Because if you’re like most entrepreneurial types, new opportunities, technologies and often sheer enthusiasm and joie de vive can sidetrack the focus of a business.
When that happens, what was once a simple business proposition becomes diluted and confusing. And impossible to understand -
at least fully enough to buy.

There was only one Jimi Brand.

As I looked at where and to what type of client I’ve provided most value, it’s been with helping business owners in my gen, whom I’ve taken to calling Gen-Woodstock™.
And what I do is help them to see and understand their marketing options, especially online where I’ve always been an early adopter
(certainly ‘for my age’ according to my teen sons).

So what’s Gen-Woodstock? I see people in this group not as a demographic (or subset of ‘Boomers’ – a term I despise), but as a psychographic. And what seems to best characterize them is their fierce sense of independence. And how much they care about making the world a little better place to live; and not just for themselves.

I know 60+ year-old Gen-Woodstockers, as well as twenty- and thirty-somethings who fit the bill. I’ve too come to think of think Steve Jobs as an archetypal Gen-Woodstocker – all the more so now we understand he was hardly ‘Saint Steven’ in all his ways. It’s not about knowing all the answers, but always being intensely interested in finding them. And knowing the day we stop being fully engaged is the day we become old. Not an option.

Interestingly, Gen-Woodstockers know who they are; any attempt to further define them is counter-intuitive. Because we refuse to be categorized as much as we refuse to ‘grow up.’
It’s just the way it is. 

Gen-Woodstock has nothing do with age or with being a 'hippie' - as Steve Jobs often characterized himself. (Here, Tom Lanen in 1973, just back from an extended cross-country adventure, and on his way back to college at UMass Amherst.)

So what’s the strategy then? Simply to be myself. And while I look very different today than I did back in the days of the original Woodstock, my core Gen-Woodstock sensibilities remain strong. And I still love a lot of the things I did then such as live rock + roll shows, even if at times I’ve felt compelled to hide this from some of my ‘straight’ clients, given my very diverse musical tastes. But in fact, those with whom I do my best work expect me ‘to rock.’ They’ve told me as much. Because they rock their lives too – figuratively, or literally – and it’s a shared experience, a simple bond. 

It’s also led me to think that after a lifetime of trying to be the smartest Brand + marketing guy in the room, my position now should be: to be the nicest + most helpful.
A regular Elwood P. Dowd of Branders, albeit one more accountable to today’s business certainties – and uncertainties. Fortunately too, I have some brilliant partners.

Some might think this a very naive strategy, and perhaps so.
The good news is that to those who know me + with whom I work most successfully, my Gen-Woodstock sensibilities ring true. And they have value to them because again, it’s in their personal Brand DNA too. And ‘fit’ is so key in this often subjective business, where shared thought + sometimes unguarded discussion is required as we probe the emotional aspects that connect people with Brands.

But will ‘nice’ do it? Frankly, I’ve no choice but to find out. And while it scares the heck out of me to take this position, there’s no arguing with it. It’s authentic me, and part of my Brand DNA. And authentic is at the core of a Whole Brand. Simple truth.

You see, I no longer ask that burning Firesign Theatre question: what is reality? It’s how we live. In the moment, and enjoying the journey.

And with focus, it’s much easier to see all with which I have been blessed. Again. 

So what do you think?  I’d love to hear your views – you’re invited to leave them on our new Facebook page.

Kind regards,

Tom –

PS: Need affordable help building your business? Ask me about ThomasBoston’s NEW ‘Name Your Own Price’ Brand + marketing support program: 508 497 8900

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Objective: accurately + fully present the niche business, and its unique capabilities to the newly-defined marketplace: Fortune-ranked + large businesses. A secondary objective was to communicate the Brand platform – mission, target markets, position + values – to its staff + vendor partners.

This Anatomy of a Whole Brand™ snapshot outlines the tactics created by ThomasBoston + its creative partners. All tactics noted are fully aligned to a well-focused Strategic Brand Communication Platform reflecting the authentic vision of the company’s new principals.

