What if the Savannah Bananas Ran Your Brand?
A Game Fans Never Forget
- Batter steps to the plate.
- Helmet on backwards, jersey inside out, tutu around his waist.
- He drives a fast ball to center field.
- The crowd rises, yelling.
- Just when they think it’s gone, #15 makes a backflip catch.
Fans never forget that. They tell friends. They clip it, share it, replay it.
When was the last time your brand made someone do that?
If you haven’t seen the Bananas play ball, it’s baseball reimagined. Between-the-legs catches, costumes, dancing, wild new rules, a time limit — it’s America’s pastime on entertainment steroids.
Breaking the Mold — And Winning
Baseball purists may not agree, but numbers don’t lie — it’s a homerun.
The Colorado Rockies would have to resurrect Babe Ruth to sell out games this year. The Savannah Bananas? They rode into Denver with bright yellow uniforms, sold out two games, and had ESPN doing SportsCenter live from Coors Field.
What Your Brand Could Learn
Radio and RockTernative could use some bananas in their cocktails.
“Thinking outside the box,” “breaking the rules,” “doing things differently” — easy to say, harder to do. And if done badly, they backfire.
But the Bananas nailed it — they reimagined baseball with entertainment and the fan experience being the core priorities. They know people come for their show, more than the score.
- One winning point per inning, not runs
- No walks or bunts
- Rain Delay Karaoke
- Two-hour time limit
- Fans can cause outs
- Dramatic tiebreakers
They challenged the rules of baseball — and they’re winning.
Time to Rethink Your Brand
What could use a rethink at your brand?
Some things won’t need change — and change for the sake of change is dumb. But challenge the sacred cows. What’s being done because they’ve always been done? Is the “the old way” better than a new, updated way?
What’s irrelevant or just there cuz it’s there?
Traffic and weather on the :20s? Caller 10? Twofer Tuesday? Block Parties? The Flashback feature? Still relevant? Still sticky, revenue drivers? Would the phones melt if they went away?
Once any dead weight has been thrown onto the fire, it’s banana time.
What bananas — for lack of a better term — could be smartly woven into your brand?
Smart Bananas for Your Brand
Not all bananas need to be grandiose like a Sydney Sweeney takeover. The magic is in creating moments that are memorable without burning the brand.
Moments that bring the fans back to the stadium for tomorrow night’s game.
Examples to Go Bananas
You’ll come up with better ideas for your space, but some examples:
Music Stations:
- Binge Sessions: “I feel like binging AC/DC — screw the rules, it’s thunder from down under for the next 20 minutes; whatchya wanna hear?
- Random Alphabet Game: “The next three songs — band or title has to start with T — go!”
Talk or morning shows:
- Listener Takeovers: Let a listener call the shots — pick the topics, games/bits, maybe airing a past replay she loves.
- Reverse Hour: Take every opinion you’d normally have and argue the opposite like you mean it.
The Bananas Show the Way
The Savannah Bananas do something new and fresh every night.
RockTernative can do the same. Sure, “Man in the Box” will always be a homerun ball. But when most songs are only singles or doubles, it’s the plays around them that can drive in more runs or become grand slams of their own.
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Keith Cunningham is a music industry and Rock/Alternative columnist for Barrett Media and the founder of Black Box Group, a modern-modeled creative & strategic consultancy built for brands that need strategies with teeth. He’s the former Master of Mayhem at 95.5 KLOS-FM in Los Angeles for over a decade, a nationwide consultant, and has been repeatedly voted one of America’s top Program Directors and strategic thinkers. Keith has built his career by taking multi-million-dollar brands from worst to first and leading Marconi & Gracie award winners along the way. A data nerd with a rock-and-roll heart, he is an advisory council member for St. Jude fundraising, a fantasy football champion, and lover of his daughters & dogs. Reach him at keithblackboxgroup@gmail.com or on LinkedIn or X.
