Empire State Building Honors Yogi Berra [and Builds the Building’s Brand]
How do you keep yourself relevant in this hyper-cluttered world? People are always wondering, “How do I keep my nonprofit or business top of mind when I don’t change-up my products or services? We don’t have anything new.” 
It may seem tough for you, but imagine if you’re a building in a competitive landscape like New York. Sure you have a time-honored name, but you are no longer the tallest building in the world, and you’re not even the tallest building in Manhattan. What do you do to stay significant in the minds and especially the hearts of New Yorkers? And, how do you fill your office space and attract tourists? You find a way to be current.
The Empire State Building uses its lights to tell a story, honor heroes or make a statement. The lights on the building are not just lighting up the facade, that is for amateurs. These lights build the brand and keep the building front and center in the minds and hearts of New York and the entire world. When Yogi Berra died last month at age 90, the building painted its lights in Yankee pinstripes.
Not everyone can do this, but what the Empire State Building has found is a way to stand out in a marketing sea of sameness. It provides a way to do good, be relevant and brand itself with light. Now that is a brilliant idea.
Even Major League Baseball retweeted the announcement:
Tonight, the @EmpireStateBldg will shine in #Yankees pinstripes in memory of Hall of Famer Yogi Berra. pic.twitter.com/mSIO5yYwy6
— MLB Communications (@MLB_PR) September 23, 2015
In memory of @Yankees legend & NY icon Yogi Berra, we will be lit in blue & white pinstripes. Photo: Barbara M. pic.twitter.com/lXVDeve5NM
— Empire State Bldg (@EmpireStateBldg) September 23, 2015
Source for tweets: Yahoo! Sports, Mark Towsend
Mark Mathis
Mark wrote his first direct-mail fundraising letter in 1981 for the University of Iowa Center for Advancement. The effort raised a few million dollars in undiscovered wills and legacy gifts. From that day forward Mark discovered a love of the big idea that moves the needle.
After 12 years at KWWL, Mark became a business owner as a co-founder of ME&V — rebranded as AMPERAGE in 2015. After 25 years of leading creative teams in video production, graphic design, PR, writing and web development, Mark transitioned out of ownership in 2021. Today he serves in an employee role as special projects consultant.
He is creatively ambidextrous — son of an artist and engineer — and famous for distilling complex ideas down to a few words and a few visuals. Mark is a writer. When he found that many nonprofits struggled with complex branding puzzles, he wrote the book, “NonProfit-NonMarketing .” He also wrote a novel called “Reenactment.”
Mark is an active blogger OneMinuteMarketer® with nearly 1,000 readers each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. One of his most popular YouTube videos is on “How to Look Good on Zoom.”
One of Mark’s fondest business memories was being named to INC 500 two times and attending the INC 500 conference with other winners. Mark is considered by some a Civil War expert (and that explains his novel). Mark also served as an adjunct professor in the business and in the communications departments at Wartburg College.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Iowa and is currently vice president of the University of Iowa Journalism and Mass Communications Advisory Board.
Mark is married to state Sen. Liz Mathis, and the two love to travel, even when it means being trapped by a volcano in the Czech Republic for three weeks.