While this depicts the tactics of a B2B program, its principles are also applicable to consumer + retail Brand development + marketing.

Please contact us to review actual creative tactics: 508 497 8900

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A Strategy is the ‘what’ someone does to achieve an objective, a plan. A Tactic is ‘how’ it will be done. Effing brain surgery, right?

The first few times he sent me this note I bristled (or ignored him), much as one of my 14 year old twins does when I give him similar ‘insights.’ The fact too was early in my career, strategy was only a concept. My agency-side work was strictly tactical: product and recruitment ads, brochures, and trade show booths. If there was strategy involved, it went largely unrecognized. We did creative work. And it was all oh-so-clever.

A strategic communication platform concept for testing - not a finished tactical execution. (circa 1983)

Then I had the good fortune to meet and start working with Dave Manly, now VP/GM of Keurig’s Away From Home Division. At the time Dave was a young consultant fresh from his gig at P&G as its first-ever Brand Manager on Pringles. He hired one of my then companies, The Ad Store, on behalf of Chinet™ disposable dinnerware (and the consultants he worked with) to create communication and positioning studies to test against a specialized research group. The situation: after a long tenure as the premium Brand offering in the disposable plate category, Chinet’s share had dropped against the onslaught of a new plastic-coated technology from Dixie™ brand, and it needed a meaningful new position.

We created and tested a dozen ‘strategic communications platform’ concepts such as (customers should buy Chinet plates because they): 1. Won’t collapse like (normal) paper plates 2. Won’t melt in the microwave like foam plates 3. Are what top cooks such as (celebrity chef) uses, or; 4. Are ‘better more ways.’

As we went through the exercise, my understanding of dad’s note began to take shape. A strategy is focused around a key ‘what’ concept, which here was: leaking/collapsing, melting, celebrity, or more ways.

Of course, ‘better more ways’ won handily in the test group. And given it was a ‘victory’ for our consulting client, my friend Dave, and for my agency, I didn’t think much more about it at the time.

Strategic focus trumps 'more' every time. It's the only way a tactic - or product - can cut through all the noise

But as I look back now, it was likely the weakest strategic concept of them all: it tried to do too much. It was more a defensive position; an attempt to excuse what had become obsolete technology by throwing a bunch of noise into the fray. And Dixie had already taken control of the central strategic conversation: ‘plastic-coated.’

Another example. When we were engaged by a management group to energize an aging non-medical insurance consultancy business, they already had a buy-out strategy. They decided to completely re-brand the business to reflect its current Fortune™-ranked cliental and products, rather than ‘evolve’ its folksy California boutique roots. A simple, but profound strategy.

Once they’d communicated the core clarity of the management group, and their vision and style for the ‘new’ Brand, our Brand development strategy kicked in. And in turn came a strategic position and identity based upon their mission, market and values.

Only then did tactics come into play, all of which ‘pay-off’ the central strategic platform. That is, all tactics, concepts and actions are aligned to the core ‘what’ course we’d all agreed upon at the start. And for our Brand re-stage client, the first was a website, which is a strategic framework (in itself) within which aligned tactics can be focused, staged and presented.

Eyesight is one thing; insight another.

The simple beauty of a strategy: tactics (all) build upon its platform to achieve a defined goal – and momentum. All resources pull in the same direction, with a baseline in place against which to evaluate ideas. Time is saved. Costs are minimized and not duplicated. And tactical outcomes yield momentum.

Assuming, of course, that you’ve landed on the right strategy. But here again is where a strategic platform shines: it can minimize false starts. By staying ‘on strategy,’ it’s easier to discern real ideas – and to discard those that aren’t regardless of their ‘creative’ appeal. Because a strategic thought is focused. If not, it’s not an idea: it’s mush.

The only problem with thinking strategically is once you do, everything you have currently have in play comes under its scrutiny. And even on-strategy ideas need constant monitoring and tactical moderation.

