, on this your graduation day, to synthesize all this learning and to think about how you will help change brands and our industry for the better. Make a commitment to yourself today to not forget your school’s mission and to stay committed to it. Movements and revolutions begin with one person, and each one of you can be a very positive force in shaping our industry for the better.

This is very important — that each one of you acts on this. Our industry is not in good shape. The Pew Research Center has data that shows that people think business leaders are at the very low end of the scale in adding value to society. We are behind lawyers. And, I have nothing against lawyers; my father was a lawyer, and I have a brother who is a lawyer — and one who is a federal judge. Think about what has happened in the business climate since you entered the Brandcenter: AIG, Lehman Brothers, Toyota, Goldman Sachs, BP.

This leads me to my final number: ninety-three. This is perhaps an obvious one, as there are ninety-three of you in this room graduating. Now, I have already talked about the impact of each one of you making a commitment to change the industry in some way for the better. Now imagine the power in this room if all ninety-three of you did that. Imagine if here in this room, there are ninety-three Lee Clows. Or ninety-three Oprah Winfreys. Ninety-three Rick Boykos. Ninety-three Bob Greenbergs. Ninety-three Carol Williamses. Ninety-three Mike Hugheses. Ninety-three Shelly Lazaruses. You get the idea. The power is in the movement and the power is in the numbers.

So, my message to you is to keep these numbers in your head. Resolve to put those one trillion dollars to better use. Resolve to make this industry better because you as an individual make a commitment that you act upon. And, stay connected with your ninety-three classmates about your journey, and inspire them to make a difference. With ninety-three of you, you certainly have the critical mass to do that.

To your great faculty in this room, they will continue to support you. They’ve already helped you make a difference. You owe them a big thanks, and I guarantee they will support you as you move out of here to make a larger difference to fulfill your school’s mission.

To your loved ones in the room, your friends and family, be proud of your graduates. They are entering a field of great possibilities for good. I have seen it over and over  in my career. I spent 25 years at Procter & Gamble, the world’s largest advertiser, and I saw what could happen if a team got electrified behind a mission, through a brand, to make a positive difference. It results in great business, great impact, and an organization you can be proud to be a part of.

Thank you again for this opportunity. Enjoy this day. And, remember — one trillion, one, ninety-three.

Thanks again.

Several years ago, when I was serving as P&G’s Global Marketing Officer, I took note of an obscure small study on a brand in a European country.  The study essentially revealed that the consumers of that brand sensed that the people behind the brand were not inspired, not happy, not engaged.  And the brand was sick, boring, and declining in market share.

Wow.  I had never explicitly thought of looking at the root cause of a brand’s malaise as the engagement of the team behind the brand.  I would instead look at the product data — are we superior or not on the benefits that matter?  Is our distribution a competitive advantage?  Are we in stock at key times with key retailers?  Is our brand equity stronger than our competitors? Is our awareness at target levels?  Are our trial levels above competitors?

These are all fine and important questions.  But they are merely getting at symptoms of a potentially larger issue, the motivation and inspiration of the team behind the brand, or business.  Because when a team is not engaged, consumers sense this, and they do not want to part with their precious money to buy something that the “creators” of the brand do not believe in.

I had always believed that happy, motivated people drive better results.  And there is a boatload of research on that.  What I had not connected before this obscure study was that consumers can sense this through the packaging, advertising, in-store presence, partnerships, and distribution.  And consumers want to buy into a winner, they want to part of a team that is trying to make a difference through their brand.

As I like to say — and those who know me have heard me say this a million times — a brand or business is nothing more than the collected intent and behavior of the people behind the brand.  So be sure your team is thinking and acting like a winner — and put attention there first.

Must be something significant here astrologically.  If anyone has any deep insights I am all ears!

While I did not do any astrological research, I did look for clues from my birth year on why I am wired the way I am.  I found a few:

Brands and Businesses That Serve a Higher Ideal:  Disneyland opened in 1955.  Disney at its best is very ideals driven.  This was their first big move into entertainment services.  Steve Jobs was born in 1955, as was Bill Gates.  Their impact through business and other ventures/passions has been, and continues to be, an inspiration for me.  The first McDonald’s opened … while you can debate its impact on American diets, the brand has always tried very hard to be a positive force.  Witness the Ronald McDonald initiative.  Witness the healthier menu choices they offer.

Inspirational Leaders:   I have always tried to learn about people and leaders, who make a positive impact in their field, or simply through how they live their life.  1955 was the year Norman Vincent Peale wrote “The Power of Positive Thinking.”  It was the year Rosa Parks was arrested.  Albert Einstein died that year, as did James Dean.  Tim Berners-Lee, creator of the worldwide web, was born about a month after me.

