What if the secret to building a brand people love isn’t about being the biggest or the loudest, but about winning something deeper? Warren Kornblum calls it “share of heart.” After a career that took him from creative director to Global CMO of Toys “R” Us, he’s convinced it’s the only metric that truly matters.
In this episode of Sell by Being Human, host Alex Smith sits down with Warren Kornblum, former Global CMO of Toys R Us, former CMO of Serta Simmons Bedding, and current founder and CEO of Share of Heart. With a career spanning from the advertising agency world to the C-suite, Warren shares his journey and the philosophy that guided him: true customer loyalty is built on emotional connection, trust, and genuine human care, not just awareness or wallet share.
Drawing on his experience at Toys R Us during a pivotal time of retail disruption, Warren explains why the brand’s emotional connection, embodied by the iconic “I don’t want to grow up” song and Geoffrey the Giraffe, was its greatest asset, and how losing sight of the customer in favor of shareholders contributed to its decline. The conversation explores the lessons he learned from his father, “Uncle Philly,” a master of human connection; the critical difference between awareness and belief; and why AI, for all its power, will never replace human empathy.
Warren also discusses his new book, Notes from the Brand Stand, and shares practical advice for anyone, from CEOs to baristas, on how to make people feel seen, valued, and important.
Tune in to learn how to earn trust, build emotional connections, and sell by being more human, not less.
Key Takeaways
- Share of heart goes beyond share of mind and share of wallet
- Awareness can be bought, but belief must be earned
- Selling to one person or millions follows the same process: relevance, trust, and caring
- Great sellers stay in the moment, because it’s about the customer, not you
- Know who your customers are and who they aren’t
- Retaining customers matters as much as winning new ones
- Sometimes the best change is no change: modernize a brand’s “jewels” instead of discarding them
- Quarterly pressure can pull companies away from the customers who built them
- Leaders should listen in on call centers and chat logs
- AI is table stakes; empathy and leadership set companies apart
- Making people feel they matter costs nothing
In This Episode:
- [00:00] Dynamic intro
- [00:36] Welcome and introducing Warren Kornblum
- [03:54] What “sell by being human” means to Warren
- [05:30] The upside and risk of real human connection
- [07:53] Growing up in the mattress business with “Uncle Philly”
- [10:46] What Warren’s dad did that other salespeople didn’t
- [12:38] Marketing as an act of caring (and what it can cost)
- [13:47] Churn, retention, and why you can’t buy belief
- [16:40] Inside the early days of Toys R Us
- [18:04] Why Warren refused to retire the song and Geoffrey the giraffe
- [21:53] The Times Square store and Warren’s proudest moment
- [23:42] Seeing the signs before the decline
- [24:19] The online battle Warren lost with the board
- [27:07] Customers vs. shareholders: the battle he’d fight harder today
- [30:00] Making the business case for emotional connection
- [31:05] Measuring share of heart and managing by walking around
- [34:45] Why employees are the second most important audience
- [35:37] Will AI replace human connection?
- [36:51] Empathy, escalation, and AI as table stakes
- [41:01] The sycophantic chatbot problem
- [41:58] Daily skills for improving human connection
- [43:55] Starbucks, the pizza place, and feeling “processed”
- [48:08] Ordering coffee from a robot
- [49:42] Making people feel they matter costs nothing
- [50:55] What makes Warren totally Warren
- [52:26] Where to connect with Warren
- [54:00] Closing
Notable Quotes
- [00:01] “If I can make an emotional connection with them, if I can become a part of their lives, then you sort of have the job almost well done.” - Warren Kornblum
- [15:19] “Awareness can be bought, but you can’t buy belief. I can get in your sphere through marketing but I can’t get you to believe in me unless I earn that.” - Warren Kornblum
- [12:42] “Marketing is an act of caring.” - Warren Kornblum
- [22:15] “Your natural instinct is to change things because you’re the new sheriff in town... sometimes the best change is not to change at all.” - Warren Kornblum
- [37:36] “Machines don’t have empathy.” - Warren Kornblum
- [40:42] “AI can be a great soldier. The day it starts being the leader, we’re all in big trouble.” - Warren Kornblum
- [49:42] “Making people feel like they matter costs nothing.” - Warren Kornblum
- [41:22] “AI is the most non-empathetic response we’ll ever get. It's very gratuitous.” - Warren Kornblum
Our Guest
Warren Kornblum is the founder and CEO of Share of Heart and the author of Notes from the Brandstand. A former advertising agency creative director, he went on to serve as global chief marketing officer at Toys R Us and chief marketing officer at Serta Simmons Bedding. Today he advises CEOs and boards on emotional branding, customer loyalty, and leadership, and he is writing a follow-up book about the people behind famous brands.
Resources and Links
Sell by Being Human
Warren Kornblum
Alex Smith