Because strategy is not a static concept: like a plan, there are long- and short-term strategies. And they are always in flux, and with unforeseen complexities that can brought to bear. But with a strategic plan you know where you are at any given point, and can adjust tactics as needed to reach its objectives. Strategy is a compass.

Strategy is both macro and micro. There’s nothing too small or too large that can’t be addressed strategically. And for me, it’s become the only way to solve a problem or achieve an objective. Because it not only achieves the goal at hand, it does so while building sustainable momentum. It’s the nail you drive all the way into a board versus the swing at many nails, of which you can only touch a few (with a respectful nod to a dean of Brand, Stavros Cosmopulos, whose demonstration of this is legend).

It applies here. Last summer I restaged the ThomasBoston™ brand on this website, having come from a period when I’d declared: ‘I am no longer a Suit, I’m a Creative.’ But as Brand would have it, clients define it. And we’re a Brand + communication strategy and project management business, and; a connection to the best in breed creative + technology communities. It’s what we do.

‘Too old we get smart.’ No, this is not my dad’s saying, but my mom’s. But I’ve come to think he knew it, which is why he kept sending me the note even through his retirement years. And as I now look at guys who understood and practiced strategic thought at an early age, it’s clear their careers have been the richer for it. (My friend Dave’s career strategy is case in point.)

And for you I can only say: don’t make me send you this blog post again!

Kindly, T-

PS: My partners and I have a new case study illustrating a strategically sustainable Brand eco-system we developed for a client over the past year. If you’d like a look (no obligation of course), just give me a call at 508 497 8900.

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Design is both a Brand strategy and tactic. In satisfying customer expectations, timeless design engages and resonates deeply with users: its structure supports relationships and validates Brand premiums.

For me, my 2004 Acura TL, which I bought in its first month in a new model year, is a direct reflection of my self-view. The analogies I can make about its design and my early adopter personal style are endless. And it’s not just the very obvious design elements that satisfy me. Some of the details most people won’t ever see, such as the dark blue cast of its ‘black’ paint (which my auto painting genius tells me contains blue and red tints in addition to the black base) delights me as it reflects the sun when viewed at the right angle.

It’s how the car integrates all its functions + features within an overall design a 2009 ‘Vette-driving friend calls ‘beautiful from every angle it’s viewed.’ (My every sensibility agrees.)

Now 8 years later, when I play ‘would I take that car over mine?’ when stuck in traffic, there are few trades I’d consider. Though for the first time in memory, some of the American cars have caught my attention. Could improved designs have a bearing on GM’s, Ford’s, and even Chrysler’s newly re-found profitability?

Of course. Well-designed things work better. It’s irrefutable. And a primary reason Apple’s market cap is the highest in the land. And with the cost of cars today, a design must stand the test of many years’ use, something great car Brands such as Mercedes, Audi + BMW have long understood.

It’s the same with a Brand. Well-designed Brands are more desirable, even when their products they cost more – or even because they do. It’s the vehicle that contains and gives shape to its tangible offerings and intangible values such as style; a place where Brands can live.

The epitome of design is found in nature. Mother Nature designs without decoration but function, the order of which connect us to a better understanding of life and the world around us. In perfectly performing its function, its beauty creates awe; and to experience awe is to experience wonder. And satisfaction.

Similarly design – strategic and tactical – is the vehicle that connects us to a Brand, giving form to both emotive and transactional elements its presence offers, and means to customers. And also to those whose sensibilities are at its core: stakeholders and staff.

A new Brand identity launched in February 2012 for Pacific Resources, a non-medical benefits advisory group serving Fortune™-ranked companies. Note lower case 'i' in font design, which ties into the Brand's values: insight, inspiration, innovation, integrity. It's also what we call a 'Fedex logo 'arrow' construct' - once someone sees the 'i', they will always see it. (Next time you see a Fedex truck look for arrow in the logo between 'e' and 'x.')

Brand design is not just a logo, which is tactical, but an overall strategy that reaches into every aspect of a successful business, marketing to staffing.

