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For many, purpose has become a recent must-have in marketing if a brand is to truly connect and engage with its consumers. As organizations continue to recognize the immense value in engaging with key audiences around the why, far more than just the what, the need to emotionally connect has never been more important.
Ask the CMO: A Conversation with Life Is Good’s Chief Creative Optimist, John Jacobs, on the Power... [+]
At Life is Good, a $100 million positive lifestyle brand founded by two brothers in their van, neither of these ideas is anything new. As the brand approaches its 25th anniversary, I thought it would be great to connect with their head of creative to chat about two of the most critical components in the marketing mix today: purpose and emotion-led experiences.
John Jacobs is the co-founder and Chief Creative Optimist at Life is Good. The following is a recap of our conversation:
Billee Howard: You know I focus on marketing as a critical driver of business growth and innovation, as opposed to what it used to be (a function tied to showcasing the business instead of driving it). From what I can glean, you've always had that point of view. Can you share your thoughts on that?
John Jacobs: Our customers taught us early on that the meaning of the products, and how that relates to their own personal stories, was far more important than the details of the gear. We competitively sought to make our clothing better every year, but it was clear from the outset that the message was king.
We’d receive simple letters saying, “Thank you for helping me celebrate the mountains, or music, or time with my dog or my family.” But unexpectedly there were others about going through chemotherapy, and how Life is Good helped them stay positive during hard times. These stories helped us hone in on the deeper meaning of the brand, and they gave us a clarity of purpose for the long haul.
People get bombarded these days with sensational, negative news stories.
It’s way out of balance, driven by the fight for ratings. Yes, there's a lot of bad things happening in the world, but there are good things, too. What we focus on grows, and our aim is to help people focus on and grow the good in their lives.
Our customers’ stories have always been the most convincing way to say how we feel. And when we go to share something with our community, it's less about our quality- which we’re very proud of- and more about the values we're trying to get across through the product. This is what built our community, and it’s a big reason never made sense for us. We’re a word of mouth, story to story brand.
Howard: What you've just outlined is textbook for how marketing should be approached today, and you've obviously been doing that for 25 years, so that's pretty impressive. Let’s start by unpacking all of that.
Tell me about the power of optimism. To me it sounds as if you were one of the first brands to embrace purpose. So, talk to me about how that took shape and your thoughts on why purpose is so important today?
Jacobs: Well, initially we simply wanted to counter the flood of negative news. We wanted to be a rallying cry for optimists. Then, through all those letters and emails, we realized optimism is most powerful in the hardest times. That became what we wanted to share with the world. Our deeper purpose became spreading the power of optimism- not as a soft philosophy, but as a pragmatic strategy for living a happy and fulfilling life. We decided early on that we wanted to get that message to as many people as possible.
Howard: People often confuse cause with purpose and purpose with cause because they're related, yet they're not the same thing. So, the power of optimism is your purpose and your foundation for kids is directly related to your purpose in a really compelling and authentic way. How should those two things in your mind work together at any brand?
Jacobs: I think if you discover your purpose first, it can lead you to a cause that helps fulfill that purpose. We saw a disparity between kids with a positive, loving adult in their lives and kids without such a person to nurture them. Young children can be the ultimate optimists, but only if that seed of encouragement is planted. We decided to apply our mission in the form of a non-profit to help kids heal from the trauma of poverty, violence, and illness. Our Life is Good Kids Foundation equips childcare providers, like teachers and social service providers, with the training, tools, and resources to help build vital, life-changing relationships with the kids they serve.
One simple way we support our non-profit business through our for-profit business is: we donate ten percent of our annual net profits to help kids in need.
Howard: That leads me to another area I'd love to explore with you, which is a lot of people are viewed as inauthentic when they try to push their purpose externally and quite often that is because it's not authentic internally. So, as the Chief Creative Optimist, would you say there's a big focus on having a positive employee experience which ultimately impacts the customer experience?
Jacobs: We have ten core values we call the Life is Good Superpowers- things like gratitude, courage, humor and creativity. We’re all striving to embody those ideals every day. It’s not corny to us- it’s real. The conversation is the culture. We also believe in blurring the line between work and play. If you see teammates having a laugh over nonsense, playing foosball or whatever, you realize it’s good for the team. It serves not just the energy and mood of the company; it’s actually makes us more productive because we’re in sync. We’re connected. You develop trust and tight bonds on the team and that makes us stronger as a whole.
Howard: A lot of what you're talking about, whether it's bringing the brand to life internally, or externally, seems to stem from the power of storytelling. Can you talk about your thoughts on that?
Jacobs: Got to give a nod to our mom, Joan, on that because she really was and still is the number one inspiration for our brand. Bert and I grew up in a pretty chaotic house with six kids. She ran that daily circus and would not just read us books, but act them out. Music, laughs and a lot of drawing. We learned the magic of stories from Joan. Even if we couldn't go to Disneyland, we could travel in our minds.
Decades later, we could see it was important to share letters we’ve received from our customers because they’re emotionally moving. They’ve given us—and our community of optimists—a sense of wisdom and values that are deeper than any product alone could ever be.
Howard: I want to make a reference, of course, to the 25th anniversary of your brand and congratulate you on all of your success. What can you impart to our readers on important things they should consider when building a brand and marketing today based on your successes and upcoming milestones?
Jacobs: Thanks a lot. I’d say two things: One, start with authenticity. If you go back to the 60’s, it's wild to see how companies just put whatever they wanted on a billboard and people generally believed it. These days, if you post something that's deceptive, people will tear down your business in a heartbeat. That’s great news for business and the world. On the other hand, if customers believe in your deeper purpose, and they feel your aim is true, they’ll help build the business for you. That's our story.
Second, storytelling can bring your brand to life in a way that ads never will. As part of our anniversary, we’re going to honor our mom. Joan is where it all started. At the dinner table, she used to look around at each of her six kids and say, “Tell me something good”. It sounds so simple, but it could change the energy in the house. We'd start sharing something funny, positive or absurd, and it really impacted our momentum. As adults, we decided to carry that tradition into our business, and at Life is Good we like to start our meetings by sharing something positive.
To celebrate our 25th anniversary, we want to keep that momentum going on a bigger scale, and help to change the cultural conversation away from the negative by giving people that same, simple prompt: “Tell me something good.”
It seems like it’s needed more than ever, and we’re excited to help make it happen. What we focus on will grow.
