If you’re a fan of the National Football League (NFL) you know the Greenbay Packers and Chicago Bears are long-time rivals. Their fans are some of the most passionate and loyal in the league. Dating back to the late 80s, Greenbay fans have been sporting “cheese heads” to show their team support. The cheese wedge hats, made of foam, are a sense of team pride and worn by Packer fans young and old. Cheesehead nation had no foe that was until Monday Night. It was then we met their match… The Graterhead.
ESPN highlighted the making of the foam Cheeseheads and showed hundreds of fans wearing them during the Monday Night Football game. After the cheesehead spotlight, the camera pans to three guys wearing cheese graters on their heads as booth announcer, Jon Gruden says, “You know what I’d wear as a Bears fan? I’d wear a shredder… I’d shred some cheese.” Gruden laughs and says, “I’ll tell you what… where do you find 3 people wearing a shredder? I love that shot right there. I’m going to get 3 of those.”
The three people wearing “the shredder” (as Gruden referred to it) are passionate Chicago Bears fans from Boise, Idaho. Dean Donlon, Seth Neal and Jeran Dahlquist. The shredder is officially called “Graterhead” and their appearance on Monday Night Football has football fans buzzing. The trio have been quietly sporting their new headgear since the start of the NFL season but once they appeared on national television the secret was out. They were there to dispose of the almighty Cheesehead once and for all.
Who are these guys and what can we learn from them?
Jeran Dalhquist, a graphic designer and BEARS fanatic, came up with the idea of the anti-cheesehead while watching a Chicago Bears game. He bounced the notion off Donlon and Neal, also BEARS fanatics, and they all agreed it had to come to life.
1. Share Your Dreams
The Graterhead is one of those things you see and think, how has this not been done before? It’s likely someone thought about a cheese grater as an answer to the Cheesehead at some point over the past 15 plus years but never acted on it. If they did they’ll be kicking themselves now. When Jeran had the idea he shared it with trusted friends. Note the key word… trusted. Don’t waste your time sharing your dreams and ideas with people you don’t know or trust.
2. Make Your Dream A Reality
How many times have you had an idea or dreamt about doing something but never acted on it? Chances are pretty good it has happened more than once. The Graterhead guys took their crazy idea and made it a reality. They did this by not just talking about the dream of owning their own company and shutting Packers fans up but acting on it.
3. Have Something to Sell
In this case it’s obvious, the Graterhead is the product but it goes beyond a piece of foam on your head. Cheeseheads are instantly identified as Packers fans. The foam block of cheese upon the noggins of young and old creates a sense of community, fellowship and an un-spoken bond. Cool for the fans of the yellow and green but often annoying for everyone else. Now there’s a solution, fans can display their distain for Greenbay football by sporting the Graterhead.
4. Know Your Audience
The Graterhead may seem like a novelty item but guess what? So is the Cheesehead. I’m betting the creator of the Cheesehead could care-less about what you call it as he cashes his cheese checks. The Graterhead is a product that by itself would be pretty silly and pretty meaningless. When it’s positioned as the anti-cheesehead it takes on new meaning and becomes viable. Now every team that Greenbay faces becomes your target audience.
5. Take Risks
Dean, Seth and Jeran knew they were taking a big risk by creating the Graterhead. It meant coming up with the design, filing patents, creating and producing it. Those things require money and time. Two things most of us are short on. Any time you do something new, there is a risk involved but without the risk, there’s no reward.
6. Have a Plan
The Graterhead Guys knew they were entering enemy territory on Monday Night. Lambeau field would have thousands of Cheeseheads in attendance and would serve as the perfect setting to unveil the Graterhead. They didn’t just happen to show up in Green Bay with foam cheese graters on their heads, they planned it.
7. Generate Buzz
The guys posted photos on their Facebook page before the game and arrived at the stadium early. Dean was spotted by an Associated Press photographer and the image of showed up on yahoo sports. Chicago sports reporter Sarah Spain retweeted an image of a fan wearing the Graterhead before the game and twitter started buzzing. Let it be known that I sent the picture to Sarah but that’s part of generating buzz… enabling your network of family and friends who are influencers.
When you’re seen on tv it’s one thing, but when the announcers talk about you it takes things another level. Once the image was shown on TV sites like the Huffington Post and BleacherReport.com took notice. Facebook Fan Pages like Chicago Bears Nation posted the images and it resulted in thousands of shares.
SBNation wrote about them but after realizing their stance was pretty lame, the writer endorsed them.
The Graterhead guys remind us that no dream is too crazy and until you act on it, you’ll never know what could happen.
Lead image via ESPN tv. Gallery images via Graterhead Facebook.