It’s the design of a company’s products. It’s in the infrastructure of its operations. And how the personal Brands and style of its stakeholders and staff complement and build upon each other to achieve a common Brand goal: identity (what you see) and; image (what you remember). So when

And contrary to popular thought, designers don’t magically create a logo, even if the outcome often is just that. By definition, design requires a strategy + defined function against which it can be evaluated. We give them literal direction, and then charge their imaginations ‘to play’ (a condition for creativity) with the toys in a client’s sandbox. Graphic artists have no such conditions.

But when it’s right, and aligned to a core Brand story, I’m always amazed at the depth a great logo conveys; it often feels like design serendipity. It’s not only satisfying visually but viscerally too. And it feels right down to the last detail. Which of course is the secret to Brand.

Though there have been times when designs we’ve done are spot-on Rhode Island School of Design strategy, but miss the conceptual or emotional connection for stakeholders of whom it represents. And without that functional and emotive connection it’s art, which is another strategy altogether.

A Brand is a complex set of factors and issues, emotive and transactional, that come together to provide focus and help customers achieve comfort levels brought on by understanding. Of its benefits. And of features designed to satisfy the customer-demanded function.

Brand is about appealing to our emotional natures to create desire and aspiration, for which a value premium is attached. A Rolex is more appealing and valued than a Timex. It’s in the design. Customers perceive it and the value it brings to their own Brands. And they pay for it when it’s the only solution that will do.

Frankly, I can’t think of a business category that wouldn’t be well-served by putting design at the core of their product development and marketing strategies. In my experience it’s a tried and true path to sustainable growth.

And for now, in my Acura’s design is everything I need, part of my personal Brand. I mean, it even has my name on it. Kind regards, T(L)-

Recommended reading: Seth Godin: Return On Design

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• The Elements of a Whole Brand

• The 95% Brand

• The Case For Considered Inquiry

• What I Learned From the Battle of The Band Brands

• Brands Are People

Good intent, sure; perhaps even of interest to someone besides me. Frankly, I couldn’t figure what was keeping me from publishing them.

It took sitting through a Chamber of Commerce breakfast for it to come clear to me. As I spoke about my focus on Brand, I discovered few fully understood what it means, or why it matters to a business – today. (COC meetings are great bullshit meters for testing positioning statements. If yours rises above it all, you’re onto something; if eyes glaze over it’s mush.)

‘Oh, so you do logos?’ Well sure, that’s part of what building a Brand is about. But a logo is really just a Brand’s identity. And yes, its mere repetition can have the effect of causing recall.

But contrary to the 2-dimensional argument that ‘repetition creates liking,’ a great logo design and hundreds of repetitions does not a great Brand make. And surely not in these days of customer and shopper access to every aspect of a business, and its people, products, and systems (read: online). It’s possible for one to love a logo design, and never consider buying the product it represents. Legacy Jaguar automobiles come to mind (though from what I now understand, that could change). 

So my resolve for the Whole Brand Blog: start at the beginning. A Brand is a noun. Branding is a verb. A Brand name (trade or service mark) is a singular adjective modifying a generic (e.g.: Velcro® fasteners). One can try to ‘brand’ with a logo, but the objective of Brand (my capitalization out of respect and affect) is more than mere recall.

The objective is to create value perceptions, which create aspiration to acquire a branded offering. Aspiration that can only be satisfied when they buy a specific Brand. It’s these perceptions that enable value premiums – better margins and profit. 

Today a successful Brand is a 3D ‘story.’ It has astounding dimension. It comes from logos and products, but also from stakeholders: its owners, the people on the production floor, on the phone banks, in the showroom, and driving the trucks. It comes from customers and critics, and from friends and foe.

And guess what? As much as you may think you know your Brand, your customers define it based upon information they have at hand. This requires they have the right information – a baseline from which to form an opinion. 

It's an ad. It's a tagline. And because it's authentic + creates aspiration, it's the Brand.

