so here I am I let my high school a
school that had never been to the state
tournament and they said no way magic
can lead them to the championship and I
love proving people wrong and we started
off my first year in high school we were
picked last coming in last place we got
off to a great start
ain’t no I went to a school that was
supposed to win the state title they
were supposed to beat everybody and we
blew them out on their home court and
that same 15 year old had 38 points and
19 rebounds and 18 assists that was my
first triple devil ever and our sports
writer came in and said somebody’s
already called dr. J somebody’s already
called Big E I want to call you magic so
at 15 years old that’s when I got my
nickname magic well I let that school to
the state title we won I had to make a
big decision where would I go to college
because everybody in America were we’re
recruiting me I decided to stay home and
go to Michigan State oh yeah all right
go green go away they said no way at six
nine could I play point guard in college
and they said that again I said oh thank
you for saying that I was gonna prove
them wrong once again and sure enough we
had a great year my freshman year I
decided to stay in school because I was
not ready mentally or physically to go
to the NBA
and I came back and we went all the way
to the NCAA championship and we met that
blind here God you know who I’m talking
about his name is Larry Bird and we
played them for the national
championship in college and we end up
beating Indiana State and Larry Bird for
the championship so now in two years
I’ve won the high school championship
then the NCAA championship and then I
decided it was time to come out of
school and Los Angeles Lakers came
calling which was great for me they
played with Kareem abdul-jabbar and long
story short we won five NBA
championships and went to the finals
nine times in 12 years and then after
playing basketball I had to decide what
am I gonna do with the money that I’ve
been saving up from my salary where was
I going to invest it when I looked up
african-americans have a trillion dollar
spending power Latinos had another
trillion dollars spending power right
now but there was nobody going after
their disposable income so I decided to
build my business in urban America and
when I did my homework and research I
found out that minorities are the number
one group of people going to the movies
but there was no theaters in our
community so I believe in partnerships
that’s really important so Peter Gruber
was one of our season ticket holders I
went to dr. buss I said give me the
season ticket holders that come to the
Laker games because I want to take
twenty CEOs to lunch so our cold car 20
CEOs and those CEOs went to lunch with
me also they became our mentors and I
picked their brain about how do I start
my business what should I look out for
and they all gave me great advice and
that’s when Peter Guber was one of the
guys in that meeting and so I called him
after our meeting and said look the
growth of your business will be through
urban America you build a lot of movie
theaters but none in our community so
let’s do a deal together so we did a
deal and we built Magic Johnson theaters
around the country we were very
successful matter of fact my first
theater in Los Angeles was in the top
five of all the Sony theaters and top
ten in the nation my per capsule was so
high why because there was high demand
in urban America and we finally built it
we’re in their community instead of
making them drive 30 or 40 minutes
outside their community and then I went
up to Seattle because I was in line one
time it was a long line at Starbucks and
I’m saying why is everybody in line at
this coffee house so I had to get in
line to find out what it was all about
so I got in line and ordered some coffee
and I said man I’m not even a coffee
drinker and I said Wow okay I see why
everybody’s in line so and I saw
different people in line different races
of people so I said I’m gonna call
Howard Schultz determined CEO of
Starbucks and asked him to take a
meeting so Howard took a meeting and I
said look the growth of your business
will be through urban America and sure
enough he had six meetings and on the
sixth meeting he finally said yes I can
have Starbucks now they don’t do
franchisees I’m the only person in North
America to ever own Starbucks outside of
Starbucks and so the headlines in the LA
Times was no way minorities are paid $3
for a cup of coffee
yes we’re paid $3 for a cup of coffee we
quite don’t know what scones are
so I had to take the scones out of my
Starbucks and put in sweet potato pie
pound cake sockitumi cake things that
resonate with the urban consumer now
this is what I want you to take away
from that my per caste 459 his per cat
451 wait a minute I was doing better in
urban America than he was in suburban
America and then I took out the egos in
my with my music the Eagles you know
playing their other Starbucks I had to
take the Eagles out of my Starbucks put
in Earth Wind & Fire and the Commodores
music that resonate with the urban
consumer so what am I telling you I know
my customer and it’s important that you
know your customer and that you speak to
your customer every single day and it’s
not enough in the marketplace today just
to deliver you got to over deliver to
your clients and to your customer base
and that’s what I do every single day is
I over deliver to all my clients and all
my customers and then I get to retention
that I’m looking for and I mark it right
to the urban consumer and I’m in their
face every single day see I don’t have a
general market message for them I tailor
my message right to the urban consumer
and that’s why again my perk caps are so
high and then I went from there I said
me
Starbucks doing well I asked dr. buss
could I own a piece of the Lakers and we
had a great 10-year run man we were
making so much money we were winning so
many championships then all of a sudden
Kobe got old and I said wait a minute
the market value of the Lakers as high
as it’s gonna be right so it might be
time to sell so I built 125 Starbucks I
had negotiated the multiple within that
contract I sold those 125 back to Howard
also sold the Lakers at the same time
standing up my man
what’s your name Andre Andre where you
from Belgium all right come on get a
picture Andre
wait Andre all right you you cool yeah
okay having fun I’m having fun yes okay
cool
I have the feeling every individual is
magic but your little bit more magic
than yours thank you my friend thank you
that was cool
Kelly come on stand on up Kelly man I’m
getting all these compliments I mean I
never sit down where you’re from Kelly
I’m from DC all right get your phone and
give it to her you know we got to get a
picture Kelly you’re gonna be late
you’re not ready you ready now
so you from DC okay so what was funny
Kelly is I got this tracker record
excuse me this track record of success
and through the magic Johnson theatres
through the Starbucks through the Lakers
and now I’m going up to Sacramento
California up to get money to start a
fund an equity fund and it’s really
interesting because institutional
capital was not ready to invest in urban
America so as I went up there not only
did these these institutional capital
firms turned me down but also ten banks
turned me down as well because they said
we don’t invest in urban America Wow
doing this day and age they still
overlooking minorities so I went up
there five times they said no five times
the six times they finally said okay
magic we’re gonna give you 50 million
dollars and if you over deliver with the
50 million you can come up come back up
and get a hundred million more so I
bought a shopping center for twenty two
million dollars only 40 percent occupied
made it a hundred percent occupied
resold that Center for 48 million took
the 26 million back up to Sacramento
