Allow a great performer to be great
I will always remember meeting with the owners and staff of the Philadelphia Soul in 2004 to discuss the development of their mascot. They were to be the new AFL indoor arena football team in Philadelphia. Most of the buzz about the team was caused by the celebrity of one of their owners. None other than Jon Bon Jovi! I was thrilled to hear that Jon would be present at the meeting but I have to say that my wife was even happier. Once she found out I was going to have the chance to meet Jon she wanted to know if I needed an executive assistant. I told her I had it covered, but back to the story. Jon Bon Jovi was and is considered a very savvy business man. He approached the music business with an attitude and focus that was not like many other creative music artists of his time. He was hands on and wanted to make sure his brand was represented well and if you have even been to a Bon Jovi concert you know that he understands timing, fun and memorable entertainment. I wasn’t just excited that he was going to be at the meeting so I could meet him. I was really excited because I figured he was going to help me get his business with the Soul. I considered him to be a brand expert and there was no question that he would understand me and would be a big supporter of what we brought to the table. On the drive to Philadelphia all I thought about was how I would start the meeting. It is always a good idea to start a “sales” presentation with questions especially when it is in front of a large group of participants. It was my hope that the questions would start a conversation that would reveal what the real “pain” was with regards to mascot development. Once you know the pain it is easy to zero in on the correct solution. As I walked in I first notice that Jon was sitting in the corner to my right. There were at least 15 people jammed into a small conference room. Everyone said hello and I was impressed that Jon stood up and took the time to shake my hand and greet my partner and I directly. After all of the nervous conversation quieted down I said “Well, what to do you think it takes to create a great mascot”? There was silence first with everyone looking at each other wondering who would respond when Jon spoke first. He said “I think that we need to have a character with a huge head so that everyone in the arena can see him. Isn’t it important that we make his head as large as possible so that our mascot will be noticed”? That is when it first hit me. No matter how good you are in your field, when you step out of it, you are a novice at best. Here was this fabulous entertainer, successful in business, followed by millions of rabid fans and when it came to character development he was clueless. Why would he know anything about character development? This revelation was great news to me from a 30 thousand foot perspective but at this moment was very disappointing because it confirmed that I was not going to be doing business with the Philadelphia Soul. Why? Because if I was worth anything I was now going to have to correct Jon Bon Jovi in front of his new staff and business partners. Normally I would have asked the group what they thought about Jon’s input but I knew none of them would support my view and we would be destined to design a mascot that would have a gigantic head that wouldn’t allow a great performer to be great for the Soul. I wasn’t going to be a part of that lack of success. This was after all the same town that the Phanatic was still doing his thing for the Phillies and the city of Philadelphia! But, it was great news because I finally realized that no matter how powerful, successful or respected a potential new client was I would be the expert in the room when it came to mascot development! I looked right at Jon and said “If your mascot had a huge head and the performance was poor how good would your mascot be? Everyone would just say….look at that big headed mascot…he really sucks”! We did not get their business for two reasons. First they hadn’t planned on committing the budget required for success and second they didn’t understand memorable performance was more important than what the mascot looked like. They were 0 for 2 with following the three!