It’s a very different world than the days when Nike took the athletic shoe market by storm with its singularly-focused ‘swoosh’ logo, and iconic Just do it.™ tagline. At face value, who’s to disagree? And even if they did, it was 1980; how would they express it? Boycott them? (I know, Friendster!) 

What really made the Brand a sustained success is Nike had the products, people, and systems – and mission – to back their exuberance. A Brand has to be more than skin deep – nothing kills a business with bad products faster than great marketing. B-School case studies are replete with such stories.

In today’s marketplace, a logo may be visible to everyone, but a Brand is bigger than ever. It’s made up of every single touch point within a business, and with every user experience.

It’s a fact – it’s no longer enough to know just what a business or Brand does. Because unless a company is first to market, there’re competitors with their own products looking for the same hearts, minds, and pocketbooks.

We want to know why a business or Brand does what they do. And why we should care. Because ultimately, we want to ensure the Brands we adopt are worthy aspects of our own personal Brand. And unlike Nike’s early days, we’ve lots of ways to find this out – and faster than ever. We aren’t beholding to TV or radio, or even word of mouth. We go right to the touch points we have, online and offline. Again, what we find there, and how it applies to us defines the Brand.

According to advertising legend David Ogilvy: “A Brand is a complex symbol. It is the intangible sum of a product’s attributes, its name, packaging and price; its history, its reputation; all that you associate with a company or product. A Brand is defined by consumers’ impressions of the people who use it, as well as their own experience.” (With a tip of the hat to friend and collaborator, Dan Brown.)

While the definition may be over 40 years old, its basic premise holds true. The real difference is in how we present a Brand today. And how it’s understood – in its entirety. Operative concept: making impressions that are fully understood. And complete.

As Branders, our first charge is to focus the Brand story based upon its owner’s clarity and vision, and our professional experience. The idea is to create well-formed perceptions – authentic ‘stories’ - that are simple and memorable. It’s not to ‘sell’ in the classic ‘push/interruption marketing’ sense of the words. It’s to engage with authenticity; creating familiarity and comfort that enables understanding. Only then can the ‘branding’ take hold beyond the superficial. People raise their hands to make a considered inquiry.

To brand, we must arm every single touch point – from Sales to Customer Service, from websites to merchandising – with a Brand’s truth. That is, we must focus and present its authenticity everywhere it comes into contact with anybody. Anything less (or worse, untrue) is very visible. No matter how cool your slogan.

In short, the ‘trick’ is to branding is to focus and form a whole Brand that fully satisfies your customers. It’s finding the right balance of emotive and transactional, aligned to its values and mission. Do it right, and customers will tell two friends – because it’s in their best interests. It’s their Brand too. 

Stay tuned. There’s more of this story to tell.

Kind regards,

T-

PS: We have a new case study that illustrates how a strategically-framed ThomasBoston Whole Brand marketing program works as an ‘eco-system’ to create sustainable business momentum. Call me if you’d like a look. 508 497 8900.

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My first 'Brand Awe Moment' was inspired by my first computer - my Mactintosh llcx with its 40 mg hard drive. I was empowered like never before.

In 1989 I bought my first ever computer, a Macintosh llcx desktop, at the time near the top of the line with its whopping 40 mg hard drive. It was expensive, but I needed the help given I didn’t have secretaries anymore. And my creative folks had told me ‘it was easy’ to operate. The occasion was the founding of Thomas Marketing Services (now the corporate parent of ThomasBoston).

As I explored how to create a simple document in my new office in Marlborough, I couldn’t help but wonder how the machine in front of me seemed to understand my faltering moves. But it did. And I it. When Margaret Gerding, my art director who had an office down the hall confirmed I’d done the right thing to print the doc with a merge name field, I was pleased. And when it printed, I was simply elated.

At that moment of seeming minor success, I experienced what I’ve come to call a ‘Brand Awe Moment.’ I was empowered. And with it came an easy willingness to become an early adopter of computer technologies, which I am today with the Web and Social (well, certainly for my demo).