they said mmm I guess you do know
business so when I talk about
over-delivering
I lived that every day I’m not just
telling you something I live it every
single day so we were able to raise 300
million my first fund 36 30 percent
return 6 600 million my second fund and
then a billion dollar fund my last fund
and we called Canyon Johnson fund and
the great thing about it we own great
properties you’re from Washington right
where’s that young lady she said she was
from Washington they watch the Hilton
anybody stayed at the Washington Hilton
yeah we own that property the W in
Austin Texas
the W in Hoboken New Jersey those are
type of investing investments that we
make with that fund and it’s gone gone
very very well so that’s what I’ve been
doing so that’s so magic is my
full-service business we have contracts
with to order their headquarters I feed
all their employees Disneyland and
Disney World I feed their employees so
Mickey and Minnie eat my food
if anybody’s flew Delta Airlines are
there there are sky clubs if you flew
American Airlines the Atmos Club all the
peanuts soda sandwiches that come from
my company across the country that’s
what I do every single day and so for me
when you think about marketing the urban
consumer trust and follow my brand why
because we’ve over delivered to them we
hired them not only hired them but we
trained them to do their job they become
my brand ambassadors so they are
marketing my business for me and that’s
the great thing when you go on to urban
America and you over deliver to those
people who live there they will become
your brand ambassadors and deliver the
message that you want to other people
who live in our community and that’s
been a great thing for me so now what I
want to do is have some fun because I
got I think five people or six people
who have mics and you’re allowed to ask
me some questions yeah there you go got
young lady in that hour that I’ll just
raise your hand here’s a young man right
here in the front and we can talk about
anything why the Lakers not doing well
and then before before I go into that
this is the greatest moment I’ve had in
my business career once I sold the
Starbucks back to Howard Schultz in
Starbucks once I sold the Lakers
the Dodgers who had ever thought the
Dodgers would be up for sale and then
who would ever think that six
billionaires would call me up and want
to partner with me a kid from the ghetto
now from the neighborhood and so I
settled on Guggenheim it was a great
great deal they said we were crazy that
we paid two billion dollars for the team
until our TV contract came out and we
negotiated a deal for nine billion
dollars so we went from from a stupid
businessman to a smart businessman
overnight so let’s go right quick yes
sir yeah magic Pete here quick question
for you with all your expertise and
knowledge right development communities
and stuff so any lesson learned like in
the last couple of years where you
thought something was definitely to work
that didn’t mmm-hmm or didn’t that did
Wow I think in the last couple years no
in the last couple years the only thing
we were concerned about was the economy
when the market crashed and what we did
with Starbucks is really unique normally
a customer comes four to five times a
week in Starbucks and so they were gonna
make an adjustment instead of coming
that much time that many times they meet
they say well we’re gonna cut it back to
two or three times so what we decide to
do at Starbucks was said let’s make sure
that we keep the customers that we have
not worrying about getting new customers
and let’s treat them special so we
wanted to know your name so when you
would come up and you’re Peters your
name and you come in there we say Peter
you want that same drink how you doing
today and you say yeah I want that same
Frappuccino with soy milk baba blah blah
blah blah we already knew that and it
made you feel special when we
acknowledged hey you want the same drink
hi Peter how you doing this morning on
and on and on
but when the market crash that’s what
happened we want to make sure we kept
who we had and then after the market
came back then we go after new customers
as far as things failing knock on wood
you know I mitigate risk I’m not I’m a
risk taker but I vet deals very very
well and the only thing new that came up
that’s really doing well there’s a lot
of big boxes best buys and all these
different companies called me to help
them go into urban America because if
you don’t know how to go into urban
America you’re gonna fail and you need
somebody like myself to help you
understand the urban consumer so what’s
been going good come on get a picture
she’s taking one Wendy’s gonna take one
point all right don’t mess that up okay
thank you yes go here I’m ready and
who’s gonna go first
oh you don’t go first ladies first hi
magic I swear I’m really nervous you
nervous okay I’m gonna come on back up
there then all right come on Abel turn
around
and you are you shaking okay what’s your
question my question bring the mic up a
little okay my question is I’ve been in
marketing for over fourteen motors and
the reason I wanted to go into marketing
is to help small businesses market their
company right
but what’s holding me back is fear
so I want to know how did you overcome
that well for me it was I was up against
a dumb jock thing right the banks turned
me down because they thought I was a
dumb jock
people didn’t take me seriously in the
beginning they never thought I could go
from the basketball court to the
boardroom but I believed in my strategy
I believed in myself and I knew I could
execute upon that business strategy and
so you got to believe in yourself right
and if you also in your strategy and I
think that you’re on there
when you talk about small businesses you
should do it because small businesses do
need marketing advice and expertise and
so I think you should do it but if you
don’t believe in you why would a company
believe in you so you got to come in and
sell sell yourself and what you can do
for that business and so I already know
what I can do because I’ve already
proven that I got the track record of
success now you can call Sony you can
call Starbucks you know all these
companies you can call and they know now
that I’ve proven the fact that I can
drive our oh I I can make them a lot of
money which they’re very happy I can
also grow their brand because how a show
says that they’re a better company when
they did that deal with me and so so
it’s a wonderful thing so believe in
yourself and you’re gonna be able to win
and you’re in your strategy okay so just
build good strategy around your business
and around the people’s business that
you’re trying to sell your company to
okay can you do that okay cool
and then last but not least this is for
everybody to everybody in here should
take a SWAT of their business twice a
year I take a swatter my business and
myself twice a year strengths weaknesses
opportunities and threats
right and I make sure that just the
other last year this is really
interesting I got the growth I was
looking for I got the sustainability
that I was looking for right I was about
to get three major contracts when I did
the SWOT I looked up and said wow I’m
gonna make a lot of money but I can’t
handle the three deals so my business is
gonna fail so I said I need three
executives executives to manage the new
business I’m about to receive but if I
hadn’t taken that SWAT I would have took
on that new business and my business
would have fail and my brand would have
went down and so I’m so happy I did the
SWOT
I heard three new great executives and
now we manage that deal very very well
say see it’s one thing to get the growth
that you’re looking for but also can you
manage that growth that’s that’s what’s
really important because you have to
remember everybody in your industry talk
oh and so if you do a great job that’s
