onster Park? Sounds like an amusement park for kids,” says one longtime 49ers fan, “but at least it doesn't have a geeky ring like 3Com Park. I'm just happy we aren't stuck with a name like Minute Maid Park or Heinz Field!”
The macho factor was no doubt one reason the 49ers picked Monster Cable from among four companies bidding for the right to rename the storied ballpark that had been without a sponsor since a troubled 3Com failed to renew in late 2002.
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“There were a lot of big businesses up for the sponsorship,” says Monster Cable founder/CEO Noel Lee. “I didn't think we'd be considered because of the money that we could afford.”
A key consideration was that during each year since its founding 25 years ago the stereo accessories company has grown 25% or more. In a wan economy it's the picture of ruddy good health, with excellent prospects for being able to pony up the renewal fee in four years.
The symbolic impact of the 49ers's choice isn't lost on Lee.
“I think the recognition for Monster is an inspiration to small busineses and Asian businesses. The Asian business community has been ecstatic about it. Small businesses too, consumer electronics — they're all ecstatic about what we did. We're all small businesses, so they're ecstatic that we can get some recognition.”
Since gold-rush days, Asians have been a prominent part of the entrepreneurial mix that has made the Bay Area the world's tech capitol. Today Asians make up a third of its population and a somewhat higher percentage of its businesses. Especially at a time when many old-line corporate giants have been laying off workers, Asian small-business owners have become VIPs for Bay-Area venues, including its NFL franchise.
Of course Noel Lee is several notches above the typical Asian entrepreneur. Monster Cable is the Bay-Area's biggest privately-held Asian-owned business, employing 750 in its Brisbane facilities down the freeway from Monster Park. Lee is at that stage of a successful entrepreneurial career when giving workers a morale boost is a key component of any major expenditure, especially shelling out $6 million for something as intangible as naming rights.
“All the employees who drive by Monster Park every day feel good about where they work,” says Lee. “It's just three miles away.”
Putting the Monster name on the local football stadium is only the latest and biggest display of Monster Attitude, the slogan driving everything from Monster Cable's corporate culture to the explosion of new product lines released under the Monster brand: Monster Power, Monster THX, Monster Car Audio, Monster Photo, Monster Game, Monster Mobile, Monster Computer.
“A whole line of Monster mints will be in thousands of stores by the end of the year,” says Lee, his voice filled with excitement.
Mints? It seems a stretch to the casual observer, but as Head Monster, Noel Lee is deep into the problem of building a corporate culture distinctive enough to be leveraged from the physical world to the digital realm where ever larger shares of product sales will be made.
For employees Monster Attitude has been translated as: “Never be afraid to try. Never be afraid to take chances. Never be afraid of being your best.” For the public at large, it's been translated as sheer “fun”. And that's the reason, says Lee, for not including “Cable” in the Monster Park name.
“We could have called it Monster Cable Park,“ says Lee. “It's an important point to make. We didn't call it that because we didn't want it to be too much corporate branding rather than a fun place.”
Lee refuses to take seriously the possibility of confusion with a well known job board by the same name.
“No, because if people wanted to know which Monster, they can go online and figure it out,” insists Lee. “ If Monster.com flies a blimp over the Super Bowl, everybody thinks it's us.”
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onster Park? Sounds like an amusement park for kids,” says one longtime 49ers fan, “but at least it doesn't have a geeky ring like 3Com Park. I'm just happy we aren't stuck with a name like Minute Maid Park or Heinz Field!”