Former VML Executives Reunite to Launch AI-Driven Service To Help Business Leaders Improve Performance
KANSAS CITY, Mo. and OVERLAND PARK, Kan., [August 12, 2025] --- Former VML colleagues Gard Gibson of BrandHeart Strategies and Bill Patterson of Revival Marketing Communications have joined forces to create a new AI-driven offering—the Business Synchronicity Index (BSI)—to inform better strategic business decisions.
Business Synchronicity is a proprietary measure of how well an organization’s actions and marketing messages align with its stated mission, vision, and values as perceived by customers, employees, investors, and stakeholders.
Gibson and Patterson developed the Brand Synchronicity methodology using agentic artificial intelligence to evaluate organizational performance, create an aggregate score and sub-scores for five different performance drivers, and deliver recommendations on actions the organization should take in the short-, medium-, and long-term to improve business performance.
They have evaluated more than 500 companies to date, ranging from publicly traded global corporations to regional not-for-profits, and created a 100-point Business Synchronicity Index to benchmark organizational performance across industries.
“What we’ve learned through our BSI research is that there is a clear correlation between an organization’s level of synchronicity and its ability to increase revenues over time. Companies whose actions most closely align with their stated mission, vision, and values outperform their less synchronous competitors,” said Gibson. “These organizations also experience much higher levels of customer satisfaction and employee loyalty and productivity, and lower overall operating costs.”
For the 68 technology companies in its initial BSI report, those with a BSI above 110 posted average revenue growth of 93 percent for the two-year period from 2022 to 2024, compared to an average growth of 23 percent for companies indexing between 90 and 110 and only 19 percent for those indexing below 90.
Similar synchronicity success was evident in the financial services sector, where companies indexing above 105 generated average revenue gains of 36 percent, compared to 19 percent gains for those indexing between 95 and 105, and just nine percent for those indexing below 95.
Patagonia ranked first overall among all organizations analyzed to date, with an index of 133.18. The privately held company maintains a position as a high-performance, purpose-driven organization that is aligned with its stated mission: “we’re in business to save our home planet,” and core values of quality, integrity, environmentalism, justice, and “not bound by convention.” Company employees, customers, and stakeholders affirmed that the company’s actions are closely aligned with its mission.
Gibson and Patterson graduated from Shawnee Mission North High School a year apart, and years later, worked for VML. The pair reconnected in the fall of 2024 at a meeting of independent marketing executives, who gathered to discuss strategies to join forces in support of each other’s businesses.
Patterson shared an idea for an integrated reputation management offering, and Gibson talked about his focus on holistically measuring brands and business performance, which led to a conversation on how to leverage AI to deliver a means for measuring and tracking brand performance and corporate reputation in real time.
In April, the two launched the first iteration of their Business Synchronicity model as a joint venture they call BrandRevival Partners—a portmanteau of Gibson’s BrandHeart Strategies and Patterson’s Revival Marketing Communications.
In the ensuing months, Gibson perfected the Business Synchronicity methodology. The actionable nature of the report enables businesses to continually re-evaluate performance on a quarterly or annual basis.
The pair have successfully used the BSI to drive business opportunities for their respective consultancies by enabling clients the option to purchase a report for a one-time fee, or in tandem with ongoing strategic services. The team updates BSI reports on a quarterly basis to provide business leaders with a method for benchmarking and measuring performance improvement over time.
Traditionally, organizations would hire consulting firms such as Deloitte or McKinsey to prepare these reports, placing them out of reach for most small- to mid-size businesses.
“The BSI delivers actionable information quickly and cost-effectively,” adds Patterson. “It’s a valuable resource for identifying ways to better align strategies and ensure that everyone inside and outside the organization clearly understands the mission, and that actions and perceptions directly align with stated goals for maximum impact.”
For more information about the Brand Synchronicity Index, visit www.brandrevivalpartners.com.
About BrandHeart Strategies
Gard Gibson is the founder of BrandHeart Strategies; we simplify branding to its core: connection. We bring clarity to the chaos, using insights to shape meaningful relationships between businesses and their audiences. Every brand has a voice, but we ensure it resonates on a human level, cutting through the noise with precision. Authentic connections. Real results. www.brandheartstrategies.com
About Revival
Bill Patterson is the founder of Revival Marketing + Communications, a marketing firm on a mission. Revival focuses on the fundamental principles of marketing and communications, believing that when you know who you are and understand what you do and why you do it, connecting with the people who matter most becomes much simpler and a lot easier. www.revival-pr.com