John Elway

The local-hero-plus-car-dealership formula

Shaan notes a durable pattern: a beloved local athlete (John Elway in Colorado, the Raptors superfan, the Little Giants premise) pairs their fame with car dealerships. The combo of hometown hero and dealership marketing has worked for decades.

“I grew up in Colorado, and John Elway always had dealerships. It was like everywhere. And I never really thought about it, but clearly the guy was making bank on these dealerships, otherwise he wouldn't be spending so much time and energy doing all these little kind of marketing meet and greets at his dealerships. And that combo of local hero car dealership, I think, has just worked for a long time.”