Sep 22, 2026 · 57 min
Jesse Cole turns baseball into a fans-first experience
How to Turn Customers Into Raving Fans with Savannah Bananas Owner Jesse Cole
The conversation examines whether accessible pricing, human connection, and constant innovation can build a durable entertainment business without conventional marketing.
- 1Memorable customer experiences can turn ordinary buyers into devoted fans, especially as technology makes human connection more valuable.
- 2The Savannah Bananas built attention organically by removing friction, inventing shareable moments, and treating entertainment as the product.
- 3Long-term ownership, nightly improvement, and public transparency give a growing organization a framework beyond short-term sale value.
Don't miss
Jesse Cole explains how a player batting while wearing stilts turned an unusual stunt into an attention-generating fan experience.
The brief
Jesse Cole describes losing his playing career to injury, then discovering that his real interest was designing the fan experience around baseball.
He recounts taking over a struggling Savannah operation with little money or audience, surviving by focusing on the next practical step and bringing in more fans.
Cole’s central argument is simple: replace customers with fans by removing friction, creating memorable moments, and making people feel genuinely valued.
The Bananas pursue attention rather than traditional marketing, using unusual spectacles—including a player batting on stilts—to create shareable entertainment.
Cole contrasts quick-sale thinking with a 25-year horizon, pairing nightly improvement and radical transparency with a growing commitment to foster care.
Featuring
Jesse Cole
Savannah Bananas
Unreasonable Hospitality
Fenway ParkBooks & mentions
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