Marketing Matters

It all began with a simple, yet powerful idea.

To bring women together over glasses of heart-healthy wine to educate, empower and save lives.
Now the The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) Wine Dinner Kit is gaining support from Hanoi, Vietnam to Hastings, Minnesota.

As the head of a Minnesota marketing agency that specializes in wellness marketing, organic branding and  the LOHAS consumer (lifestyles of health and sustainability), it has been such an honor to be the creative force behind this movement.

Marketing after all is about effecting change. Moving the dial. Inspiring action. And being of service. 

I raise my glass to the health of women around the world and my client MHIF, who has the vision and commitment to bring health and healing to the planet.





Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

If a town nestled amidst ancient Italian olive groves can create a renewable energy future, so can communities large and small  across the U.S. 

As the head of a Minnesota-based green marketing agency, I know too well that the midwest is often considered the Saudi Arabia of wind. I also know that despite that fact, most of the energy produced here is made from coal.

We've got a long way to go. But the tiny village of Tocco is showing us the way. This kind of bold leap into the future is much like the kinds of campaigns we create at firefly180. With clients in the arenas of the organic industry, renewable energy marketing, social change communications and wellness marketing, our team supports businesses and organizations with creative and sustainable approaches to building brands and revenue streams.

The times are changing. So too is our ability to re-create our energy future.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

You've got to check out this story about how an artist-in-residence in Cambridge, MA came up with the idea to include illustrations of yoga poses to help offset the anger and anxiety drivers feel when they receive a parking ticket.

The move provoked outrage in some. But as a leader in the arenas of yoga advertising, green marketing, organic branding, social change communication and the LOHAS consumer, I think the concept has merit.

The fact is, if your messaging doesn't provoke thought—it's not going to get much of a response. Clearly this creative execution provoked much. What I love is that the city of Cambridge was willing to take a risk. To think outside the lines. To completely re-imagine the tried and true.

What's so great about the traditional red-bar-through-the-center, off-the-rack ticket anyway?

There's always plenty of room for innovation and inspiration. And what matters here is not so much if the illustrations actually help to calm the receiver (which I hope they do) but that the city had its heart in the right place. Who knows, yoga is well documented to relieve stress, anxiety and depression. This "strange" new concept may become the new global standard.  

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

I was reviewing a new client's website today and it occurred to me that their home page looked as if someone took a handful of pebbles and tossed it at the computer screen. There was such chaos, not only in terms of message, but the content was graphically weighted so that the eye couldn't focus on the page.

What happened? The number one rule of branding was broken. BRANDS WHO WANT TO BECOME A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING AMOUNT TO A LOT OF NOTHING. 

I know it can be tempting to want be everything to everyone. But the fact is, no one—or no business can be. And you wouldn't want to be. Each brand is unique. And it's that uniqueness that keeps clients coming back.

As a leader in green marketing and organic marketing in Mpls, I know first hand the value of not only differentiating your brand, but of making a difference while you do it. In working with clients on campaigns ranging from wellness marketing, LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) marketing, green energy marketing, organic branding and more, we urge our clients to be fearless about embracing their "differences," and to let go of the idea of "fitting in."

Customers appreciate authenticity. So be yourself. Be fearless. And stay true to your message and your brand. The marketplace will prove that you're rock-solid.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

When I visited my homeopath this week, an extraordinary woman who is also a MD, it struck me how much alignment exists between the modalities of healing and branding.

Like a homeopathist, at firefly180 we begin the brand process by looking for patterns, past history, current perceptions and challenges. We look at what's working. What's not working. We look at tangibles like products and services delivered. And we look at intangibles like how an end-user "feels" when they receive that service. 

As the head of a green Minneapolis advertising and marketing agency, who specializes in working with green marketing companies, the organic industry, wellness marketing and the LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) consumer, I always knew our approach was holistic. But I didn't fully make the connection that our organic and sustainable branding approach is as holistic as the clients we serve.

Funny how seemingly everyday experiences can bring new insight and depth of understanding.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

 Celebrities lend their names to everything from designer gowns to dish detergent. But can they help sell wellness? It depends. When it comes to speaking the language of health and wellness, they need to well...speak the language. 