Roger Moore had his Volvo P-1800 in The Saint. Mine, 'La Bamba,' was red, a '64 with a wood bumper. When the '62 engine I changed out myself started up, it was a moment of joy.

As I look back, it was also when I started to formulate my thoughts about the Whole Brand. My goofy little Apple Macintosh computer had become a big part of my life. But it wasn’t just the computer that excited and intrigued me. I liked just loved the whole idea of what it let me do, and how it expanded my view – even before the advent of the Internet.

And as newer ones came out, I could do more. And so could my creatives, as they worked through the graphics arts software the ever more feature-filled Apple’s hardware that processed larger files, which was designed for designers – in my mind one of their first brilliant strategic Brand decisions.

Most amazing, I became a proficient troubleshooter of Apple products. Each intuitive success evoked a feeling not unlike the time in college when I decided to change out an engine in my ’64 Volvo P-1800 by myself – and after changing a spark plug wire it started up in its familiar gutsy voice. I drove that P-18, sans hood, for 2 joyous hours that day.

Today I’m as awed by my new MacBook Air as that first llcx. And for so many reasons (its instant booting is surely one). But bottom line, in fulfilling its function, that which was already beautiful on the surface has become exceedingly so within my general senses. It makes me happy. And I tell everybody as much.

As I ponder the life of Steve Jobs tonight, it surprises me how fully enmeshed my life has become with his Brand(s). Not just his technology, but his inherent belief in the goodness of people. His strong will to live a life that brought change, and inspired us to it. I think that’s what the Steve Jobs Brand was all about. His zen. And in my mind, his understanding and focus is at core of a great business Brand.

Today is a day I'll recall as I did with the death of John Lennon. 'Keep looking, and don't settle." Thank you Mr. Jobs

It’s an amazing jumping off point for a discussion about what it is that makes a Whole Brand. About what a Brand such as Apple does to make itself so desirable it becomes a point of pride for its fans, part of their own Brands.

Brand is not just ‘what’ it does, but why people care. And there’s no question people care about this man’s values, as is so evident in the outpouring of true love for Mr. Jobs tonight. And about the Brand into which he breathed life. And Apple is but one Whole Brand; we’ll look at many more.

And of course, time will tell if the seeds he planted will take full root in others at Apple. But you know, I think I’m going to buy some Apple stock. Because something deep inside me tells me they will. I don’t think I’m the only one.

Pax.

Tom Lanen, CEO, Founder + Brander, ThomasBoston

PS: Have a great Whole Brand you’d like to discuss, either yours or another’s? Please the form below or email me at: BrandToPeople@thomasboston.com. Or join me on Twitter @ThomasLanen And there’s always the phone: 508.497.8900

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Soundgarden broke through the din of the 90s with its take-no-prisoners 'Grunge on steroids'' branded sound that separated it from the Nirvana standard. A decade later it's the only one really still standing, with loyal fans who still pack their shows.

A couple months ago I ran into my wife’s cousin Stephen, a natural drummer who plays in wedding bands (a rock star hair stylist by day) at a family gathering + I happened to bring up the Commodore’s song, ‘Brick House.’ With an intensity that surprised me, Stephen rebuffed it; his body had a visceral knee-jerk.

It turns out not a wedding goes by without a request for it. So while 20 years of playing other people’s music had made him some cash, it had taken its toll on his satisfaction. On his soul + what he loves as a musician. (I was glad to hear him say he’d decided to find his muse on the Boston Country music scene.
I know.)

Of course while Stephen made $100s playing it, the Commodore’s made $millions. And Lionel Richie seems happy about it to me.

Funny how, knowing full well playing others’ music will never have a big payoff, we are still fearful of being original in our businesses + lives. So we build ‘cover brands’ with safe-as-milk marketing positions + become just part of the general din.

I know from whence I speak. My company has been one at times, especially during our ‘get-it-out-the-door’ production headset we were in during the 90s. Hey, we were making good money + deadline stress aside, it was pretty easy. And our enthusiasm was appreciated.

