Congratulations to Jim Ed Rice, Red Sox slugger extraordinaire on his election to the Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday on the 15th and final try. If you told my 10 year old self that Jim Rice wouldn't have been in the HOF long before now, I likely would have had some relatively derogatory comments about your intelligence lined up for you. While he wasn't my favorite player on the Sox (that was Yaz & the Spaceman), there was no question that Jim was a the bad man. Not knowing any better, I always assumed that Jim Croce wrote the song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim" about Jim Rice. As any fan of baseball knew during that era:
"You don't tug on Superman's Cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask of the old ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim Rice."
Rice was recognized as baseball's strongest man and he used that to his advantage. His power and his surly demeanor were both legendary for their ability to strike fear into opposing teams, media members and those that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Therefore, Rice was widely regarding (and many cases not highly regarded) as the biggest, baddest, MF in the game.
This brings us to wome interesting insight about the power of a brand. The Jim Rice brand (BMF) likely contributed to some of his on field success. Clearly performance drives reputation, but also knowing that if you throw inside you might make Mr. Rice unhappy would probably lead to pitchers pitching to him differently, thereby making more mistakes. This would enhance his performance and further build upon his legend, as would dust ups with members of the media who would then write articles that were less than complimentary about Rice the man. Therefore, having a reputation/brand as a BMF, likely helped Rice during his playing days.
Conversely, did that reputation as a BMF negatively impact his path to the Hall? In theory, the numbers alone are supposed to speak to Hall worthiness, but we all know numbers can lie. Sportswriters, have a particular way of making numbers lie by injecting emotion into the debate because that is what they do. As any baseball and Red Sox fan knows, the media did not like Jim Rice. Therefore, did the Rice brand which led to on-field success lead to a 15 year wait to make the Hall?
In considering the case of Jim Rice and the Hall, there are a couple of key insights we can gleam about the importance of brand strategy. First, recognize the impact of your actions on both the short-term and the long-term. Rice's surliness helped his career, but negatively impacted his ascension to the Hall. Secondly, its important to recognize that actions may have unintended consequences on the long-term value of the brand. Not giving interviews to the press helped Jim indirectly build his brand on the field, but it certainly provided a negative view of that brand with the writers, particularly when it came time to vote. Lastly, recognize that in as much as well all spend money trying to build and manage our brands, ultimately, its the public that determines what the value of the brand is.
"You don't tug on Superman's Cape, you don't spit into the wind, you don't pull the mask of the old ranger, and you don't mess around with Jim Rice."
Rice was recognized as baseball's strongest man and he used that to his advantage. His power and his surly demeanor were both legendary for their ability to strike fear into opposing teams, media members and those that happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Therefore, Rice was widely regarding (and many cases not highly regarded) as the biggest, baddest, MF in the game.
This brings us to wome interesting insight about the power of a brand. The Jim Rice brand (BMF) likely contributed to some of his on field success. Clearly performance drives reputation, but also knowing that if you throw inside you might make Mr. Rice unhappy would probably lead to pitchers pitching to him differently, thereby making more mistakes. This would enhance his performance and further build upon his legend, as would dust ups with members of the media who would then write articles that were less than complimentary about Rice the man. Therefore, having a reputation/brand as a BMF, likely helped Rice during his playing days.
Conversely, did that reputation as a BMF negatively impact his path to the Hall? In theory, the numbers alone are supposed to speak to Hall worthiness, but we all know numbers can lie. Sportswriters, have a particular way of making numbers lie by injecting emotion into the debate because that is what they do. As any baseball and Red Sox fan knows, the media did not like Jim Rice. Therefore, did the Rice brand which led to on-field success lead to a 15 year wait to make the Hall?
In considering the case of Jim Rice and the Hall, there are a couple of key insights we can gleam about the importance of brand strategy. First, recognize the impact of your actions on both the short-term and the long-term. Rice's surliness helped his career, but negatively impacted his ascension to the Hall. Secondly, its important to recognize that actions may have unintended consequences on the long-term value of the brand. Not giving interviews to the press helped Jim indirectly build his brand on the field, but it certainly provided a negative view of that brand with the writers, particularly when it came time to vote. Lastly, recognize that in as much as well all spend money trying to build and manage our brands, ultimately, its the public that determines what the value of the brand is.
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