what’s gonna go out if you do a bad job
that’s what’s gonna go out so for me
making sure that I manage those
contracts very well and I’m gonna give
you another secret April if you just
break even from having those contract be
happy with that oh why did I say that
because you rather keep that client and
I also have a good reputation then make
the money because you eventually make
the money I remember when I first
started I’d rather break even and
they’ll over deliver to that client so I
can get the retention that I’m looking
for I want that contract for 20 30 40 50
years so I made sure that I over
delivered to the clients that’s how I
got Disney World I used to only have
Disneyland
i over delivered to Disneyland put me in
the position to get Disney World because
Disney World is the biggest contract I
was like okay yes yes oh we haven’t fun
around here what’s up little man how you
doing how you feel how you doing sorry
stand on up get a picture no no I said
stand up oh okay where are you from
France Paris Paris that’s a beautiful
place man you having fun yeah we defend
you are really great I love it okay cool
give me some knuckles okay that’s what
we do here all right all right we I’m
having a good time all right here we go
what’s up sir how you doing magic
everything feels to have you with us I’m
really enjoy yours excellent thank you
just wanted to how did you how did you
carry your leadership skills over from
the basketball court on to the corporate
world because there’s so many athletes
out there mm-hmm that you know I’m
actually friendly with one of your
Michigan State along with Carl banks
yeah it was done who’s I evil it over
himself
there’s been very few athletes who have
been able to transfer that leadership
ability in the quality what are you
tribute that’s oh that’s a great
question let’s get a pitch
Paul thank you you tell my boy car I
said hello – this is what happens for me
the same way I prepared and I over
prepared when I was playing basketball I
prepared the same way for business
because I’m big in preparation like
before I came here – this morning the
last week or so when I know I was coming
even before that we had booked it I was
studying studying get the I got the
information to understand who I was
speaking to right I’m a very disciplined
cat right I was I knew I was going on at
9:52 well it’s a two-hour ride from LA I
made sure I got down here at 8:15 cuz
I’m a person who I’m never late right
I’m never I respect your time and so we
got a meeting I’m gonna be on time
that’s who I am
basketball I brought that over right and
the same focus and paying attention to
details I was the quarterback I was the
leader so I had to pay attention to all
the details I had to look and see what’s
Kareem ready if he came in stomping like
that I knew he was ready but if he came
in like this oh I knew he wasn’t ready
so then I had to score more that night
you see so you pay attention as a leader
you must pay attention to the people who
work for you so all of us are here we
have people who work for us so we got to
be able to lead them when you leave here
and get back to your office they’re
gonna be ready for you to say okay what
do you have for me what did you learn at
the conference I’m ready let’s go so I
pay attention to details and then last
but not least the same work work ethic
that I had as a basketball care excuse
me as a basketball player I’ve carried
over to the boardroom so I get up every
morning four o’clock I’m in the gym by
five
two hours working out and then I’m in
the office all day and we go until we
get it done that’s who I am so nobody’s
gonna outwork me you know is this Who I
am you know that’s that’s what made me a
great basketball player and making me a
good businessman a CEO today it’s my
work ethic understanding of business oh
thank you I appreciate that and so uh
all right go ahead
oh she’s on the phone texting somebody
magical question yeah I’m about to get a
picture with magic Oh Oh got the phone
ready to come on come on all right cool
thank you my pleasure I’m a lot of your
business deals you’ve done because you
intuitively knew what we needed in our
community I was wondering if you use
data in your business and if so how well
of course you’ve got to use data data
every time because it’s important that
you know the spending power the spending
habits
you got to also know the trends what’s
going on and then for me investing in
those type of systems and technology is
important also to the success of my
business as well so yes and even now
we’re growing seven times that our
general population the things that I
need to know come from from data come on
Nathan let’s stand on up my man get a
picture so yes I use it all the time are
you gonna take a selfie which one isn’t
and I must keep up with what’s going on
and so that’s very important and to my
business to his bottom line and the
success of my business so yes wherever
she went
yes okay who got the next one go ahead
I’m ready I’m gonna come in the back
because I haven’t been back there
go ahead hi how are you I’m coming
around to see you hi magic how are you
I’m doing good go here I’m listening to
your question I’m taking pictures at the
same time well I have two sons one had a
real bad critically injured accident and
he wants to get into racing but they
told him that black boys don’t race oh
that’s what they told him and his name
is Alex so I would like you to say
something courtesy to Alex and being a
mother I have to have even time my the
younger son name is Chris and he plays
football okay well let me just tell you
what they told me six nine guys don’t
play point guard right that’s right you
saw what happened I play point guard
they said that I couldn’t be a CEO you
see what happened right my competitors
said no way match is gonna win
Disneyland and Disney World I won both
of those contracts who would ever
thought I’ll be serving food at Toyota
John Deere and Allstate Insurance their
headquarters I can take you through 40
other clients that we have now I’m gonna
really get you with this one why did
they choose me how it shows that’s the
only person
that he could build 125 Starbucks with
he could have chosen anybody else do you
see what I’m saying so your son if he
wants to be a race car driver it’s not
about what people say go after it he can
achieve it he just got to be the best
see got to be the best when how I show
said I’m gonna trust you with not only
my business but my brand see he trusted
me with his brand that’s big so I had to
over-deliver I had to take care of his
brand as well as the bottom line and I
was able to achieve both ok so you tell
him that and what he doesn’t know is 25%
of Nascars audience is african-american
oh oh I know my numbers now I know my
numbers all right all right here we go
I’m coming this way now
[Applause]
alright who got the next one I’m just
gonna take him pet pictures oh what’s up
big man how you doing come on come on
Joseph real quick my pleasure
all right okay sir hi magic how are you
good
my name is Jason want to shake your hand
coach Jason what’s that in a man oh man
I’m shake turn around turn around I see
that you are cool all right I got a good
question okay
given that the theme of EMA this year is
don’t mark it alone
I was about to two-part question I was
wondering if you could speak to the
importance of building a good marketing
team and also the second part of the
question was do you have any plans of
teaming up a Larry Bird on future
business endeavors nice nice what’s the
theme again is what don’t do it alone
don’t mark it or don’t mark it alone
okay cool that’s a great theme that’s a
excellent theme now what I would tell
you is the first question was what give
me that one more time okay
marketing the right team okay okay for
me I had to get somebody who was
experienced at marketing and so I went
out the young lady I just hired years
