Behind the Scenes with Zeus of Brandon Honda

So it's late and you are having trouble sleeping. The last commercial you saw before tucking in just happened to be a Brandon Honda commercial and now for some strange reason you are thinking about Zeus. While we wish you were thinking about a brand new Accord, you're not. You're thinking about our adorable Brandon Honda Mascot.

"Who is Zeus? And why do I want to shake his paw?" you wonder to yourself. "Surely he's just a marketing ploy right? Has to be just an employee's dog that is brought in to just look cute during the commercials, right?" Think again. Zeus is man's best friend. Well in this case he's the owner of Brandon Honda, John Marazzi's, best friend. Zeus is a rescue dog that John adopted and also the subject of one of my favorite stories in the car business.

Click Here to Watch Zeus Videos, Check The Zeus Facebook Page and Read More! 

As John's business partner in Brandon Honda I get to deal with John on numerous levels. I will never forget the day when I received an e-mail with one of the most unusual (albeit difficult to deny) requests that I have ever received in business. John wrote how he had adopted a rescue dog and how he would like to start bringing him to work and if that would be ok. I had absolutely no problem with this but I did wonder out loud as to why John Marazzi, one of the busiest men I know, would want his dog coming with him to work.

Perhaps I was thinking more less of my own personal experience as a dog owner. I have a beagle named Dempsey and it was easy to imagine my dog yelping all day long running up to customers from service to sales filling the showroom with his howl. But the truth is it only took a few visits to realize why Zeus makes so much sense for John and for Brandon Honda.

Nice to Meet You! 

The car business is stressful; it's easily a 12 hour a day job not to mention time after work returning e-mails and working on future promotion and planning. Zeus has one of the nicest demeanors I have ever found in a dog. Now John deserves some credit for this --- but Zeus surely provides smiles during long and stressful days.

Zeus also reminds our customers and guests that we are after all human. For many of us dog lovers dogs are a conversation piece like children or sports. They are something that binds us together and special friends that we hold dear to our hearts. Buying a car is an activity that can be intimidating and can seem at first impersonal. I'd have to think Zeus is available to take away some of that stress too.

So there you have it folks. The behind the scenes story on Zeus. Surely I've spent many a 12 hour day inside of a car dealership. For many of us we joke that is our second home. But to me --- the business has always been a happy home and I can see it is for Zeus too. How do I know? Well every time I step into John Marazzi's office and have a seat my favorite Brandon Honda greeter comes over...hands me a paw...and then heads back to his bed to relax. Sounds like a good life to me.