The Beatrice Lola

Photo: Maureen Magee

“It was the best of times…it was the worst of times.”  – Charles Dickens

PROLOGUE

I’ve forgotten more about my life in motorsports than most people have experienced. That said, recently my declining memory was stimulated big time by a news story focusing on NASCAR team owner Gene Haas’ plans to launch a Formula One team in 2016. Simple math brought me to a not- previously contemplated fact that 30 years ago (1985) another Haas—Carl (no relation)—was in the process of putting together the largest, most talked about and best financed American Formula One effort ever. Oh, how the memories—both good and bad—came flooding back…a virtual cornucopia of the best and worst motorsports insider experiences.

The saga started with a phone call from long time client Haas asking me to join him and Beatrice Companies CEO James Dutt for lunch, a meeting I went into cold regarding what to expect, and with minimal expectations. Was I wrong! After a brief introduction, I spent the next half hour mostly listening, and offering comment/guidance only when asked. I found Dutt to be focused, well-informed and experienced in launching major corporate identity initiatives, including multi-brand marketing efforts tied to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the Chicago Marathon and the Chicago stop on the PGA Tour. On the other hand, he seemed somewhat naive about the intricacies and scope of motorsports, particularly Formula One. Most important, however, his simple philosophy regarding brand building—“Go bigger and better than the competition can even contemplate”—touched a positive nerve in one who always had to fight the client budget battle trying to execute what we marketing types call “The Big Idea.”