ago and she had worked on a couple
campaigns with me she started off with
Disney and I said man okay if Disney
hired you you must be pretty good then
she went to Nissan then she went Burger
King on and on and on so she had a lot
of great experience in corporate
marketing and marketing to the general
public but also she had experience in
urban marketing as well and it was
really important that she had a
combination of both because I have
businesses based in urban America but
also you have businesses like the
Dodgers who giant brand right and she
was just at the NFL and so I stole her
from the NFL and so I said come on work
for me we have this incredible brand
that’s a worldwide brand
and I know you could take it to a whole
nother level and I really believe in the
theme what it says don’t market alone I
I built my business on not doing it just
by myself partnerships that’s how I
built my business so it was really for
me I believe in what the theme is here
because that’s how I built my business
marketing is so important and I think
that the message that goes out is
important and she craft that message to
make sure that our brand is out in front
of people all the time and it’s
important that we send out the right
message and so she’s done a wonderful
job our brand has just taken off because
of her leadership and that CMO was doing
a wonderful job and I’m so happy and
proud of her – at the same time and did
you have a second one it’s a part to
that do you envision yourself teaming up
for a future business endeavor oh yeah
we you know Larry and I team up it’s
funny because this is what we do when a
company calls us to do a commercial or
do something I say Larry you be the good
guy I’m sorry I’ll be the good guy you’d
be the bad guy so you hold out okay so
so I say okay I’m gonna sell like I’m
happy with the deal but you keep holding
out to drive the price up because that’s
his personality anyway right so we’ve
done so many great things together the
HBO special story about our lives and
how basically you know we are linked
together I love Larry I hated him when
he wore the green and white but I liked
him today you know and we have mutual
respect and I tell you what changed our
life
we didn’t speak for eight years because
you have to hate Larry to beat them
because Larry is that good and also – I
want you guys to remember this – your
competitor can make you better Larry
Bird made me a better basketball player
I knew he was shooting thousand shots a
day guess what I had to shoot a thousand
shot today I knew he was running every
single day probably five six months he
made me run five six miles a day
and so I credit Larry making me a better
man and a better basketball player
because I knew he was working hard to be
better for the next season and he made
me do the same thing so our lives
changed we went shot a commercial
converse commercial at his house so when
I got there we had never really had a
conversation so I stayed in a limo until
it was time to shoot the commercial
so then the director told us the lines
we set the lines and then a couple hours
we shot now it’s lunch break
gotcha and I’m thinking okay I’m going
to my trailer to eat it was on his at
his house on his property as I’m leaving
the go to the trailer he said no no no
no magic we’re going up to my house my
mom has cooked lunch oh man
okay what does that mean so I didn’t
want to be rude so I went on up to the
house we got inside and his mother just
came and gave me a big hug and I was
like oh man so that kind of made me feel
better we sat down and about five
minutes into it his mother said sure you
tell him what shall I tell him tell me
what I’m you’re my favorite player I was
like oh man okay I’m good now and then
Larry turned red I hate that when she
says that
and so that broke the ice for us and we
had not only mutual respect but then we
became friends and so I love Larry so he
is he’s the best he’s a straight shooter
and he’s a guy that he him and Michael
Jordan were the biggest two trash
talkers that ever lived but they could
play basketball I said Michael was the
greatest that played in the air and
Larry was the greatest I played on the
ground because him and I couldn’t jump
up that high so I got one more they
telling me I got to wrap it up give me
some I got a left I gotta let him have
it go here come on let’s get a picture
though go here sir
all right so I think the most amazing
thing about the Starbuck story was that
you got that exclusive and you didn’t
take no for an answer
right right and a lot of the things that
we do in business are confronted with
the know whether it’s big data or new
technology right or any of that what
tips would you give a marketer to
negotiate that yes mm right
well I think that knowing the core
values of the company that you’re going
after it’s very important what’s
important to that company that CEO
that’s really important understanding
how they’ve been growing because what I
do is when I go after RFP I look at the
company the past five six years what are
they been doing okay and then what is
their mission statement where are they
going in the next five to ten years try
to understand that then you can meet the
RFP by having a clear understanding of
the vision of that CEO that CMO of that
of that company and now go after that
RFP when we started doing that our
success rate went up winning the
contracts and I think that’s so so
important so when you come after that
that that contract you will know now
what you have to put in there to put you
in a winning position and I think that’s
so important a lot of time we just see
the RFP we go out okay I’m gonna do this
for you but booboo but if you don’t have
a clear understanding of the vision of
that that company and what they’ve been
doing and what they want to do then how
can you really go after and meet it you
know the RFP so and it’s a process and
then you got competition to you know so
for me understanding okay man for the
last five years they’ve changed a couple
times they may have changed CMOS three
times two or want you know so you need
to understand that so you can say okay I
get it now
now also their mission statement is blah
blah blah you can put that in there as
well you see and that to me I’ve been
winning at a high rate now because we
have an understanding of what Allstate
wants to do
I just one directional University
contract just just about three weeks ago
but we had a clear understanding what
they wanted where they wanted to go and
we met the RFP based on that did we get
our picture
that’s okay cool now oh yes you got your
hand up what’s up you want a picture all
right then man wait a minute you sorted
it him all right you got stand on the
chair come on get up on the chair there
you go that’s a that’s a that’s a good
selfie right there
all right so in closing I want to wish
all of you first good luck but what I am
proud of is that you own your own
business you or you represent your
company and that you understand how to
market because I wanna I want to pass
you on the back to send out an
incredible message or to make a great
commercial or whatever it is you guys
are so intelligent I mean it’s really
great for me when I see a great tagline
or I see a great commercial or I see
great messaging and it’s coming from
people like yourselves you are so good
at what you do
so congratulations keep on coming back
to conferences like this that can give
you you know tips and also give you
great advice and you listen to the
speakers who have been doing this for a
long time I do the same thing I’m a
sponge I love to learn and to grow
you know I reinvented myself three times
and I keep reinventing myself come on
out you can give one I keep reinventing
myself and that’s very important don’t
never stop improving and getting better
never be satisfied always take your game
to the next level and you will be
successful
