Bensussen Deutsch & Associates (BDA) is regarded as one of the best merchandise agencies in the world. The agency works with many Fortune 500 companies in bringing their brands to life via branded merchandise campaigns, although they are most often recognized for their work with major sports teams and leagues such as MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, the Premier League, and PGA Tour. Through these contracts, the company works with almost all professional sports teams and their sponsors with fan activation programs. They may be best known for driving the popularity of sports bobbleheads.
BDA is also run by one of my best friends, Jay Deutsch. Jay founded the company with his childhood friend Eric Bensussen when the two were in high school. Over 35 years later, the company is thriving, and the culture along the way has benefited from the presence of a well-known Disney character from the Winnie-the-Pooh series.
Says Jay: “Tigger was adopted by me almost 20 years ago after 9/11, when the economy took a major hit. It was the first real recession that we had seen as a company. And as a leader, I handled it wrong. I held onto people too long because I didn’t want to let any (employees) down. When the world was laying off, I was still holding on. It created serious angst in our halls, and even worse, serious challenges in the business. Predictably we had to eventually cut costs—but it was a full year later, and far later than we should have acted.
“That was the late summer of 2002. My wife and I just had our first child, a little girl, so there was a ton of Winnie-the-Pooh stuff in our house. In looking at the characters I realized either you’re going to be an Eeyore and say, ‘We’re never going make it,’ or you’re going to be a Tigger and you’re going to say, ‘Let’s go team! We can do this!’ Now I completely know that Tigger is not the smartest cat in the forest, but what he lacks in intelligence he more than makes up for with this incredible positive ‘can do attitude,’ …a Tigger spirit. And that attitude is, if Piglet’s lost, we’re gonna go find him! If somebody is down, I’m going to cheer him up! That Tigger spirit got us through a dark time in 2002–2003, and today that infectious Tigger attitude has driven our incredible growth, and happy to say is alive and well today at BDA.”
“Disney must be very happy with how many Tiggers we’ve purchased over the years as awards to people who exemplify our spirit,” jokes Jay, but he’s dead serious about its meaning.
“I have Tiggers in my office, in my home office, and when I go on video to the workforce, he’s there. Sounds a little weird, right? I mean, you think ‘This is a CEO of a half a billion-dollar company pulling up a stuffed Tigger?’ Sure, Tigger can be dismissed as a simple prop, but the prop to me is a very real way of life, way of doing business, and an attitude that if you adopt it, I don’t think it takes you down a bad path. I think a Tigger spirit will lead you to success.”
As a friend of Jay, I can say without a sliver of a doubt, he is the biggest Tigger you will ever meet. That spirit, and the vision he’s painted for the company, is why the company continues to be a success today and will be for many years to come.
