Steve Jones, author of Brand Like A Rockstar, is surrounded by Lynda Reinhart, Stephen C. O'Connell Center, Gainesville, Fla., and Nina Simmons, Halton Arena/UNC Charlotte, N.C., at AMC in St. Louis. (VT Photo)
REPORTING FROM ST. LOUIS — “Feelings happen in arenas, the arena is a brand,” said Steve Jones, principal, Brand Like a Rockstar, keynote speaker at the Arena Management Conference held here Sept. 20-23.
He went even further. “The arena manager is a brand,” he added, proceeding to describe the attributes of a brand and how a great one is made. AMC was attended by 149 industry pros, up from last year. The International Association of Venue Managers event will next be held in Tampa, Fla., Sept. 18-20, 2016.
Jones used famous rock stars to illustrate his brand-building lessons, starting with the proposition that a brand is not just logos and slogans and mission statements. “Brands are emotional reactions; it’s the feeling,” Jones said, adding that while promoting upcoming events, arenas should also be promoting their own brand. How? Here’s his countdown.
10. Consistency
Living up to the same thing again and again, not by doing the same thing, but consistency in presentation creates a strong brand. AC/DC is the perfect rock band, he said, because every song has the beat, has the sound. The Beatles offered consistency by consistently surprising the audience.
Venues sometimes struggle with consistency in branding because naming rights means changing “brands,” but there can still be consistency, Jones said, noting the TD Garden in Boston has been through many name changes, but it is still “the Garden.”
9. Start out small, but have big values.
When Bob Marley began performing, reggae didn’t exist, Jones said. “He just made music that mattered to him. It was a new sound that had no name” until he set out to share his values with the world.
If you are guided by core values that you love doing, other people will love it, he said. “Rock star brands rarely give in.”
8. Be different, not better.
KISS, which started out as a band called Wicked Lester, became famous in two years after the name change by blowing stuff up and spitting fire. “They got your attention,” Jones said. “Everyone over 30 hated KISS, but the KISS Army didn’t.”
Note the Jamaican bobsled team, he continued. They competed in the Winter Olympic Games in 1988 in Calgary and Disney made a movie about them. They’ve never won a medal; they’ve never won. But they are different and they are synonymous with bobsledding.
“Different beats better,” Jones said adding that “the risk of insult is the price of clarity. There will always be people who don’t like different.”
7. Sell experience.
Jimmy Buffet and his beach theme is an experience, not just a concert. Harley-Davidson sells “bad-ass,” he said. The demographic of Harley owners is over 50 and making over $100,000 a year. “That’s not the demographic of an actual badass,” Jones said. “They don’t even make 50 grand; they make things in prison.”
But we want admission to the badass club because we want big experiences, not products.
He likened that to the opportunity arena managers have in creating experiences two or three hours before the event starts.
6. Live up to expectations.
When U2 wanted to deviate from the music their fans love, they produced an album under a pseudonym, Passengers, to get the creative juices out, Jones said.
Anheuser-Busch’s Coors is brewed with Rocky Mountain Sparkling Water. Buyers know and appreciate that fact. But when A-B tried to sell Coors Sparkling Water, it failed. Coors is a beer, not a water. Coca-Cola and Pepsi understood that, selling water under a totally different brand name.
“You are what they think you are,” Jones warned.
5. Singularity and focus counts.
Foreigner had 13 hits and was outsold by Lynyrd Skynyrd with one, “Sweet Home Alabama.”
“It was a matter of one song they love versus 13 they like. Lynyrd Skynyrd only has to do one thing really well,” Jones said.
For Southwest Airlines, it’s low cost.
“What’s your one thing; what one word do you own?” Jones asked.
4. Take smart risks.
Al Kooper is a session musician famous for playing the guitar who tricked his way into a Bob Dylan recording session playing the organ, an instrument he knew little about. Dylan was his idol. He wanted to play with him.
In "Like a Rolling Stone," Kooper's organ is the signature sound. Dylan had said cut the organ, Kooper played it anyway, Dylan loved it on the playback and said turn up the organ. Kooper's major claim to fame was the result of taking a big risk.
3. Know and understand your enemy.
“Your competition helps define you,” Jones said. ‘You don’t want them to go away.”
Wal-Mart is “save money,” while Target is “expect more.” Their competition defines them.
2. Have fun, be real.
“People need to think of your building in human terms,” Jones said. “Be open, real and genuine.”
Those who are open and genuine are forgiven, he said, noting Buckley’s original medicine made its name by advertising “it tastes awful, and it works. You have to take your medicine.” Medicine is supposed to taste awful, Jones said.
1. Always turn it up to 11.
Outstanding customer service wins the day, he said. Pete Townshend kills his guitar at the end of each performance because “he’s played it all for you; he’s played the life out of his instrument,” Jones said.
When the sound turns up to 10, take yours to 11, he advised.
Contact: Steve Jones, steve@brandlikearockstar.com