If you met Tena Clark at a party, you'd immediately
want to meet again to continue the conversation. She's passionate. She's
inspirational. In short, you'd definitely want to add her to your Rolodex and
professional network of go-getting women.
DMI, a music branding company, is at the hub of
Clark's businesses. The other spokes include Private Label Radio, Big Rig
Interactive, 5 Alarm Music and Firehouse Recording Studios. Pasadena,
California-based DMI and its supporting entities offer a complete solution for
everything that has to do with music.
Clark has forged DMI's growth through a consistent vision.
"I wanted to connect consumers to brands through music," she says. This
is the mind-set that started the business and that sustains it. Her dedication
to reaching consumers through music is evident in DMI's mission statement: "Give
consumers music where they never could have experienced it before."
It was Clark's vision of herself as a music
evangelist that led her to create and build DMI. Throughout her life she has
embraced music and all it has to offer, from playing drums to writing
Grammy-winning songs. Today, she operates DMI with the desire for people to
experience music "without handcuffs."
United Airlines was one of 10-year-old DMI's first
clients. Clark created a foundation for success by ensuring her music branding
company managed every piece of music relating to United Airlines'
communications. DMI integrated the organization's videos, Mileage-Plus Loyalty
program and onboard programming into a consistent musical communications package
tied to the emotional impact United Airlines was looking to make.
Listening to Clark speak about music and its impact
on the consumer, you can tell she's a visionary and a professional who clearly
understands the value of consumer engagement through the most powerful component
of the brand experience--emotion.
It's the brands that take this seriously that
receive the most benefit in consumer awareness. But Clark admits she continually
fights the mind-sets of traditional brand managers that have yet to directly
link the importance of consumers' emotions to the brand experience. "This is
still a relatively new idea for many brands," says Clark. "When the CMO is a
strong visionary, however, they are the people who will champion this part of
the branding initiative."
And more companies are recognizing the power of
music. Clark's company, which employs more than 70 people, has grown 40 percent
over the past year. "There is no greater way to build brand loyalty than through
emotion," she says. "The success of the DMI team stems from leveraging emotion
via the power of music."