Dear Jesse Cole,
Hello and thank you for giving me a safe and supportive stage to pull out my boxer shorts in front of 49,000 people.
I didn’t even realize I was looking for something new. Life felt pretty full already. But then the Man-Nanas, your legendary dad-bod cheerleading squad, invited me to Yankee Stadium after seeing some of my goofy baseball content online. That weekend ended up being an energy shift I didn’t see coming.
This summer I went to 32 baseball games, including the Bananas at Yankee Stadium, with 27 of them in the minors. It turned into the most fun summer I’ve ever had with my nine-year-old son, with friends, and even solo. Once I realized how open the minors were to creators, I thought, this is it, this is my summer. Just being a goofball on social media at baseball games. And it was incredible.
That day at Yankee Stadium with the Bananas stuck with me. I had such a fun time that it really stayed in my head. Not long after, a friend of mine, Julie Wade, CFE , mentioned hearing you speak at a conference and said it was amazing. That’s when I realized you had a book and decided that would be the next one I listened to. (I’ve always found I absorb more by listening than by reading.)
The book awoke energy in me that I already knew I had and that I access all the time. It’s the same energy that has driven me to be successful in my business to this point. What your book did was give me a deeper understanding of that energy and how to access and harness it.
I’m not writing you this letter to ask for your advice or help. Not that I wouldn’t appreciate it, I’m sure there would be oodles of golden nuggets in a conversation about business philosophy with you.
I’m writing simply to say thank you for the inspiration. Your book has sparked a new version of my journey, and I’ll be excited one day to share the results with you.
I’m in the hospitality industry. I’m a co-owner of a hamburger shop in New York City, (Handcraft Burgers and Brew) as well as a hospitality marketing consultant. I help restaurants with their marketing for a living. Most of what we do is mechanical and performance-based — things like how do you increase the lifetime value (LTV) of a guest, how do you get higher open rates on emails, or how do you structure a rewards program. All of these things are important.
In our business, these things are foundational. If you aren’t working the channels where your guests want to interact with you, you’re leaving a hole in their journey. The problem is that most restaurants start with the magic and forget the mechanics, but it’s the mechanics that give the magic the ability to take effect.
Our industry gets focused on trying to create their version of a McRib or going viral on social media. We get obsessed with chasing a magic bullet and end up in a sea of sameness. The restaurant brands that really succeed are the ones doing something different. If your marketing plan is to have a better chicken finger, you don’t really have a plan.
I have been a conductor and teacher of the mechanics for years, and I will continue to do this because they are incredibly important for our industry. But I now realize that I need to master and share the how-tos of the magic — the fun, the energy, the spark that actually creates fans. And it starts with me. It starts with my brand.
I wasn’t searching for some big inspirational moment. In fact, things are going pretty well with my businesses, and I’m grateful I came across your book at a time when things are already right. But I’m always looking for something better, and your fanatical approach to creating fans was exactly that.
So I guess this really is a bookmark, and a call to action, as much as it is a note of gratitude.
I believe in a world where eating out is always fun and pleasurable, even if it’s just a five-minute coffee break during a workday. The restaurant business is dealing in everyday luxury. Eating or drinking from a restaurant should always feel like a welcome departure from the everyday.
Thank you. I look forward to putting these ideas into action and inspiring both our guests and other businesses to do the same.
Thank you.
- Rev Ciancio