school that had never been to the state
tournament and they said no way magic
can lead them to the championship and I
love proving people wrong and we started
off my first year in high school we were
picked last coming in last place we got
off to a great start
ain’t no I went to a school that was
supposed to win the state title they
were supposed to beat everybody and we
blew them out on their home court and
that same 15 year old had 38 points and
19 rebounds and 18 assists that was my
first triple devil ever and our sports
writer came in and said somebody’s
already called dr. J somebody’s already
called Big E I want to call you magic so
at 15 years old that’s when I got my
nickname magic well I let that school to
the state title we won I had to make a
big decision where would I go to college
because everybody in America were we’re
recruiting me I decided to stay home and
go to Michigan State oh yeah all right
go green go away they said no way at six
nine could I play point guard in college
and they said that again I said oh thank
you for saying that I was gonna prove
them wrong once again and sure enough we
had a great year my freshman year I
decided to stay in school because I was
not ready mentally or physically to go
to the NBA
and I came back and we went all the way
to the NCAA championship and we met that
blind here God you know who I’m talking
about his name is Larry Bird and we
played them for the national
championship in college and we end up
beating Indiana State and Larry Bird for
the championship so now in two years
I’ve won the high school championship
then the NCAA championship and then I
decided it was time to come out of
school and Los Angeles Lakers came
calling which was great for me they
played with Kareem abdul-jabbar and long
story short we won five NBA
championships and went to the finals
nine times in 12 years and then after
playing basketball I had to decide what
am I gonna do with the money that I’ve
been saving up from my salary where was
I going to invest it when I looked up
african-americans have a trillion dollar
spending power Latinos had another
trillion dollars spending power right
now but there was nobody going after
their disposable income so I decided to
build my business in urban America and
when I did my homework and research I
found out that minorities are the number
one group of people going to the movies
but there was no theaters in our
community so I believe in partnerships
that’s really important so Peter Gruber
was one of our season ticket holders I
went to dr. buss I said give me the
season ticket holders that come to the
Laker games because I want to take
twenty CEOs to lunch so our cold car 20
CEOs and those CEOs went to lunch with
me also they became our mentors and I
picked their brain about how do I start
my business what should I look out for
and they all gave me great advice and
that’s when Peter Guber was one of the
guys in that meeting and so I called him
after our meeting and said look the
growth of your business will be through
urban America you build a lot of movie
theaters but none in our community so
let’s do a deal together so we did a
deal and we built Magic Johnson theaters
around the country we were very
successful matter of fact my first
theater in Los Angeles was in the top
five of all the Sony theaters and top
ten in the nation my per capsule was so
high why because there was high demand
in urban America and we finally built it
we’re in their community instead of
making them drive 30 or 40 minutes
outside their community and then I went
up to Seattle because I was in line one
time it was a long line at Starbucks and
I’m saying why is everybody in line at
this coffee house so I had to get in
line to find out what it was all about
so I got in line and ordered some coffee
and I said man I’m not even a coffee
drinker and I said Wow okay I see why
everybody’s in line so and I saw
different people in line different races
of people so I said I’m gonna call
Howard Schultz determined CEO of
Starbucks and asked him to take a
meeting so Howard took a meeting and I
said look the growth of your business
will be through urban America and sure
enough he had six meetings and on the
sixth meeting he finally said yes I can
have Starbucks now they don’t do
franchisees I’m the only person in North
America to ever own Starbucks outside of
Starbucks and so the headlines in the LA
Times was no way minorities are paid $3
for a cup of coffee
yes we’re paid $3 for a cup of coffee we
quite don’t know what scones are
so I had to take the scones out of my
Starbucks and put in sweet potato pie
pound cake sockitumi cake things that
resonate with the urban consumer now
this is what I want you to take away
from that my per caste 459 his per cat
451 wait a minute I was doing better in
urban America than he was in suburban
America and then I took out the egos in
my with my music the Eagles you know
playing their other Starbucks I had to
take the Eagles out of my Starbucks put
in Earth Wind & Fire and the Commodores
music that resonate with the urban
consumer so what am I telling you I know
my customer and it’s important that you
know your customer and that you speak to
your customer every single day and it’s
not enough in the marketplace today just
to deliver you got to over deliver to
your clients and to your customer base
and that’s what I do every single day is
I over deliver to all my clients and all
my customers and then I get to retention
that I’m looking for and I mark it right
to the urban consumer and I’m in their
face every single day see I don’t have a
general market message for them I tailor
my message right to the urban consumer
and that’s why again my perk caps are so
high and then I went from there I said
me
Starbucks doing well I asked dr. buss
could I own a piece of the Lakers and we
had a great 10-year run man we were
making so much money we were winning so
many championships then all of a sudden
Kobe got old and I said wait a minute
the market value of the Lakers as high
as it’s gonna be right so it might be
time to sell so I built 125 Starbucks I
had negotiated the multiple within that
contract I sold those 125 back to Howard
also sold the Lakers at the same time
standing up my man
what’s your name Andre Andre where you
from Belgium all right come on get a
picture Andre
wait Andre all right you you cool yeah
okay having fun I’m having fun yes okay
cool
I have the feeling every individual is
magic but your little bit more magic
than yours thank you my friend thank you
that was cool
Kelly come on stand on up Kelly man I’m
getting all these compliments I mean I
never sit down where you’re from Kelly
I’m from DC all right get your phone and
give it to her you know we got to get a
picture Kelly you’re gonna be late
you’re not ready you ready now
so you from DC okay so what was funny
Kelly is I got this tracker record
excuse me this track record of success
and through the magic Johnson theatres
through the Starbucks through the Lakers
and now I’m going up to Sacramento
California up to get money to start a
fund an equity fund and it’s really
interesting because institutional
capital was not ready to invest in urban
America so as I went up there not only
did these these institutional capital
firms turned me down but also ten banks
turned me down as well because they said
we don’t invest in urban America Wow
doing this day and age they still
overlooking minorities so I went up
there five times they said no five times
the six times they finally said okay
magic we’re gonna give you 50 million
dollars and if you over deliver with the
50 million you can come up come back up
and get a hundred million more so I
bought a shopping center for twenty two
million dollars only 40 percent occupied
made it a hundred percent occupied
resold that Center for 48 million took
the 26 million back up to Sacramento
they said mmm I guess you do know
