Chapter One

It was summer of 1981 when I began my most positive 25 year relationship with Atlanta based Coca-Cola and Coke’s New York bottling company. I met Jim Patton of Coca-Cola while hunting for sponsorship dollars in support of David Merrick=’s Broadway production of the musical 42nd Street. Merrick and I thought it would be great if Coke would partner in the large Broadway sign outside the Winter Garden Theatre.

“Can’t you just imagine the most amazing dancers on the Great White Way tapping away while sipping Cokes and Diet Cokes on the three story, block long advertising spectacular?”

Sharing a Coke with Jim on a sunny June afternoon we got to know each other and began exploring creative possibilities. Soon we had a strong friendship and a solid working relationship that produced some extraordinary memories culminating years later in quite a bit of money and soda ending up on the Long Island campus Hofstra University.

Jim and his Coke colleagues were remarkable marketing superstars. Great to work with. Always ethical, highly skilled and totally transparent. I majored in psychology at NYU, never had a marketing or management course. Thanks to mentors such as Jim and several others I learned the skills of my profession from the absolute legends of the business.

Over the next two and a half decades the Coca-Cola team would teach me how important it is to put your ego aside and focus on creating a deal best for all involved … not only the business partners but also best for the consumer.

Our discussion about a Broadway sign quickly transformed into something much, much bigger. Jim introduced me to the senior Coke marketing exec. Atlanta based Coca-Cola Vice President Sergio Zyman like my client David Merrick was a bigger than life legend in his industry. Sergio’s eyes lit up when I suggested he consider creating a Coca-Cola television commercial with the cast of 42nd Street.

At the time I was not aware Sergio was taking the lead in secretly creating something very new for the international soft drink company. Indeed his most secret project was the soon to be historical release of a new product … New Coke. Sergio, not wanting to let the cat out of the bag, told me he’d like to create a tv spot based on a 42nd Street theme for their diet cola TAB.

Throughout the summer of ’81 meetings were set up with Zyman and Merrick. Accompanied by Sergio, Coca-Cola teams saw the show from the balcony, orchestra and several times back stage. Storyboards were drawn up, dates to film in the theatre were scheduled, and a contract was ready for Merrick to sign. This was going to be a national campaign we all knew would make marketing history for Coke and for Broadway.

One last time before filming Sergio Zyman arrived at the theatre with his team of writers and production people to watch the show. Somehow something Sergio said that evening while introducing Mr. Merrick to another Coke exec set Merrick off. Merrick who was a role model for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde decided to throw the Coca-Cola team out of the theatre and banning them from ever seeing the show again.

I was shocked, distraught and extremely embarrassed. It was not the first or last time Merrick would surprise me with this sort of thing.

But this is not a Merrick story. The focus today is on the good people of Coca-Cola.

Early the morning after Coke was expelled from 42nd Street Sergio Zyman called me to explain what happened the night before. I hadn’t spoken to Merrick yet. I apologized, apologized and apologized. Sergio told me not to let it get to me. “We will and you will survive this,” he said.

There was no way to patch things up. New Coke would need to create another announcement commercial. The quick solution … Coke hired the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes to star in the announcement commercial. In a few weeks New Coke and the Rockettes hit the broadcast channels.

Maybe it was meant to be a joke or just to say thanks Sergio sent me coupons good for 100 six packs of Coke products. I used each and every one of them. Most importantly I never let my friendship with Jim Patton and the Coca-Cola corporation weaken.

Chapter Two

A few years later my sanity and wellbeing had enough of working with the likes of David Merrick. It was time for me to leave Broadway. To be absolutely honest Merrick’s bipolar shenanigans help put my company out of business. My next stop … higher education. The fall of 1986 found me back at school running the public relations department of a suburban Long Island college.

At one time Hofstra College had been America’s largest college (not university) due to the great increase of enrollment made possible by the post WWII GI bill and a new Long Island community called Levittown. In the mid ’80’s Hofstra now a regional University was poised to take its’ reputation up a notch. My job was to make Hofstra famous.

After I left my entertainment marketing company I was headed to continuing my career promoting Hollywood films. A tough arena but the financial rewards were substantial. Prior to accepting a job in LA I spent my time as a consultant to Madison advertising agencies seeking entertainment and casino clients.

I also created a promotional video for my long time client The Joffrey Ballet that was to air overseas on the Voice of America network. The ten minute piece highlighted Romeo and Juliet choreographed by the Joffrey’s renowned choreographer Gerald Arpino.

In need of an inexpensive studio to tape the spot. I first inquired about use of Hofstra’s modern television studios but quickly realized the university’s wonderful dance facility would be even better. We shot the video in less than a day. All went very well. So good in fact it was premiered in its’ entirety on Good Morning America prior to overseas broadcast.

My first impression of Hofstra was good. Hofstra must have liked me too. First they asked me to produce an outdoor concert on their campus. I hired the Duke Ellington Orchestra. Even though it rained the night of the concert it was a big success.

Hofstra President James Shuart began calling me to convince me to join his staff permanently. I wasn’t really interested. I had all intentions of getting into the movie business.

I wasn’t playing hard to get but the offers from Hofstra got better and better. Realizing I had several months before heading to LA I finally decided to accept the position at Hofstra and try it out for a short term so I could to add the experience to my resume.

Working on campus as a college administrator changed my life immediately. I loved being part of academic life. The value I discovered in working with students enormously outweighed the high salaries, expense accounts and perks of show biz. Thanks to Jim Shuart’s perseverance and belief in me I found my home in higher education. My days at Hofstra were to be the best in my career.

So where in this chapter of my life does Coca-Cola come in?

Over the years my responsibilities at Hofstra University grew. One area I enjoyed dealing with was corporate partnership and sponsorship. I received great pleasure putting together deals with phone companies, hotels and even car dealerships that not only saved the university hundreds of thousands of dollars but also provided faculty, staff and students with the most excellent products and services.

During my stay at Hofstra athletics, especially football, played important social, recruiting and marketing roles. One day over coffee football coach Joe Gardi proudly mentioned he asked Coca-Cola to help pay for a new scoreboard in return for signage. I felt I could make a better deal. Joe was not very pleased with me when I insisted he stop dealing with Coke and allow me to do my job when it came to corporate sponsorship. President Shuart backed me totally. That’s when I called my still friend Jim Patton of Coke.

For several months we negotiated and explored a wide variety of options with Coca-Cola and also with Pepsi Cola and several other soft drink companies before I finally presented the Hofstra board with several options each offering substantial long term cash revenue and much added value.

One evening Jim Shuart and I put on our tuxedos and headed to the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan for the NCAA football award dinner. It was a most amazing night. The highlight for me was not on stage. It was during the cocktail hour when my long time friend Jim Patton handed Jim Shuart and I a gold plated bottle of Coke along with a silver envelope.

Inside the envelope was a check payable to Hofstra as a down payment on the first one million dollars, part of a ten year Coke/Hofstra partnership that would include an additional benefit delivering hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to the university in shared revenue for each bottle, can and cup of soft drink sold on campus.

That $495,000 deposit check will eternally be high on the six pack list of my personal career accomplishments. To me Coke will always be the real thing.