Moving interactive sports marketing firm Guest MVP to Royal Oak from Boston earlier this year was an easy decision for Gregory A. Nasto. However, it wasn't because of the usual reasons -- tax breaks or state aid. Loyalty stood head and shoulders above the rest.
Nasto points out that Michiganians, especially metro Detroiters, are almost pathologically loyal -- a mentality reinforced by generations of Big 3 culture, where careers are spent with one employer.
"We still support the Lions, for goodness sake," Nasto says.
That type of mindset, humility and work ethic isn't as prevalent out east, so he decided to move more than 600 miles away -- to downtown Royal Oak. Its people provide the right foundation for the 3-year-old start-up.
"I don't watch my crew leave at 5 p.m.," Nasto says. "They're still on the phone because the work needs to be done."
Plus it helps that the struggling economy makes people more grateful for their jobs and helps drive down labor costs, to the tune of 60 percent of Boston wages. But as Nasto points out, "if we make this work, everybody will get paid."
GuestMVP creates interactive software and marketing content for sports stadiums. For instance, the interactive screens in luxury boxes and club seats lets users do everything from watch a replay to order food. It also gives its advertisers access to some of the wealthiest members of society.
"We're interactive marketing and new media," Nasto says. "We're a new level of marketing that hasn't been seen yet."
GuestMVP plans to launch the beta version of its technology in the Palace of Auburn Hills within the next 30 days, just in time for the NBA Playoffs. Nasto has many other sports venues interested in the technology, if it proves effective in the Palace.
"We're penetrating the sports industry," Nasto says. "It's just not professional but college, too."
He expects to really ramp up GuestMVP's growth within the next six months and for that to continue over the next two years. That could mean adding 15-20 new employees to the staff of eight people, and a handful of independent contractors and interns by the third quarter of this year -- the type of people that Nasto expects will be loyal to his company for a long time.
Source: Gregory A. Nasto, managing principal of GuestMVP
Writer: Jon Zemke
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