business so when I talk about
over-delivering
I lived that every day I’m not just
telling you something I live it every
single day so we were able to raise 300
million my first fund 36 30 percent
return 6 600 million my second fund and
then a billion dollar fund my last fund
and we called Canyon Johnson fund and
the great thing about it we own great
properties you’re from Washington right
where’s that young lady she said she was
from Washington they watch the Hilton
anybody stayed at the Washington Hilton
yeah we own that property the W in
Austin Texas
the W in Hoboken New Jersey those are
type of investing investments that we
make with that fund and it’s gone gone
very very well so that’s what I’ve been
doing so that’s so magic is my
full-service business we have contracts
with to order their headquarters I feed
all their employees Disneyland and
Disney World I feed their employees so
Mickey and Minnie eat my food
if anybody’s flew Delta Airlines are
there there are sky clubs if you flew
American Airlines the Atmos Club all the
peanuts soda sandwiches that come from
my company across the country that’s
what I do every single day and so for me
when you think about marketing the urban
consumer trust and follow my brand why
because we’ve over delivered to them we
hired them not only hired them but we
trained them to do their job they become
my brand ambassadors so they are
marketing my business for me and that’s
the great thing when you go on to urban
America and you over deliver to those
people who live there they will become
your brand ambassadors and deliver the
message that you want to other people
who live in our community and that’s
been a great thing for me so now what I
want to do is have some fun because I
got I think five people or six people
who have mics and you’re allowed to ask
me some questions yeah there you go got
young lady in that hour that I’ll just
raise your hand here’s a young man right
here in the front and we can talk about
anything why the Lakers not doing well
and then before before I go into that
this is the greatest moment I’ve had in
my business career once I sold the
Starbucks back to Howard Schultz in
Starbucks once I sold the Lakers
the Dodgers who had ever thought the
Dodgers would be up for sale and then
who would ever think that six
billionaires would call me up and want
to partner with me a kid from the ghetto
now from the neighborhood and so I
settled on Guggenheim it was a great
great deal they said we were crazy that
we paid two billion dollars for the team
until our TV contract came out and we
negotiated a deal for nine billion
dollars so we went from from a stupid
businessman to a smart businessman
overnight so let’s go right quick yes
sir yeah magic Pete here quick question
for you with all your expertise and
knowledge right development communities
and stuff so any lesson learned like in
the last couple of years where you
thought something was definitely to work
that didn’t mmm-hmm or didn’t that did
Wow I think in the last couple years no
in the last couple years the only thing
we were concerned about was the economy
when the market crashed and what we did
with Starbucks is really unique normally
a customer comes four to five times a
week in Starbucks and so they were gonna
make an adjustment instead of coming
that much time that many times they meet
they say well we’re gonna cut it back to
two or three times so what we decide to
do at Starbucks was said let’s make sure
that we keep the customers that we have
not worrying about getting new customers
and let’s treat them special so we
wanted to know your name so when you
would come up and you’re Peters your
name and you come in there we say Peter
you want that same drink how you doing
today and you say yeah I want that same
Frappuccino with soy milk baba blah blah
blah blah we already knew that and it
made you feel special when we
acknowledged hey you want the same drink
hi Peter how you doing this morning on
and on and on
but when the market crash that’s what
happened we want to make sure we kept
who we had and then after the market
came back then we go after new customers
as far as things failing knock on wood
you know I mitigate risk I’m not I’m a
risk taker but I vet deals very very
well and the only thing new that came up
that’s really doing well there’s a lot
of big boxes best buys and all these
different companies called me to help
them go into urban America because if
you don’t know how to go into urban
America you’re gonna fail and you need
somebody like myself to help you
understand the urban consumer so what’s
been going good come on get a picture
she’s taking one Wendy’s gonna take one
point all right don’t mess that up okay
thank you yes go here I’m ready and
who’s gonna go first
oh you don’t go first ladies first hi
magic I swear I’m really nervous you
nervous okay I’m gonna come on back up
there then all right come on Abel turn
around
and you are you shaking okay what’s your
question my question bring the mic up a
little okay my question is I’ve been in
marketing for over fourteen motors and
the reason I wanted to go into marketing
is to help small businesses market their
company right
but what’s holding me back is fear
so I want to know how did you overcome
that well for me it was I was up against
a dumb jock thing right the banks turned
me down because they thought I was a
dumb jock
people didn’t take me seriously in the
beginning they never thought I could go
from the basketball court to the
boardroom but I believed in my strategy
I believed in myself and I knew I could
execute upon that business strategy and
so you got to believe in yourself right
and if you also in your strategy and I
think that you’re on there
when you talk about small businesses you
should do it because small businesses do
need marketing advice and expertise and
so I think you should do it but if you
don’t believe in you why would a company
believe in you so you got to come in and
sell sell yourself and what you can do
for that business and so I already know
what I can do because I’ve already
proven that I got the track record of
success now you can call Sony you can
call Starbucks you know all these
companies you can call and they know now
that I’ve proven the fact that I can
drive our oh I I can make them a lot of
money which they’re very happy I can
also grow their brand because how a show
says that they’re a better company when
they did that deal with me and so so
it’s a wonderful thing so believe in
yourself and you’re gonna be able to win
and you’re in your strategy okay so just
build good strategy around your business
and around the people’s business that
you’re trying to sell your company to
okay can you do that okay cool
and then last but not least this is for
everybody to everybody in here should
take a SWAT of their business twice a
year I take a swatter my business and
myself twice a year strengths weaknesses
opportunities and threats
right and I make sure that just the
other last year this is really
interesting I got the growth I was
looking for I got the sustainability
that I was looking for right I was about
to get three major contracts when I did
the SWOT I looked up and said wow I’m
gonna make a lot of money but I can’t
handle the three deals so my business is
gonna fail so I said I need three
executives executives to manage the new
business I’m about to receive but if I
hadn’t taken that SWAT I would have took
on that new business and my business
would have fail and my brand would have
went down and so I’m so happy I did the
SWOT
I heard three new great executives and
now we manage that deal very very well
say see it’s one thing to get the growth
that you’re looking for but also can you
manage that growth that’s that’s what’s
really important because you have to
remember everybody in your industry talk
oh and so if you do a great job that’s
what’s gonna go out if you do a bad job
