July/August 2010 Parking - 16

Marketing Minute Jeff Pinyot
Be a Butler!
Our family went to Costa Rica on our first ever family mission trip. The only sad part about leaving on the trip was that we had to leave Indianapolis the day before the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four hit town. The excitement in our wonderful city was building to a fever pitch when we headed to Central America. Because the NCAA makes its home in our city, Indianapolis is blessed to host a major NCAA event every year, including the Final Four every five years. What made the Final Four extra special this year were the Butler Bulldogs. Go ahead, admit it—you never even heard of Butler until this year. You didn’t know where they were located, and you didn’t have them going far in your brackets. I knew where they were from, and I still had them out early, real early. Unlike Butler, my alma mater, Pitt, bowed out in their normal fashion, short of the Sweet Sixteen. Even though I did not attend Butler, I can’t help but feel a sense of community pride. Their beautiful limestone campus (mined from our own state, as was the Empire State Building) sits just seven miles north of the huge 70,000-seat Lucas Oil Stadium in downtown Indy. We all know the outcome of the game; Butler made it to the final game, led most of the way, and came within a fraction of an inch, literally, of beating Duke for the national championship. Win or lose, it doesn’t take away from the incredible achievement this team pulled off. They are certainly champions, and they are now “on the map.” Our group in Costa Rica gathered around a small television set and watched the live feed, seriously disrupting all of the other guests’ stay. Why do I like Butler, and why were most college basketball fans across the country pulling for them? I think the answer is simple—we like the underdog. We want to see the unexpected happen. As a child, we even had a favorite cartoon hero, an unexpected one—Underdog. He was an awkward and unlikely hero, but somehow he managed to pull off the unexpected every time, much like Butler. (“Speed of Thunder…Roar of Lighting…. Underdog, Underdog!”) As human beings, right or wrong, we just don’t want the rich to get richer or the beautiful to get more beautiful. It’s our nature. Take the New York Yankees for example. Many feel that the Yankees have purchased their dominance and prosperity, not earned it. Located in a major market with major cash, who would blame them? Butler, on the other hand, has achieved their success the old fashioned way, through hard work and perseverance. As the smallest school in the history of the NCAA to make a Final Four, this team had its back against the wall. My idea of a successful athlete is the late Roberto Clemente, who wore #21 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. This incredibly talented athlete was a quiet professional who had his career and life cut short in heroic fashion. He died in a plane crash while bringing supplies to those in need in Nicaragua. I remember like it was yesterday, turning the television on one Sunday morning to see a picture of Clemente with a beginning and ending date. That surreal moment is permanently etched in my mind. Today’s athlete has forgotten that his talent is God-given and on loan. What is not to love about a Butler? They run a squeaky clean program. They have an excellent young coaching staff and they enjoy great community support. Their athletes are champions in the classroom and out. The school plays their games in Hinkle Fieldhouse, the same facility made famous by the movie Hoosiers. This team and program is what every major program wishes theirs would look like. So, I’m thinking—I want to model my business after the Butler Bulldogs. I want a group of people that can play together, home or away, on a small or large stage. I want my team to do business the right way. I don’t want chest pumps; I want success and victory to not be a surprise, but an expectation. I want to deflect the glory and reset the goal—higher and larger—like Butler did. I want our customers to count on us to perform with excellence and expect us to compete at the top level despite what conference we come from. When we win, which I hope is often, I want to win with grace, and when we lose, do it with dignity and class. What about you? Do you want to go out early or remain in the game? How far do your customers have you going in their brackets? As for me and my company—we want to be a Butler! 
Jeff Pinyot is the founder and vice president of business development for ECO Parking Lights. He can be reached at jspinyot@ECOParkingLights.com.

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National Parking Association PARKING July/August 2010

July/August 2010 Parking

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of July/August 2010 Parking