This week I'm talking to one of my favorite people. Melanie Few is a marketing executive with big dreams. Twenty-five years ago, she became one of the first Black women to receive an official license from the NFL to produce the Super Bowl Gospel Festival, now known as the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration. This is the event that Melanie Few is famous for, but her career promoting faith and the gospel to mainstream organizations began long before this event. I reached out to Melanie during Super Bowl season to not only talk about her creative event transformation and growth, but also how she started working on her marketing faith. Melanie Few, welcome to The Local Take.
Most people know about your work in the NFL, but you started doing this many years ago. Can I start from the beginning? When I talk about your work, I always start with Kirk Franklin and his sponsorship from Coca-Cola, but you guys were all part of that deal. Few would describe her career in corporate marketing as going from a job at General Mills to participating in the launch of the menthol cigarette event series “Fresh on the Scene.” Although she liked her job, she did not feel passionate about promoting tobacco products.
She attended Black Expo, an event where up-and-coming artist Kirk Franklin was performing. She met him and he told her that he was performing in a small choir, but it was expensive. He talked to her about finding a sponsor to support her concert. Few believed they would be able to secure sponsorship for Franklin's next holiday tour. The first sponsor was Church's He Chicken. Because Franklin spoke to Chvrches about his chicken and his involvement with his brand. Then the first few got sponsorship from Coca-Cola. This is the first time the brand has sponsored a gospel artist. Few of the players were also part of sponsorship deals with TD Jakes and Hallmark.
I asked Mr. Few how he came to believe that the gospel and faith could be used to market American businesses. She talks about her love for gospel music, which is appreciated by all walks of life. Corporate Diversity Her pitch to her marketing team was that one in four people appreciate gospel music, regardless of race or age. She also talks about her mother, the Rev. Elizabeth Few, who was her educator and preached, “There's no substitute for failure, but try.”
The Super Bowl Gospel Festival, now known as the Super Bowl Soulful Celebration, will celebrate its 25th anniversary and will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer and Tichina Arnold and will air on CBS on February 10th. I asked Few why this event led her to become the first Black woman to obtain an NFL license for her own event. She revealed that she writes a letter to the NFL every year, pleading for the need for an emotional event. In the end they said they would do it if they could get a big star like Gladys Knight. Few would say she was a girl from Atlanta and had no idea that her aunt had attended Grady Knight's school. She shared their reactions when she returned with her promise from Gladys Knight. The Few event has attracted talent such as Patti Labelle and Snoop Dogg, and this year will feature Earth, Wind & Fire.
She talks about how hard it is to be an entrepreneur and how people rarely understand the suffering that goes on behind the scenes. She mentioned that when her father, Moses Few, was ill, she considered leaving the event. She told him that he might not be able to do without him because he was her best friend and biggest support. He told her that they couldn't leave until after her 25th anniversary and that it wasn't right. Few shared her desire to make her parents proud of her.
Learn more about Super Bowl Soulful Celebration here.
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