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One thing was for sure when you were a kid sneaking in some late-night TV on basic cable: you were going to get an ad for back pain relief. Maybe some car insurance. Maybe some candy or soda, and absolutely a few pairs of shoes. And more likely than not, you were going to see one person in those Icy Hot, The General, Nestle Crunch, Pepsi, and Reebok ads: the 7-foot-1-inch self-described \u201cBig Aristotle\u201d mononymously known as Shaq.<\/p>\n
Over the years, Shaquille O\u2019Neal has sold part of his name for more than $100 million, appeared in ads for everything from printer ink to car (and car insurance) commercials, and owns the logo on hundreds of millions of sneakers. And yet, he still says he has never had a job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really respect people such as you guys who have to do real jobs. I\u2019ve never had a real job,\u201d O\u2019Neal told Fortune on the sidelines of the Brand Innovators Marketing Leadership Summit at Paramount\u2019s New York headquarters. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a time in my life where my son asked me to help him fill out a resume. I had no idea what I was doing because I\u2019ve never filled out a resume.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal was there with Leonard Armato, the agent who signed him out of Louisiana State University, to promote Armato\u2019s new book, Maximize: 7 Keys to Unlock Greatness in You, out in November from Sports Business Journal Publishing, an imprint of Amplify Publishing Group. O\u2019Neal wrote the foreword. The book lays out the plan the two made in 1992: O\u2019Neal would own his name and logo outright, and other companies would pay to market it.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe owned his own brand, and then we had to find companies to help build value in his brand by using it in their marketing in creative ways,\u201d Armato told Fortune. \u201cBasically it\u2019s called OPM. You build your brand using other people\u2019s money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018He was my version of ChatGPT\u2019<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal said he didn\u2019t understand much of it at first. \u201cComing out of college, a guy with no college degree, no business experience, I\u2019m fortunate that I hired somebody that was loving, caring and teaching,\u201d he said. \u201cHe taught me everything there is to know about business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was my version of ChatGPT,\u201d O\u2019Neal added. \u201cMy favorite prompt on ChatGPT is, explain it to a fifth grader. He would break it down in terms that I could understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
The logo was the first lesson. Nike developed and owned Michael Jordan\u2019s Jumpman logo, and Armato wanted O\u2019Neal to keep control of his own.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was like, \u2018You need a logo.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What do I need a logo for?\u2019 And he showed me the Michael Jordan logo, and I said, \u2018Well, if I ever had a logo, this is what I want it to be,\u2019\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cHe gave me like five, six different scenarios on why we need to own it, in case we need to leave, in case you want to do this, in case you want to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leaving turned out to matter. According to the book, O\u2019Neal turned down Nike and signed with Reebok, whose ad agency designed the Dunkman logo that O\u2019Neal owned and licensed back to the company. Reebok pulled its marketing support after two years, Armato writes, on the theory that big men don\u2019t sell shoes. O\u2019Neal told the summit crowd that a college marketing professor had told him the same thing. Reebok itself later became a costly misstep for Adidas, which sold the brand in 2021.<\/p>\n
Because he owned the logo, O\u2019Neal took it with him. The Dunkman has since appeared on more than 400 million pairs of affordable shoes, according to O\u2019Neal\u2019s foreword. In 2015, Authentic Brands Group acquired the rights to manage O\u2019Neal\u2019s name in merchandise and endorsements. Terms were not disclosed at the time; Armato writes that O\u2019Neal sold part of the IP for more than $100 million. Beyond ads, O\u2019Neal has bought into businesses he endorses, including a Krispy Kreme store in Atlanta. <\/p>\n
Why he picked The General but not Wheaties<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal said the long list of ads is not a sign that he\u2019ll take any deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never ever taken the deal just because it was a high value monetary deal. If I don\u2019t believe in your product, I don\u2019t do it,\u201d he told Fortune. \u201cHow many times Wheaties has offered me money to be on a box? I just can\u2019t do it because I\u2019ve never eaten Wheaties.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he has asked Wheaties to send Kellogg\u2019s his way instead, naming Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops.<\/p>\n
