A home run hitter like Mark McGwire is not a balanced player. Every couple of at-bats, he hits one out of the park. In between, however, he may just as often strike out. A team could probably win without him, but a McGwire is a great addition to a team.

We then saw a consumer survey showing that GE water heaters had name recognition. One problem with the survey results: GE didn’t make water heaters. But the brand was so strong, consumers thought they did. It encouraged us to suggest a new deal with GE: “Why don’t you give us your name for water heaters?”