that’s what’s gonna go out so for me
making sure that I manage those
contracts very well and I’m gonna give
you another secret April if you just
break even from having those contract be
happy with that oh why did I say that
because you rather keep that client and
I also have a good reputation then make
the money because you eventually make
the money I remember when I first
started I’d rather break even and
they’ll over deliver to that client so I
can get the retention that I’m looking
for I want that contract for 20 30 40 50
years so I made sure that I over
delivered to the clients that’s how I
got Disney World I used to only have
Disneyland
i over delivered to Disneyland put me in
the position to get Disney World because
Disney World is the biggest contract I
was like okay yes yes oh we haven’t fun
around here what’s up little man how you
doing how you feel how you doing sorry
stand on up get a picture no no I said
stand up oh okay where are you from
France Paris Paris that’s a beautiful
place man you having fun yeah we defend
you are really great I love it okay cool
give me some knuckles okay that’s what
we do here all right all right we I’m
having a good time all right here we go
what’s up sir how you doing magic
everything feels to have you with us I’m
really enjoy yours excellent thank you
just wanted to how did you how did you
carry your leadership skills over from
the basketball court on to the corporate
world because there’s so many athletes
out there mm-hmm that you know I’m
actually friendly with one of your
Michigan State along with Carl banks
yeah it was done who’s I evil it over
himself
there’s been very few athletes who have
been able to transfer that leadership
ability in the quality what are you
tribute that’s oh that’s a great
question let’s get a pitch
Paul thank you you tell my boy car I
said hello – this is what happens for me
the same way I prepared and I over
prepared when I was playing basketball I
prepared the same way for business
because I’m big in preparation like
before I came here – this morning the
last week or so when I know I was coming
even before that we had booked it I was
studying studying get the I got the
information to understand who I was
speaking to right I’m a very disciplined
cat right I was I knew I was going on at
9:52 well it’s a two-hour ride from LA I
made sure I got down here at 8:15 cuz
I’m a person who I’m never late right
I’m never I respect your time and so we
got a meeting I’m gonna be on time
that’s who I am
basketball I brought that over right and
the same focus and paying attention to
details I was the quarterback I was the
leader so I had to pay attention to all
the details I had to look and see what’s
Kareem ready if he came in stomping like
that I knew he was ready but if he came
in like this oh I knew he wasn’t ready
so then I had to score more that night
you see so you pay attention as a leader
you must pay attention to the people who
work for you so all of us are here we
have people who work for us so we got to
be able to lead them when you leave here
and get back to your office they’re
gonna be ready for you to say okay what
do you have for me what did you learn at
the conference I’m ready let’s go so I
pay attention to details and then last
but not least the same work work ethic
that I had as a basketball care excuse
me as a basketball player I’ve carried
over to the boardroom so I get up every
morning four o’clock I’m in the gym by
five
two hours working out and then I’m in
the office all day and we go until we
get it done that’s who I am so nobody’s
gonna outwork me you know is this Who I
am you know that’s that’s what made me a
great basketball player and making me a
good businessman a CEO today it’s my
work ethic understanding of business oh
thank you I appreciate that and so uh
all right go ahead
oh she’s on the phone texting somebody
magical question yeah I’m about to get a
picture with magic Oh Oh got the phone
ready to come on come on all right cool
thank you my pleasure I’m a lot of your
business deals you’ve done because you
intuitively knew what we needed in our
community I was wondering if you use
data in your business and if so how well
of course you’ve got to use data data
every time because it’s important that
you know the spending power the spending
habits
you got to also know the trends what’s
going on and then for me investing in
those type of systems and technology is
important also to the success of my
business as well so yes and even now
we’re growing seven times that our
general population the things that I
need to know come from from data come on
Nathan let’s stand on up my man get a
picture so yes I use it all the time are
you gonna take a selfie which one isn’t
and I must keep up with what’s going on
and so that’s very important and to my
business to his bottom line and the
success of my business so yes wherever
she went
yes okay who got the next one go ahead
I’m ready I’m gonna come in the back
because I haven’t been back there
go ahead hi how are you I’m coming
around to see you hi magic how are you
I’m doing good go here I’m listening to
your question I’m taking pictures at the
same time well I have two sons one had a
real bad critically injured accident and
he wants to get into racing but they
told him that black boys don’t race oh
that’s what they told him and his name
is Alex so I would like you to say
something courtesy to Alex and being a
mother I have to have even time my the
younger son name is Chris and he plays
football okay well let me just tell you
what they told me six nine guys don’t
play point guard right that’s right you
saw what happened I play point guard
they said that I couldn’t be a CEO you
see what happened right my competitors
said no way match is gonna win
Disneyland and Disney World I won both
of those contracts who would ever
thought I’ll be serving food at Toyota
John Deere and Allstate Insurance their
headquarters I can take you through 40
other clients that we have now I’m gonna
really get you with this one why did
they choose me how it shows that’s the
only person
that he could build 125 Starbucks with
he could have chosen anybody else do you
see what I’m saying so your son if he
wants to be a race car driver it’s not
about what people say go after it he can
achieve it he just got to be the best
see got to be the best when how I show
said I’m gonna trust you with not only
my business but my brand see he trusted
me with his brand that’s big so I had to
over-deliver I had to take care of his
brand as well as the bottom line and I
was able to achieve both ok so you tell
him that and what he doesn’t know is 25%
of Nascars audience is african-american
oh oh I know my numbers now I know my
numbers all right all right here we go
I’m coming this way now
[Applause]
alright who got the next one I’m just
gonna take him pet pictures oh what’s up
big man how you doing come on come on
Joseph real quick my pleasure
all right okay sir hi magic how are you
good
my name is Jason want to shake your hand
coach Jason what’s that in a man oh man
I’m shake turn around turn around I see
that you are cool all right I got a good
question okay
given that the theme of EMA this year is
don’t mark it alone
I was about to two-part question I was
wondering if you could speak to the
importance of building a good marketing
team and also the second part of the
question was do you have any plans of
teaming up a Larry Bird on future
business endeavors nice nice what’s the
theme again is what don’t do it alone
don’t mark it or don’t mark it alone
okay cool that’s a great theme that’s a
excellent theme now what I would tell
you is the first question was what give
me that one more time okay
marketing the right team okay okay for
me I had to get somebody who was
experienced at marketing and so I went
out the young lady I just hired years
ago and she had worked on a couple