The deals he takes, he said, have to match something in his own life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m only with The General for one reason. When I was in college and I got my first car, I couldn\u2019t afford regular insurance. The General was the only guy that gave me insurance,\u201d O\u2019Neal recalled. \u201cSo as I\u2019m watching The Maury Povich Show every day, and I\u2019m hearing that crazy song, I told my people, call The General and see if they want to do it, because my brand is all about affordability. I\u2019m not trying to break people\u2019s bank accounts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople may look and say, oh, he does a lot of deals,\u201d he added. \u201cI only align myself with brands that I\u2019m comfortable with.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told the summit crowd he has renewed with Icy Hot 19 times, and credited an early lesson from Armato. \u201cI remember one time we was getting a deal, and I was so focused on money,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cHe said, \u2018No, never focus on the money. Let\u2019s focus on the renewals.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t show off your wealth<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neal said the biggest change since his playing days was learning social media. He avoided Twitter for years because he didn\u2019t think it would work. That changed in Phoenix, he said, when he tweeted an offer of five tickets to watch him play Kobe Bryant and the Lakers, and saw a car stop in the street about 30 seconds later.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then I said to myself, I have to use it responsibly. Like I hate wealthy athletes that show off their wealth on social media. It upsets me, makes me sick,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cMine is 60% to make you laugh, 30% to inspire you, and then 10% to promote whatever\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armato said he had to rein in O\u2019Neal\u2019s spending early on. O\u2019Neal said he would buy expensive cars as a young player, and Armato would make him return them. \u201cI think I have to give myself a lot of credit for listening,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n
Terminator on the court and Bambi everywhere else<\/p>\n
In the book, Armato describes pitching O\u2019Neal to sponsors as part Terminator, part Bambi. O\u2019Neal said the description fits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my line of work, I try to eliminate all threats, which is everybody. But in real life, I\u2019m not like that, and I had to show that,\u201d O\u2019Neal told Fortune. \u201cIn real life, I\u2019m a nice guy. I respect everyone. Doesn\u2019t matter how much you make. Doesn\u2019t matter where you\u2019re from. It\u2019s \u2018yes, sir,\u2019 and \u2018yes, ma\u2019am,\u2019 to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armato said the softer side was something they had to put on screen. \u201cWhen he first came out, he was doing these crazy things that nobody had ever done before, like shattering backboards, pulling down basket stanchions on national television,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we were kind of thinking, okay, but he also has a softer side, and that has to show through as well. So Pepsi did a really fun commercial with him, with a little kid, to show that he was not only powerful but he also was emotionally intelligent. So that combination really made people fall in love with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
During the summit, O\u2019Neal recounted an instance when Armato interrupted an image consultant. \u201cLeonard stops the guy in the middle of the meeting and says, \u2018You know what? For this guy right here, image is reality.\u2019 And what we meant by that is, you have to be yourself,\u201d O\u2019Neal told the crowd. \u201cYou always have to be your true, authentic self.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even his nickname came from Armato. Before O\u2019Neal accepted his MVP award, the two talked about Aristotle\u2019s line that excellence is a habit. \u201cHe was like, \u2018You got to give a speech.\u2019 I was like, \u2018I don\u2019t know what to say.\u2019 He just started talking about Aristotle. I was like, \u2018Say that again,\u2019 and I wrote it down, and I just delivered,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cAnd from that day on, I was known as the Big Aristotle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armato also took on O\u2019Neal\u2019s music career. \u201cI tell him I want to do a rap album, and he says okay, and he got me a $10 million deal for three albums,\u201d O\u2019Neal said.<\/p>\n
The split<\/p>\n
The partnership did not last. In the book\u2019s chapter on failure, Armato writes that O\u2019Neal fired him after a run of fights over which deals fit the brand and over O\u2019Neal\u2019s wish to curse on his rap records. Armato writes that he called O\u2019Neal 20 times from an Orlando hotel without an answer, and that his own ego played a part. He writes that O\u2019Neal was generous in the separation and that the two never fought over money.<\/p>\n
They are close again. Asked what advice he gives younger athletes, many of whom now sign seven- and eight-figure NIL deals while still in college, O\u2019Neal said he leaves that to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would never tell a person what to do and who to sign with,\u201d he said. \u201cI just know that if I don\u2019t believe in your product, I can\u2019t promote it to people. That\u2019s not me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Former LSU gymnast Livvy Dunne, one of the top college earners under NIL rules, has made the same case about athletes owning the rights to their names.<\/p>\n
On stage, O\u2019Neal said of Armato: \u201cWe had a lot of tough conversations, but 70% of the time he won, and he was always right, because he\u2019s smarter than I am, especially in this business.\u201d<\/p>\n
He closed the session with a pitch to the room of marketing executives.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you haven\u2019t signed me up to your company, I\u2019m available,\u201d O\u2019Neal said. \u201cI don\u2019t have enough commercials on TV yet. So you want to do business with me? I\u2019m available.\u201d<\/p>\n
#Ive #real #jobShaq #building #brand #hates #wealthy #athletes #showing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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