by Nikole Gianopoulos and Rebecca Hightower
Branding expert and marketing mastermind John Moore spoke to a full house of students and guests as he recently keynoted the Richards College of Business BB&T lecture series, held Tuesday, September 30, at the University of West Georgia’s Townsend Center for the Performing Arts.
Known for thinking outside of the box and helping transform the way businesses look at marketing and branding, John has managed branding teams for multiple internationally successful companies. John is the former director of national marketing for Whole Foods, as well as the strategy conductor at Brains on Fire and served as the long-term marketing manager at Starbucks where he helped grow the company’s brand into a household name. He also led Brand Autopsy, a marketing firm that consults with businesses aspiring to become a beloved brand. He is the co-author of “The Passion Conversation: Understanding, Sparking, Sustaining Word of Mouth Marketing.”
With excitement for revolutionary branding, John now helps create new ideas for organizations around the country. He shared some espresso shots of business wisdom with the audience.
“We’re going to have some fun today,” said John as he began the lecture, sharing with guests that he is not a speaker who stands behind the podium to do a traditional lecture.
In his presentation, John used slides and pictures to illustrate the transformation of businesses he has been involved with and encouraged students to strive to be a part of something just as special.
“Think of your business as a superhero,” said John, the marketing expert who takes his job seriously and himself lightly. “Give your superhero a name and a superpower, find an injustice it’s fighting and identify its arch villains and kryptonite.”
John motivated the students to be creative and to take action instead of just speaking on their ideas.
“You’re going to do it the fun way that might be able to unleash a lot of creativity that you may not be able to find with a textbook,” he said. “So instead, have some fun and design a superhero.”
Manifesting customer destiny was the final espresso shot of the evening. To simply summarize his final point John stated, “You must not just make money, but you must make meaning in people’s lives.”
Before taking questions and answers, John left students with one final question to ponder, noting that if he or she can answer yes, then they are on the right track. He concluded, “If your business was not a business tomorrow, would your customers care?”
For more information on future BB&T Lectures please visit www.westga.edu/business/.
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