Nothing but absolute authenticity and transparency will do. So when one of our clients, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation wisely chose actress, author and wellness guru Marilu Henner as their keynote at an upcoming annual fundraising gala, the gates of messaging opportunities opened wide. 

As a Minneapolis advertising and marketing agency that specializes in wellness marketing, social change marketing, organic branding and LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) marketing, we strive to build campaigns that create rich audience experiences.

Heart disease kills more Americans than any other illness. Almost twice as many as cancer. Shockingly, virtually no one knows this. But Marilu Henner does. Her father died from this condition. And he died far too young. His death transformed her life. And in turn she is transforming the lives of others through her work in the wellness arena. Actions speak louder than words. So if you're thinking about hiring a celebrity endorser, you need to see beyond their looks. Their personal passion, knowledge in your category and commitment to change are worth far more than what they bring in at the box office.





Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

One of my favorite clients is having a banner year. With two recent and prestigious industry awards under their belt, this fruit and vegetable distributor can hardly contain themselves.We've been working together for nearly two years to create a brand that reflects their long-standing leadership position. And it's working. They are breaking new ground, strengthening existing relationships and creating new ones. 

While awards are great for affirming a job well done, can they translate into increased sales? Absolutely. Consumers and customers ask themselves three questions before opening their wallets:

1) What's in it for me?
2) How is your product or service unique in the market?
3) Why should I believe you?

Awards are excellent credibility builders. They're impressive. They inspire confidence. And they speak to excellence, leadership and innovation. As an organic industry expert, green marketing leader and green advertising agency owner who specializes in working with LOHAS consumers, my team at firefly180 knows how to leverage awards in order to generate tangible results.

After all we wouldn't be doing our jobs if we weren't moving the dial to create financial and environmental change.



Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

You can't sell what you don't believe in.

Nowhere is this more true than in the categories of LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) marketing, green advertising, organic marketing and wellness marketing. To reach this audience and to move the dial, you need to live it. Believe it. And love it. 

So when I broke my foot recently and was told that I wouldn't be able to walk or drive for about six weeks, I called in my healing guru support team. It was time to walk my talk, even if that meant walking with crutches for a while. My team includes:

• a kinesiolgist and nutritionist
• a homeopathist and MD
• an energy healer
• plant remedies and organic essential oils (like the helichrysum pictured here.)

I'm now healing at lightening speed. In fact, my progress is about twice as fast as normal. I feel such gratitude for the healers in my life. And even more gratitude that my life's work is helping talented, innovative and off-the-beaten-path professionals like these, grow and prosper—as they heal people and the planet.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Many things in life teach us balance.

But I have never had such a keen appreciation for this elusive state of being, since I broke my right foot a few days ago. Now camped on my couch, pretty much immobilized, I've forwarded my office phone home. And I am appreciating my left like never before. Eastern thought teaches us that our left speaks to our ability to receive. To our divine feminine. Intuition. And connection to Spirit. 

Our right, represents our masculine. Our ability to get things done. To activate the aspiration of the feminine. (I've always loved this side of myself.) I can get things done like no one else. But for now, I'm taking a "break" from my right-side-ways. And I'm appreciating my left like never before.

As the head of a green and LOHAS (lifestyles of health and sustainability) advertising and marketing agency in Minnesota, I have worked with clients to create green ad campaigns, yoga advertising campaigns, organic marketing initiatives and an endless array of messaging that activates consumers to create change in the world.

All that "doing" required my right side. Now I'm coming into balance in the most unlikely of ways. I'm learning to lead from my left. Starting with receiving the generosity of a friend who stopped by this morning to brew me a cup of organic green tea.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Join a gentle revolution and celebrate the launch of Green Lifestyle Film Festival, 7/30, 6pm at the XAI Verandah Lounge in LA. And while you're at it, check out Green Lifestyle TV. This global citizen journalist movement is out to transform media so that it reflects the beauty of the human spirit.

As the president of a Minneapolis based marketing and advertising agency that specializes in working with businesses and organizations that effect change on the planet, I love this concept. Green Lifestyle's mission is to be solution-oriented and inspiring. Just like great green marketing, social change marketing, LOHAS consumer marketing, yoga marketing and organic marketing.

