About Us

“Nothing important, or meaningful, or beautiful, or interesting, or great ever came out of imitations. The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.”

—Anna Quindlen

Always shoot for the moon. The worst you can do is land on the roof.”

—Jon Higgins

About Jon Higgins, Founder & CEO
I hate it when you go to an About page and you don’t get a sense of what that person’s really about. Let’s not do that. About me:

My skill is to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a brand … a non-profit organization, a school or a cooperation. My super power (to the extend I have one) is to inspire people to work together for a common goal.

Began my career in brand marketing as the summer intern at a PR agency in Southern California. Its founder, Bob Thomas, is a second father to me. He taught me that personal integrity and striving to be indispensable to clients and colleagues alike, matters most. And that a good burger starts with the quality of the meat.

The international phase of my career took root in London where I was the CEO of Ketchum’s International network. I’m a dual passport holder and can say “Please and thank you” in 16 languages. I held P&L responsibility for some 20 businesses in 15 countries, achieving record growth, market leadership “Agency of the Year” and “Best Places to Work” accolades in most.

I have met Queen Elizabeth and made her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, laugh. Served as Paul Newman’s racing publicist for 8 memorable (and winning) seasons.

I’m an award-winning campaign strategist, editor and writer. I provide C-suite level counsel and thought leadership on all aspects of brand reputation, crisis preparedness and response. I make a darned good seafood paella, (so I’m told).

Timeline
Raised in a one stoplight town and educated in a city teeming with more than 5,000 of them. (Essex, CT and Los Angeles). My career journey started fresh out of USC as the summer intern at an agency that would forever change my life. This is where I discovered “my peeps.” I learned from its eponymous founder, Bob Thomas, that loving your work has everything to do with who you do it with and who you do it for.
My first client was Ronald; my intro to community relations. My second was Paul. You may have seen his face on salad dressing bottles and on the big screen. I was his spokesman and learned the value of a good quote, quick wit, and at the end of a long day, an ice cold Bud.
The San Francisco years. Where the diversity of our All Star team at Ketchum matched the diversity of our service. Food and Nutrition. Financial services. Biotech. Public Affairs. Fashion. “dot.com.” Big brands. Big ideas. Big fun. Led the office to #1 in California

London calling! Transferred to run the European HQ. Invented a growth initiative to inspire teams to buy into a common vision, mission and, yes, a collective purpose. I called it Mind the Gap. Its success planted a seed that took a few years to germinate … hold that thought.

Somewhere along in here I was appointed International CEO and had the incredible job of building a global network for a Top 3 agency with someone else’s checkbook. The goal was to win the loyalty of global clients and to build a multi-national network to support them. My specialty became helping leaders turn faltering businesses into record growth.
Won a ton of awards. Campaign of the Year. Global Campaign of the Year. Agency of the Year in several countries. My favorite, “Best Place to Work” in offices in three different continents.
The flip side of making brands famous is to protect them from becoming infamous. Provided C-suite counsel (often at a moment’s notice) for such crises as aviation disaster, social injustice, contaminated food, product safety, workplace violence, campus security, leadership transition.
Surprisingly, the advice I was giving to nonprofit organizations outside the work day began to emerge as the most fulfilling. My kids’ schools. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Room to Read, dedicated to children’s literacy and girls education across Asia and Africa. Each anchored and propelled by a sense of purpose, mission and values. Their visionary leaders inspired me to think I should be doing more.
And here we are. I founded LBH on the lessons I have learned about the importance of instilling a sense of purpose, the drive to make a difference and to grow in some way, every day. We love partnering with schools of every size and mission, and organizations who also strive to grow for good.
Client Experience

All of our work is anchored in research, insight and analytics.  We worship the written word but the measure of our effectiveness is through metrics.

Our go-to partner is Rockland Dutton Research & Consulting, led by a husband and wife team whose experience and reputation is world-renowned. (Yes, that is fact-based and measurable.)

DAVID B. ROCKLAND, PH.D.

Dr. David Rockland launched Rockland Dutton Research & Consulting upon retiring from the full-time role of Partner/CEO Ketchum Global Research & Analytics (KGRA). He now oversees all client engagements and growth of the business. He is directly engaged with most clients including the World Bank, UNICEF, IATA, Axis Capital, World Health Organization, the agriculture check-off programs, and various agencies.

SARAH DUTTON

Sarah Dutton enjoyed an 18-year career at CBS News. She was Director of Surveys at CBS News from 2009 until 2017, and was Deputy Director of Surveys for ten years prior. As Director of Surveys she managed the CBS News Survey Unit, and was responsible for all CBS News and CBS News/New York Times polls. She now works with clients to improve their polling initiatives, as well as on education programs.

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