Fonzify Your Business!

I call it The Fonzie Factor. 33 years ago, Garry Marshall introduced a bit character, a high school drop-out named Arthur Fonzarelli, “The Fonz”, on a 50’s nostalgia show called Happy Days. The stars of the show were supposed to be the Ron Howard character, Ritchie Cunningham, and his friend Potsie. Henry Winkler didn’t even get an opening credit the first season. But a few years later, the producers wanted to rename the show Fonzie’s Happy Days. Fonzie was one of the biggest breakout characters in TV history. Why?

‘Cause he stood out. The network required Winkler’s character to wear cotton jackets,’cause the network didn’t want Fonzie to look like too much of a hood. But it was the leather jacket that he was only allowed to wear once per show in the beginning, the woman on each arm, the attitude (”Aaay!”)–together with the charisma of the actor playing him that made Fonzie emerge as the star of the show. It wasn’t up to the network or the producers. The audience made him a star.

How do you “Fonzify” your business?
It’s about positioning. You gotta figure out what you stand for and show it. In your wardrobe. In your script. In everything you say and do. How can do this in your business?

To give you some ideas, one of these days, I may just post my Fonzification Awards, for the companies who have best fonzified their businesses. Feel free to send me your nominations. But first, I challenge you to figure out what you can do to stand out in the marketplace…