Thought creates reality. And whether we're watching a film, TV show or reading an ad or website, it's our brain that processes the information. But it's our heart that inspires and compels us to take action.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

At firefly180, we specialize in building progressive brands. This brand work can be found at the core of our green ad campaigns, health and wellness campaigns, LOHAS consumer campaigns, yoga marketing and social change messaging in the music industry.

At the center of each brand is a clear and cohesive messaging platform. It serves as a rock-solid foundation from which to jump or dive into the marketplace.

A messaging platform will appear extraordinarily simple, yet it's a simplicity that emerges from a swirl of complexity.

It encompasses the essence of who you are, who you serve, and how you do it. It includes concepts and ideas that most closely represent your organization and its core values. It should resonate on an intellectual and emotional level so your platform can be developed into key words or phrases that become part of your conversation every time you describe what you sell or do.

Your messaging platform shouldn't change from month to month or year to year. So invest the time. The money. And the expertise to get it right. You wouldn't set sail in a boat, blindfolded, with no map, compass, fuel or means to communicate—so why would you launch your brand without being anything but fully prepared.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

I came across a great natural weed-killing recipe today. It's supposed to work miracles:

• 1 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup salt
• 1/4 cup dish soap

I mixed up a batch right away. With rain nearly every day, it seems that weeds are sprouting through cracks everywhere. As a leader in yoga advertising, green advertising, organic branding and LOHAS consumer strategy, I know that even the best brands can sprout weeds if left untended.

Great brands start with a clear, consistent message and like a freshly prepared garden, are all neat rows and promise. But over time, weeds sprout. When marketing leaders, clients or advertising agencies get a little lazy or bored, seemingly harmless tactics or graphic diversions end up resulting in a garden that's overrun with noise.

Branding takes patience. Diligence. And discipline. So while it's great to start something new, make sure you're not planting an invasive species. Stick with what's native. You and your garden (I mean brand) will grow in beauty, profitability and sustainability. 


Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

I've worked in the progressive space for 20 years building brands and creating advertising campaigns for renewable energy, the indy press, organic, yoga, wellness and social change initiatives. I've worked in big firms. And I've worked in mid-size advertising agencies. But when I launched firefly180 marketing, I was extremely intentional about three things:

1) My team and I would create strong brands and messaging that empowered consumers to make positive change in their lives and the world.

2) Our work would drive financial and quantifiable results for our clients.

3) I would create a sustainable, low-carbon-footprint model with all the benefit of the best advertising agencies, but without the typical, expensive and often wasteful overhead.

My virtual advertising agency model is an idea who's time has come. It works. It's seamless. It's effective. And it's green. My geothermal, climate-change-fighting office is planted among native grasses and wildflowers near the banks of a protected scenic river, but I travel daily to meet with my team in cities like NYC, Boulder, Houston, Boston and L.A.

The beauty is of course, I don't have to leave my office. And neither do they. We've created the precursor to Star Trek transporter technology—instantly beaming ourselves through the universe to explore, connect and create. Yesterday I traveled to India to meet with a potential client. The resulting carbon footprint? Zero. Quality of the experience? Immeasurable.



Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.

Last night, a friend and I went to see Carlos Santana in concert. We started the night with sushi and ended with a sense of expansion. 

As the head of an advertising and marketing agency near Minneapolis that specializes in social change marketing, green marketing, wellness marketing and the LOHAS consumer, our team creates brands that take consumers or stakeholders on a journey. Santana does the same. His performance artfully weaves words that act like threads of philosophy, hope, spirituality, progressive politics and love along with music that takes his audience deeper into the experience.

In marketing, graphics, paper stock, images and video are like music. They attract attention and draw an audience in. It's the words—copy and headlines, that connect the threads that carry the message. Together, they create art.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

Who needs a cabinet full of pharmaceuticals when nature offers its own medicine chest? 

As the owner of a Minnesota advertising and marketing agency and organic industry leader who specializes in green marketing, organic branding, social change communication and the LOHAS consumer, I have long worked with clients to educate customers about how food can heal.

