Kinman Defines, Gary Kinman

People as Brands In addition to retailers being brands, so too are people. In fact, one type of brand that is extremely relevant and just as connected to customers as the traditional kinds of brands (products, retailers, and organizations) is the brand of professionals-physicians, attorneys, insurance agents, architects, or even funeral directors. These brands are as important to consumers at critical moments of their lives as many of their personal relationships, yet few professionals receive training during their academic studies or from their professional societies on how to build a brand that delights their clients. And most professionals appear to give little thought to how to create a brand that turns clients into fans who refer friends to their favorite doctors or professional practices.

One professional person who works hard at correcting this omission is Gary Kinman, an award winning landscape architect and founder of Kinman & Associates. Kinman’s client approach is marketing driven, which makes him a unique brand among the others in his field, most of whom see themselves as sellers and installers of horticultural products. Rather, Kinman defines his brand promise as shaping the earth to enhance the life of his clients. “The first thing I do is understand the psychology of the customer,” he says. “How do I connect with my customers and what is relevant to their lifestyles? People buy because of emotion. If I can find the motive or emotion they connect to, I can create a product that will create value way beyond the cost of physical materials.” Another dimension of Kinman’s brand is his commitment to teaching others and elevating the entire industry. He founded the Kinman Institute, where he trains other architects and professionals on everything from business operations to branding. He teaches attendees, who already know most of the functional basics of balance, scale, proportion, materials, and so forth, a great truth of branding: “You can’t understand how to do what your clients want you to do unless you understand them and what constitutes value for them.” Whether it is a minor change in a modest home or a milliondollar landscape project for a suburban estate, Kinman shows his students how to create value by connecting with customers and how they have to take on marketing roles themselves.