campaigns with me she started off with
Disney and I said man okay if Disney
hired you you must be pretty good then
she went to Nissan then she went Burger
King on and on and on so she had a lot
of great experience in corporate
marketing and marketing to the general
public but also she had experience in
urban marketing as well and it was
really important that she had a
combination of both because I have
businesses based in urban America but
also you have businesses like the
Dodgers who giant brand right and she
was just at the NFL and so I stole her
from the NFL and so I said come on work
for me we have this incredible brand
that’s a worldwide brand
and I know you could take it to a whole
nother level and I really believe in the
theme what it says don’t market alone I
I built my business on not doing it just
by myself partnerships that’s how I
built my business so it was really for
me I believe in what the theme is here
because that’s how I built my business
marketing is so important and I think
that the message that goes out is
important and she craft that message to
make sure that our brand is out in front
of people all the time and it’s
important that we send out the right
message and so she’s done a wonderful
job our brand has just taken off because
of her leadership and that CMO was doing
a wonderful job and I’m so happy and
proud of her – at the same time and did
you have a second one it’s a part to
that do you envision yourself teaming up
for a future business endeavor oh yeah
we you know Larry and I team up it’s
funny because this is what we do when a
company calls us to do a commercial or
do something I say Larry you be the good
guy I’m sorry I’ll be the good guy you’d
be the bad guy so you hold out okay so
so I say okay I’m gonna sell like I’m
happy with the deal but you keep holding
out to drive the price up because that’s
his personality anyway right so we’ve
done so many great things together the
HBO special story about our lives and
how basically you know we are linked
together I love Larry I hated him when
he wore the green and white but I liked
him today you know and we have mutual
respect and I tell you what changed our
life
we didn’t speak for eight years because
you have to hate Larry to beat them
because Larry is that good and also – I
want you guys to remember this – your
competitor can make you better Larry
Bird made me a better basketball player
I knew he was shooting thousand shots a
day guess what I had to shoot a thousand
shot today I knew he was running every
single day probably five six months he
made me run five six miles a day
and so I credit Larry making me a better
man and a better basketball player
because I knew he was working hard to be
better for the next season and he made
me do the same thing so our lives
changed we went shot a commercial
converse commercial at his house so when
I got there we had never really had a
conversation so I stayed in a limo until
it was time to shoot the commercial
so then the director told us the lines
we set the lines and then a couple hours
we shot now it’s lunch break
gotcha and I’m thinking okay I’m going
to my trailer to eat it was on his at
his house on his property as I’m leaving
the go to the trailer he said no no no
no magic we’re going up to my house my
mom has cooked lunch oh man
okay what does that mean so I didn’t
want to be rude so I went on up to the
house we got inside and his mother just
came and gave me a big hug and I was
like oh man so that kind of made me feel
better we sat down and about five
minutes into it his mother said sure you
tell him what shall I tell him tell me
what I’m you’re my favorite player I was
like oh man okay I’m good now and then
Larry turned red I hate that when she
says that
and so that broke the ice for us and we
had not only mutual respect but then we
became friends and so I love Larry so he
is he’s the best he’s a straight shooter
and he’s a guy that he him and Michael
Jordan were the biggest two trash
talkers that ever lived but they could
play basketball I said Michael was the
greatest that played in the air and
Larry was the greatest I played on the
ground because him and I couldn’t jump
up that high so I got one more they
telling me I got to wrap it up give me
some I got a left I gotta let him have
it go here come on let’s get a picture
though go here sir
all right so I think the most amazing
thing about the Starbuck story was that
you got that exclusive and you didn’t
take no for an answer
right right and a lot of the things that
we do in business are confronted with
the know whether it’s big data or new
technology right or any of that what
tips would you give a marketer to
negotiate that yes mm right
well I think that knowing the core
values of the company that you’re going
after it’s very important what’s
important to that company that CEO
that’s really important understanding
how they’ve been growing because what I
do is when I go after RFP I look at the
company the past five six years what are
they been doing okay and then what is
their mission statement where are they
going in the next five to ten years try
to understand that then you can meet the
RFP by having a clear understanding of
the vision of that CEO that CMO of that
of that company and now go after that
RFP when we started doing that our
success rate went up winning the
contracts and I think that’s so so
important so when you come after that
that that contract you will know now
what you have to put in there to put you
in a winning position and I think that’s
so important a lot of time we just see
the RFP we go out okay I’m gonna do this
for you but booboo but if you don’t have
a clear understanding of the vision of
that that company and what they’ve been
doing and what they want to do then how
can you really go after and meet it you
know the RFP so and it’s a process and
then you got competition to you know so
for me understanding okay man for the
last five years they’ve changed a couple
times they may have changed CMOS three
times two or want you know so you need
to understand that so you can say okay I
get it now
now also their mission statement is blah
blah blah you can put that in there as
well you see and that to me I’ve been
winning at a high rate now because we
have an understanding of what Allstate
wants to do
I just one directional University
contract just just about three weeks ago
but we had a clear understanding what
they wanted where they wanted to go and
we met the RFP based on that did we get
our picture
that’s okay cool now oh yes you got your
hand up what’s up you want a picture all
right then man wait a minute you sorted
it him all right you got stand on the
chair come on get up on the chair there
you go that’s a that’s a that’s a good
selfie right there
all right so in closing I want to wish
all of you first good luck but what I am
proud of is that you own your own
business you or you represent your
company and that you understand how to
market because I wanna I want to pass
you on the back to send out an
incredible message or to make a great
commercial or whatever it is you guys
are so intelligent I mean it’s really
great for me when I see a great tagline
or I see a great commercial or I see
great messaging and it’s coming from
people like yourselves you are so good
at what you do
so congratulations keep on coming back
to conferences like this that can give
you you know tips and also give you
great advice and you listen to the
speakers who have been doing this for a
long time I do the same thing I’m a
sponge I love to learn and to grow
you know I reinvented myself three times
and I keep reinventing myself come on
out you can give one I keep reinventing
myself and that’s very important don’t
never stop improving and getting better
never be satisfied always take your game
to the next level and you will be
successful
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