One of our clients, H. Brooks and Company, is an absolute leader when it comes to offering tools that empower and educate grocery stores, restaurants and shoppers about the health benefits of fruit and veggies. Every marketing touch point is an opportunity to create messaging that not only differentiates your brand, but drives sales.

This recent newsletter illustrates how you can combine classic B-B sales strategy with a holistic message. And who doesn't love the fact that a delicious slice of watermelon can promote heart health and help prevent cancer?

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

How often do you have the chance to share a bottle of wine and have conversations that will save lives? Maybe this is a recipe we should embrace.

The Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) is doing just that. As the head of a Minneapolis advertising and marketing agency that specializes in wellness, social change communication, LOHAS marketing and progressive causes, I partnered closely with MHIF leaders to craft a movement that is as fun as it is lifesaving.


The result? Launched about a week ago, the movement has already begun. An overwhelming number of those attending the dinner where the initiative was announced have already begun opening their homes and their hearts to educate and activate change around heart disease. To host your own wine dinner, go to the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation website or contact Toni Knorr, tknorr@mhif.org.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

Today marks a turning point for women's health in this country. Last night, at their annual Wine Dinner, my client, the renowned scientific powerhouse, the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation (MHIF) transformed a gathering into a grassroots movement. 

It's a travesty in this country that with all the education about cancer, virtually no one knows that heart disease kills more women than anything else. In fact, up to ten times more than breast cancer.

The Minneapolis Heart Institute's new movement empowers women by creating a fun, inspirational and educational format that brings women together over glasses of heart-healthy, resveratrol-rich wine (or sparking grape juice) to share, connect and learn about how they can stay healthier and save the lives of potentially half the women they know.

Click here to learn more about the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation. To receive a free wine dinner kit and host a gathering of your own, contact Toni Knorr at tknorr@mhif.org.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.  

 

The fireflies are back. I can see them by the hundreds flitting about in the meadow behind my studio. Each shines a light. Together they light up the night.

That's the brand promise behind my agency, firefly180 marketing—a firm that specializes in leveraging the power of the marketplace to create social and environmental change. We're experts in organic branding, green marketing, renewable energy marketing, LOHAS marketing and social change marketing.

So whether you're based in LA, Rome, Boulder, NYC, Hong Kong or Timbuktu, let your light shine. At firefly180, we're ready to help you spark change.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

There are countless books on branding. Each claims to have discovered the "formula" for creating the perfect brand. There are diagrams. Spread sheets. Exercises. Processes and more processes.

Yes, process is vital to creating a great brand, but there's an element that's even more important. Letting go. Tuning in. Intuiting. Creating.

I have a meeting tomorrow with a potential client who is looking for some help with extending their brand voice. While I've worked for decades as a green marketer and LOHAS strategist, I am at my core, a writer. And more than that, I'm a brand channeler. Just as there psychics who channel spiritual energies, a brand channeler tunes in to the soul of a brand to give voice to what needs to be said. And heard. Is this a scientific process? No. Does it require the use of diagrams? No. But it is extraordinarily effective none the less. Can anyone do it? No. But if you're willing to suspend the idea that you have all the answers. If you're willing to quiet your mind and  listen, you may just find that your brand and your brand's voice has more to say than you ever imagined. 

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing. 

Marketing is all about finding your authentic voice. Speaking your truth. And sharing it with the world.

While I work in this space every day, the concept became all the more clear as I met with an amazing yogi and opera singer agent from NYC who practices Naam Yoga. As we talked and I joked that my singing voice is frightening and that I've already put in my order for my next life—to be able to sing well—he reminded me that all sound has healing value. And that the truest form of expression is to simply let go and let your voice be. That, he said is your authentic voice.

As so it is. This wisdom is true for our speaking and singing voices. And it's true for our brand voices. As long as what we create is real. The truth in our creation is what resonates to bring the marketing response and action we desire. Bravo.

Lisa Proctor is the president and creative director of firefly180 marketing—a branding and advertising agency that specializes in LOHAS marketing, wellness marketing, green marketing and renewable energy marketing.