In fact, KISS flourished with strategies similar to those employed by many great organizations, including the largest corporation in the world. Both KISS and Wal-Mart demonstrate that sound marketing, product, and customer satisfaction strategies build market share and that brilliant execution of those strategies throughout the channel maintains it. While the execution-and perhaps the values of the organization-may be different from those of other businesses, the strategic nature of KISS branding remains the same for dominant firms of any kind.

It Starts with a KISS

For most of us, the thought of a kiss conjures up a refrain of pleasant emotions. Perhaps its a quick kiss on the cheek by a beautiful young woman that captures a mans heart, or a passionate exchange on a starry night in a horse-drawn carriage that marks the beginning of a life together. A kiss symbolizes emotion, electricity, excitement, and anticipation for something more in a way that the anatomical de- scription (the tightening of lip muscles held against each other) fails to capture.

For the KISS Army, the word conjures the same emotions, but a very different visual. The sometimes raucous and always passionate entertainers stirred emotions, generated energy, and sparked enthu- siasm with their unorthodox concerts, which they held in small towns and cities that had never been exposed to such an out-of-mind emotional experience. Not only did KISS elevate the concert stan- dard in venues where other larger acts didnt bother to play, it affected the standard throughout the rock-and-roll industry.

Today, KISS is credited with leading the way for performers like Britney Spears and N Sync, and those who take animals on stage (as Britney did in her 2002 tour) or use pyrotechnics (as Kid Rock does) to create multisensory experiences. But it is safe to say that the impact of KISS on fans and the industry would not have happened were it not for Gene Simmons. His is a story of ambition, vision, ego, and business savvy, and just like those of other great entrepreneurs stud- ied in MBA programs, it deserves close examination to uncover the influences that shaped his career and success.

Immigration, Fascination, and Infatuation