Love for Family:  It was the year Ed Sullivan debuted.  My brothers and sisters and I spent many Sunday nights together huddled around the TV watching the Beatles and other iconic people parade into our lives.  It was also the year that the stage version of Peter Pan (love that story) starring Mary Martin, first aired on NBC.

Love for Sports:  Tennis is my favorite, and Tony Trabert from Cincinnati, where I have spent a large part of my life, won three of four Grand Slam events in tennis in 1955.

This was also the year the first company ever broke a billion dollars in profit … and it was General Motors.  Maybe this was an early lesson that profits are evanescent if not driven by a life-improving brand ideal, which GM has struggled with for decades.

I wish all of you a wonderful day from Mr. 5/5/55!

My partners/friends at Bridge Worldwide are sponsoring this, and they are awarding two winners.  Check it out here.

Bob Gilbreath, Chief Marketing Strategist, Bridge Worldwide, and I are hosting a session at Cannes on Friday afternoon, June 25, and the winners will be our special guests at this session.  Our session is called “The Burning Question,” and we have already begun to build a small community of change agents who believe brands and marketing can improve performance by making a more positive impact on people.  Here is the link to learn more about our session and we would love to hear from you.  What is your “Burning Question” which if asked and answered through actions would transform our industry?

I hope you — at minimum — share your question on our session website, and I hope you are inspired to submit your essay to be a candidate to win a free trip.  And, by the way, this includes airfare, hotel, full delegate privileges at the Festival … and I will throw in lunch with me and Bob poolside at the famous Hotel Majestic!

Great leaders simplify things.  They focus on the few things that really matter.  They are typically remembered for a few symbolic actions in the areas that matter.

One of my favorite leaders is the third President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, who was a politician, farmer, inventor, architect, archaeologist, to name a few of his roles … but his two largest symbolic actions defined the man’s legacy.  He wrote the Declaration of Independence and founded the University of Virginia.

Yes, even as 21st century CMOs we can learn a lot from Thomas Jefferson’s life, but I would like to focus on this “habit” of doing a few symbolic things that reinforce your impact, your legacy.

Many of us go through assignments busier than we could ever imagine, only to realize, after a few years have gone by, that we cannot point to what is better because we were there.  That is not a good feeling.

My Habit #8 suggests to you to PROACTIVELY plan a few dramatic, symbolic actions that people will remember.  These actions are not random, they must be strategically reinforcing what your brand/business needs to win, to stand out, to make a difference.  And you must be choiceful — remember Jefferson only had two.

Steve Jobs at Apple is a master of this, and his story is often told so i will not belabor it.  His symbolic actions:  the iPod and the iPhone.  Maybe the iPad.

A few other examples that I like from CEOs and CMOs:

–Jim Farley at Ford introducing the Ford Focus as a new business model for Ford and maybe the industry.  His launch of the “My Ford” system at the recent consumer electronics show in Las Vegas is another good example of a strategic, symbolic action.

–Indra Nooyi and team  reframing Pepsi as a positive force with the “Refresh” initiative.  Also from Indra and team, the Sun Chips renewed purpose of  ”Healthier You, Healthier Planet” is showing the way for a new approach in snacks.

–Patrick Doyle at Domino’s Pizza with the very dramatic action of “coming clean” on the taste and quality of their pizzas, and promising that his new pizzas will exceed raised expectations. No doubt that is what Patrick will be remembered for in his tenure at Dominos.

–David Zaslav and team at Discovery Communications launching the new series “Life“, which took four years to film, in fifty countries, with more than 70 cameramen and women. Dramatically and symbolically showing that the Discovery Network will be in a class of its own in exploring the curiosities of our planet.

–The actions can also be organizational changes or acquisitions; witness Publicis‘ Maurice Levy’s acquisition of Digitas to dramatically move his Groupe into digital competence.

At P&G, during my 7-year tenure as global CMO, I focused on two bold actions.  In 2003, I led a small P&G entourage to the Cannes Advertising Festival, forever changing the standards for P&G and it agencies in consumer-inspired creativity.  Later in the decade I led a movement to elevate the role P&G brands play with their consumers, more closely connecting the brands’ purposes with the company’s purpose.  This I am happy to say has only gained momentum under Bob McDonald and Marc Pritchard’s leadership.

What few symbolic things, or actions, will you be remembered for?  Are they big enough?  Are they reinforcing what your brand/business needs?  Are you proactively and deliberately planning them?  Final thought: while you should be planning your symbolic actions, be open to serendipity.  Bob Isherwood from Saatchi & Saatchi and a few senior Creative Leaders at P&G’s agencies suggested I go to Cannes in 2003; I was smart enough to listen to them and then make it a very symbolic action internally and externally.  And you know the story of Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of independence … he was a reluctant author.