WonkaVision  [ Page 1 | 2 | 3 ]
At this point, all Wonka fans are asking how this essay is going to tackle the thorny issues of Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregard, Veruca Salt and Mike Teevee. Well, here are the lessons taught here -- listen to your stadium operations and security people and, the customer is not always right. Young Mr. Gloop would have had just as jolly a time if there had been other people escorting the tour and if there had been a rail at the river. Veruca had a horrible disposition that was closer to a Vernisious Kinit than a polite, young lady. Regardless of warning, Ms. Beauregard and Mr. Teevee got themselves into trouble.

As we enter the invention room (Research and Development to you drones), the recipe for creativity is unveiled. It is made up of "93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% inspiration and 2% butterscotch ripple." Now, that adds up to 105%. So, don't limit yourself to 100% or any known boundries. Also, in terms of perspiration, what Wonka is telling us is that an idea's goodness or greatness is only determined by the level of our execution. What the use is a giveaway or promotion, if nobody knows about it or if we tell the same audience over and over again? We can't just execute these tactics just to fulfill a corporate contract or because we feel we have to.

There is also the need to keep building our audience and develop ways for that audience to enjoy sports at every level. The Everlasting Gobstopper is there for the "child with little pocket money." All of us have a discounted ticket or inexpensive seat, but how are we marketing that product? Do we search for other ways to develop our own Everlasting Gobstoppers?

Probably the most important lesson taught during the movie takes place in the hallway right outside the invention room. There the people left on the tour get to try lickable wallpaper. Again, Wonka shows his passion for his craft. He exclaims that the "...strawberries taste like strawberries, the snozberries taste like snozberries." The bratty Ms. Salt snorts that "there is no such thing as a snozberry"and Wonka teaches us that "We are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams." If we kill ideas, if we don't walk in the shoes of our customers, we cease to be the music makers. If we dismiss the necessity to make the effort, or say "what is the use," we cease to be the dreamers of dreams. In essence we will become the victims of a mundane fate.

There is even a lesson in the room of the Golden Geese. Remember, that as they are visiting, Easter is not to come for another year. Wonka hushes the utterance, saying he wants to get a jump on the next year. We know when the calendar of our seasons. Why is it that we always seem not to have time? When are we starting to plan our marketing, advertising and promotion for our sports? The budget and economy of time is more important than the budget and economy of money. Using the former well, leads to a wise expenditure of the ladder. So, as the tour ends, we enter the office of Mr. Wonka. There is half a clock. There is half a safe. There is half a desk, with half a lamp and half a cigar. Only half of any worth of an idea, promotion or concept can be realized by simply musing. No one person can make a program successful. It takes a collaborative effort of minds and the execution of bodies. "Would it be great if..." only works if a map is built and the details of the journey are executed.

Some would argue that it seems that Wonka (the brand) breaks a promise to young Charlie (the customer or client) by testing him. Nonetheless, acting out of integrity, the disappointed young man gives back his Everlasting Gobstopper. He is rewarded. Beyond his dreams, Charlie is rewarded.

Everyday, we make a promise to our best customers -- our season ticket holder, corporate partners, suite and premium seating subscribers -- that we appreciate their support. Are we keeping that promise? How do we show our appreciation? Do we show that appreciation with heart? All of us who have been involved in selling our sports know that it is far, far easier to lose a customer than to gain one.

In the same way that Willie Wonka rewards Charlie Bucket, we can do the same for the vast majority of our customers and clients. Granted, there are the cases of the "high maintenance" season ticket holder or the demanding client. But, these people have the Pavlovian sense that comes from the issue of squeaky wheels and grease. There have been many cases, at many teams and venues, of turning that dynamic on its ear by rewarding the nice and the loyal.

At the end, Charlie is asked "Do you know what happened to the boy who got everything?" The answer is that he lived happily ever after. Now, is this idyllic? Certainly. There are always going to be fans who only care about winning. There are always going to be the hard to satisfy.

Concluded on Page 3...