Of course, when somebody asked me what kind of ‘advertising’ we did, I’d ride my client’s coattails: ‘oh, we do all kinds of packages, brochures, ads + merchandising for Velcro’ was my answer. And you know, they were impressed. The ‘Velcro factor’ – a real Brand that trusted us – made our little 10 person shop real.

Until the day after 17 years + 4 management changes, when we could no longer say it.

It's a true story: the inventor of Velcro, Georges de Mestral discovered the natural 'hooks' of a cocklebur lodged in his dog's coat.

We became like everybody else. I couldn’t even claim ownership of the story of Swiss inventor Georges de Mestral’s walk the woods with his dog + how the dog picked up cockleburs in his coat, which when examined, revealed ‘nature’s hook’ – the basis for Velcro™ brand products. And I wrote it (of course, based on truth). But the Velcro brand owns it.

I tell you, this realization scared the shit out of me. And what did I do? I tried to repeat my earlier success. But too many others had caught up with our ‘fastest, lowest cost’ shtick.

Thomas Marketing (as then we were known) was more of the same music everyone else was playing. We were just more transactional noise without a story or real emotion.

About this time my dear friend, Tom Potterfield, whom I’d known since he was a mere marketing mortal (rising to president at Velcro before he moved on to become president of the ITP in Palo Alto), became very ill. As it turns out, I was too.

Tom was a Bodhisattva - a great being.

As he gallantly + gracefully battled his foe, he wrote in his blog about the truths he came to understand + inspired me to battle my foe head on as was he. And it was all about truth, of understanding our strengths. And love.

With the help of some amazing clinicians + prayers I pulled through my battle. I sorry to say my good friend Tom ‘went home’ as we say in my home in the Christian tradition.

That was a year ago. And some amazing things have happened since. I decided not to become part of another agency’s Brand. I met some amazing people – via Twitter + blogs of all things – such as Lisa Petrilli, a deeply caring Chicago leadership maven who wrote of tapping our ‘inner Isis’ + who validated my need to look deeper to find my groove, my core truth – as corny as it sounds.

We created our 'chop' - a short form logo + avatar we use in social media signatures

I re-branded to ThomasBoston, created a new logo to identify the Brand + an avatar for our newly-developed social media chops.

And I decided to take another look at just what we stand for. That is, what I stand for.

My strategy was to use a website development framework to more fully flush out our Brand, knowing it had done just that for our clients the past couple years. So my designer + friend John Gallagher + I sat down to map out the imaging. I found for me too, (re)doing a website is a great way to really see a business, its strength, product holes + opportunities.

The strategically-driven process we followed bought us some very deep satisfaction. We broke down each of the sometimes complex components of ThomasBoston – the what we believe + the way we do things - to their simplest elements. Then, we ‘expanded upon it,’ as perhaps one of my most brilliant ‘bosses’ Bob Corriveau, former GM at Ingall’s Advertising taught me. And always with ‘it’s all in how you present it’ in mind (another Bob C. mantra). 

The process molded some building blocks that helped define ‘what’ we do to add value. But importantly, it revealed insight on the ‘why’ I do it. And for whom.
These are not little questions.

Now I can tell you during the process we didn’t always know where we were going. But we always knew where we were. It wasn’t easy. And sometime we weren’t always even quite in the right direction. But we never gave up that sense of adventure + passion + kept moving forward. John is a real pro, innately a designer, intense, excitable + focused.

The break-through came though the night when John, as he describes it, thought “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore…so now all I can do is what comes to me.” He believed his instincts + what he knew. And did it.

When he showed me the image of the first panel of this site’s home page, I laughed the deep laugh of surprise my creatives have come to know as my heartfelt expression of joy. It was my Inner Woodstock, which I’d denied for so many years as much out of fear of not being ‘hip’ (‘cool’ for you youngsters). But there it was. Me. ThomasBoston 3.0. And his handwritten font design connected me, a huge type fan, because its design was proper - ‘on-font,’ as we call it. The process reminded me of Marian Bantjes’ TED talk: Intricate Beauty by Design. Instincts + core beliefs ruled. Though with a strategy to guide it through. 

