Our annual conference has a new location, new theme, and new ideas for 2019! This year’s conference is built around the theme “Elevate with Authenticity,” and will take place on Thursday, September 26 at the beautiful Park Hotel in downtown Madison. 

Kim Brown is set to lead one of our morning master classes, titled “Centrally Human: Harness the Soul of Your Brand for the Future of Your Company.” Kim is a growth executive and nationally renowned speaker, author, and consultant, with experience at GE, Acxiom, Hyatt, and American Family Insurance. With experience across multiple industries, Kim has managed more than $1 billion in digital assets and led teams to achieve extraordinary success. We recently spoke with Kim about her upcoming session at the AMA annual conference. 

What do you expect the audience to take away from your presentation, “Centrally Human: Harness the Soul of Your Brand for the Future of Your Company?” 

How brands can stand out and resonate with customers in a very crowded and digital marketplace. In today’s world, how do we create those meaningful and profitable human connections when there are so many choices and distractions for customers? My presentation will provide a real and actionable roadmap for brands (big or small, new or old) to tap into their true differentiations and get personal at scale to drive business results. 

Why do companies struggle with building their brand and telling their story? 

Companies are entities and are innately not human. And many have been around for so long that the founder story and the “why we exist” story have gotten buried with time. Decades ago, it didn’t matter, but today’s consumers have so many choices that they’re deciding based on your brand’s purpose and people. When every product is online and priced the same, what will make you stand out? It’s you! Putting a human persona on a corporate brand, which is innately not human, is hard – not impossible, though. My model and roadmap are designed to expedite that work. 

What is the biggest opportunity companies have for growing their brand? 

Answering the questions “why do we exist?” and “what do we do for you?”. People make decisions based on emotions, so if we can get companies to get personal again, they can see real growth by resonating with consumers at a deeper, emotional level. 

If you were not engaged in your current career, what would you be doing instead? 

I would be working in mental health. I’ve personally lost people to suicide and believe in decreasing the stigma of mental health care as well as improving access. I’ve got a product incubating that I’m excited to find the time to develop in the next few years. 

What is your favorite pizza? 

All pizza! Seriously, I will eat any pizza.

What is your favorite travel destination? 

So far, it’s Paris; although we’re planning to go to Tokyo next year and I’m sure that will be my new favorite. 

What is a fun fact about you?  

I grew up on a Christmas tree farm in Oregon (now it’s Pinot Noir country but back then it was just fertile farmland).

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