Touching The Heart Of Profit

In the 1994 hit movie Forrest Gump, the lead character encounters a series of amazing life moments as he shares simple wisdom via quotations with those along his life path. “Mama always said: Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.” Renowned investor, Warren Buffet, has shared his financial wisdom across the decades, demystifying investing through quotations such as: “Buy dollar bills for 80 cents.” (i.e. The stock market occasionally corrects as stock prices fall, temporarily discounting great companies). Aside from enlightening quotations, what do simple Forrest Gump and sharp Warren Buffet share in common? Straightforward common sense.

Warren Buffet, whose 2021 personal net worth is estimated to be $108 billion, focuses on free cash flow, return on equity, and net profit margin when surveying future business investments. He seeks intrinsic value; an invisible essence appreciating his assets 24/7. His $628 billion (and growing) Berkshire Hathaway owns such fun brands as Coca-Cola, See’s Candies and Dairy Queen – all acquired based on intrinsic value. What turned out to be a sweet deal, Buffet’s multi-decade partner, Charlie Munger, once said their 1972 See's purchase was the “first high-quality business Berkshire ever bought.”

Photo: See’s Candies

Charlie saw the numbers. Customers tasted the quality confections, enjoyed the packaging, and adored Mary See’s now iconic play on turn-of-last-century store designs, so kept returning for more. The product, retail experience, employees costumes, and overall attention to detail made all the difference. Profit had to happen.

What core element did Buffet and Munger see in See’s in the early 70s, which remains profitable in today's very different world? A guess of solid management, or simple, irresistibly tasty products would be close. Certainly the variety of inviting candy shapes, colors and textures, quality ingredients and preparations artfully displayed in a quintessential Gump box of chocolates serves See’s brimming bottom line. But there’s something more mercurial, more ephemeral going on. More than the spreadsheet line items a room full of corporate directors and accountants define as ‘valuable.’

Money is a result, an inevitable by-product of a more potent elixir. P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs all understood the attraction of a unique product and service well presented. However three-ring circuses, animated movies, theme parks, plush toys, and sleek electronic devices were merely façades. Flying acrobats, fantasy fairies, iPhones and candy were the things promised in the pitch, not the larger magnet bringing people back for repeated purchases across decades.

In today’s ever-expanding technological jungle brimming with glowing materialistic solutions to problems which, in some cases don’t yet exist, a growing number of designers are weaving emotional resonance into brand experiences. The power of consumer imagination and fond recollections of past experiences drive sales and inevitably... profit. Steve Jobs was never shy to admit his desire was for Apple customers to fall in love with his products, from the physical designs to the material finishes, all the way through to the psychological feel of the software. He clearly understood emotional resonance.

A squirrel’s favorite nut, the acorn, is the classic symbol of intrinsic value sustaining across many years. Toy image: Aurora World Miyoni

Consumer recollection of extraordinary, heart-touching products and service experiences retains and builds value across a lifetime. Personal memories can possess more purchase potential than actions from cutting edge marketing campaigns. As human lifespans lengthen, purchasing action connected to warm memories acquired in youth through someone’s 20s and 30s directly translates to extended profit, often regardless of single product/service flops. (Just don't flop too many times in a row, since negative memories are also recalled for extended periods)

Well-managed companies with solid products and customer service survive mistakes - even catastrophes such as Coca-Cola's attempted 1985 introduction of New Coke while pulling Coke Classic off shelves, the face plant of Google Glass, and Netflix's bumpy ride switching from a mail model to streaming - with competitors hot on their heels. Of course, Coca-Cola, Google and Netflix emerged stronger. At the top of my product/service list are Apple, Vitacost, FedEx, Disney, and Lowe’s. I feel good purchasing their quality products and feel cared for by their employees - knowing they’ll resolve issues without a hassle.

Imagine how your products and services genuinely appeal to the heart, not just a spreadsheet, and how their essences deeply resonate to touch a human soul. Open awareness to how recollection of past encounters makes a present experience intrinsically valuable. Understand why your product or service is memorable, then consider the physical place where the product or service connects with human beings. For perspective, ponder how a beautiful balloon purchased from a bored employee at a bland corner flower stand on a gray day resolves as a different memory when the same balloon is handed to you with a bright smile under a sunny sky on the cobblestone drawbridge of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle.

Images: See’s Candies, Disney

As with Prince Charming’s life-renewing kiss upon Sleeping Beauty's cheek, emotional resonance renews customer interest and action with each interaction. A pure, original experience generates many more. Craft brand experience with the utmost care, since it can evolve into a profit attractor. Mary See and Warren Buffet accumulated wonderful memories from each candy in their early boxes as they savored, then returned again and again to both recount and encounter fresh chewable discoveries - and the solid profits the rest of the world brought to them, with and without nuts.