As I marveled + became one with the image (having trained myself over the years to dispassionately analyze creative solutions), I asked myself: how did we get here? Which of course, prompted me to sing the Taking Heads anthem, ‘Once in a Lifetime.’ And I saw David Byrne, the lead singer, moving + singing as only he alone could do.

Now as a professional rock + roll show goer – I even worked on the VIP Services team for LiveNation at the Great Woods for a couple summers as a part-time gig – I’ve seen literally hundreds of acts. And there’re basically 4 things that separate the Bigs like Radiohead, Bowie + Phish from even A level band Brands, such as 311 + Paramore. (Both of whom I really like too.)

Nobody could move on-stage like db. And I just don't believe he's retired.

They are individually acquired tastes
They move unlike anyone else
They’re unafraid to follow their instincts
They are emotional

And they don’t expect everybody to get them. But when people do, they learn the words + sing along as loyal fans. Because no one else will do in the niche of understanding that Brand has created. And, it becomes part of the audience’s lives. (Yes, I own just about every tune produced by Bowie + Radiohead. And damned if Phish didn’t catch me at this summer’s Boston show.) 

Over the 22 years I’ve run ThomasBoston, I’ve run into lots of Cover Brands. Typically, they’re businesses that offer me-too goods + services at a low price. And they’re convinced that’s enough reason to buy, that price alone will build momentum.

While price can be a hook, there’s never any real interest, no emotional tie to their company + Brand once the fact has sunk in. And when others follow (especially with deep pockets promotional advertising), a cover Brand has no chords left to play + no hook. As my grandma Ida, a wise Finlander used to say with a smile, ‘never go fishing without a hook.’

Perhaps the greatest music Brand the world's ever seen.

I believe there’s no need whatsoever for any business to be a Cover Brand. Because every company has something special about it may not see; the spark in the eye its owner has (or had). Especially when they’re so close to it. But I tell you, when I speak with them, they always tell me what’s unique about their Brand in the first 5 minutes. And I’m always excited.

I’ve decided our days as a Cover Brand are done. There’s just no future in it, especially today, when there’s one on every corner of the Web looking for the same easy pickings business I might have wanted. And even that business came with its pound of flesh.

So today, as I write this post, I can say I’m doing what I love. It’s my tune. ThomasBoston 3.0. And I’m DJ’ing + producing the Brand ‘tunes’ of a few very special clients – at least figuratively.

Will it work? Will people sing along with me? Well, I have no designs on another Brick House (BTW, pronounced ‘Owse’ according to my brother, another wedding band vet now working on an original R + B musical that’s juicing him), but we spent most of the Spring working on re-staging a killer small business Brand that will launch this Fall (More to come on that.) And already there are a few people starting to understand the ThomasBoston 3.0 lyric + groove. And learning to dance (again) to their own music, as only they can.

I’ve found in my ‘inner Isis’ + core – the ‘what’ my company + personal Brand represents. But it took Tom Potterfield’s profound insight to see why it matters:

“It is really that simple; it all comes down to love- being with people, work, family from a place of love. That’s the secret.”

I know Tom wouldn’t mind me making this as a core value of my Brand. You see I know what his Brand stood for. It was never a secret. And through understanding of the highest order, he knew mine.   

Of course, I don’t know what the outcome will be. But for now, I know I want to be here.

You see, I’ve come to once again love my Brand + what it can mean to people. And as a band that helped shape my values once sang: ‘love is all you need.’ And I believe what I know.

Kindly,

Tom

PS: I’m taking on some new projects again, so if you know of anyone who’d like to fortify their Brand + website for greater profitability, just point them in my direction. I’ll send you our quietly stylish + comfortable ThomasBoston 22^nd Anniversary T-Shirt with our sincere thanks.

And I promise from hereon my blog posts will be shorter. Promise.

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