When someone says ‘no’ or ‘it can’t be done’ or you have a thought or idea that doesn’t get to first base or you have a dilemma when you do get to first base, remember: There’s always a way.
Tom Cantone, now president of Mohegan Gaming & Entertainment, Uncasville, Conn., has spent his career turning disappointment into opportunity. “Sometimes when opportunity meets luck, great things happen. But don’t quit until there is no way it’s going to work.”
A prime example is the resistance a young Cantone faced at Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa., when he was a young and eager executive plopped into an older male, very conservative corporate culture.
His job was marketing (he’s still a master of marketing) and he was always on the lookout for ideas. He saw that another theme park had a car dealer sponsorship, with an official park car on display and a fleet of cars that the executives drove. This was in the early 80s, when sponsorships were new and quite different from today’s deals.
He immediately approached the park executives about finding a car dealer sponsor. Their response:
“It can’t be done; we’re not big enough. We’ve been down that road and nothing happens.”
“Do you mind if I try?”
“Go ahead.”
Cantone called the local Chrysler dealer, a friend in town (it’s all about relationships) and found contact information for the head person at Chrysler Corp., the decision maker for sponsorships for theme parks and other companies.
He struck up a relationship over months of conversations with that decisionmaker. What started as ‘probably not going to happen’ and a lot of no’s turned into ‘there’s always a way.’
“I finally wound up with a guy working really hard to make it happen for me in Chrysler,” Cantone said. He convinced him that Hersheypark would be a powerful marketing weapon for Chrysler. “We were a year-round destination, a mega entertainment attraction in the northeast, particularly in Pennsylvania, and were drawing over one million people.”
To put the icing on the deal and heighten the perception, he simultaneously began working on Hershey Food Corp. to turn its famous chocolate brands into costume characters at Hersheypark. The two were separate entities that happened to be located in Hershey, Pa. Hershey Foods was a global, publicly-traded corporation; Hershey Foundation was a private, regional foundation running Hershey Entertainment and Resort Co. At the time, Hershey Foods Corp. had no interest in aligning themselves with HERCO, though the public perception was that they were one and the same.
Once again, the existing (not Bruce McKinney) higher up said it will never happen, Hershey Foods will never let it happen, but go ahead and try.
Cantone went directly to Harold Mohler, the chairman of Hershey Foods Corp., whom he already knew, and asked if he could turn some of the famous Hershey chocolate products into walking characters in the park.
“I had designs of these characters and asked him, ‘We’re in Chocolate Town USA, that’s what they call us. Why shouldn’t we promote your products, the famous Hershey products, in Chocolate Town USA? You have Hershey Kiss-covered streetlights on Chocolate Avenue. When guests come into the theme park, they should see Hershey products walking around like Disney characters at Disneyland.’”
He loved it, Cantone remembers. Apparently the lack of success was a lack of trying. He scored the first licensing rights ever to display Hershey chocolate.
“We had a company put together the costume characters and they were a big sensation. Kids flocked to them to get pictures.”
“I’ll never forget seeing the billboard with the Reeses Peanut Butter Cup, Hershey Bar and Hershey Kiss, all together, waving like Mickey and Minnie.”
And that was Part II of the Chrysler story. Cantone put that all together to show Chrysler Corp. that ‘this is Disneyland on chocolate and you’re missing the boat. I showed him where the cars could be displayed out in front of the park entrance.”
He knew he was making progress leading up to the fall of that year. “Here’s a bigtime executive of Chrysler who went from no to maybe to we’re thinking about it to phoning me the day before Thanksgiving.”
“Hi, Tom. I want to give you your Thanksgiving present.”
“What’s that?”
“You’re approved.”
Chrysler provided Hersheypark with a fleet of cars and trucks for all its executives. (Cantone, a director, not a VP, did not get one.) The park provided promotion opportunities for Chrysler. There was no cash involved.
That was one of young Tom Cantone’s proudest moments. All the vehicles were delivered to that local dealer in Harrisburg, Pa., who had set Cantone on the right path. “They drove them to our offices in Hershey. I’ll never forget how proud I was to walk in with the keys for the chairman of HERCO and say, ‘Your car is sitting out front.’”
By the time Bruce McKinney took over management of Hersheypark, the young punk that Cantone was perceived to be as he strove to elevate Hersheypark to Major Theme Park status, was given free rein.
To ‘there’s always a way,’ McKinney added, “Keep her going.” — Based on a true story as told to Linda Deckard
PHOTO: Chrysler Corp. provided HERCO with nine vehicles – seven for company use and two as promotional giveaways, a deal Tom Cantone finessed for Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa.