Power of Partnership: Charlotte Jones on Branding America's Team

Charlotte Jones is more than just the Chief Brand Officer for the Dallas Cowboys – she’s one of the most powerful women in sports.

Since 1989, Charlotte has led the Cowboys in brand marketing, fan engagement, stadium design, entertainment, licensed apparel, cause marketing and community relations. She is also the President of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders and was named Chairman of the NFL Foundation in 2012. She is the first woman to serve in this position and is the first female executive in history to lead a major professional sports league charitable foundation.

Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles with a range of community organizations including The Salvation Army, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Make-A-Wish North Texas and many more.

In January, Charlotte joined me for a fireside chat for our corporate associates at our headquarters in Plano, Texas, and she was gracious enough to agree to be my first guest in the Power of Partnership series for 2024. Keep reading for our conversation on engaging fans and customers, the mutual history of our two iconic brands and Charlotte’s favorite Thanksgiving halftime show.

Marc Rosen: As a newer Texan, I’ve seen the love that people here have for the Cowboys, and the nickname of “America’s Team” makes so much sense when you see it up close. Tell me about your journey as you helped to transform this team into an internationally respected brand and the most valuable franchise in sports.

Charlotte Jones: I came to work for the brand in 1989 after my dad took over the franchise. The team was not in a great place on the field or financially, and we had a lot of work to do from restructuring the coaching staff and team roster to rebuilding trust with the fan base and figuring out how to start bringing in revenue.

At the time, I had been working in Washington, D.C., and my dad called me up and asked me to come to Dallas to help him figure out an issue with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders after a mix-up with their uniforms. I quickly learned that it was more about the uniforms – it was about the legacy, the tradition of the team. After that, he asked me to stay in Dallas to help him run the team, which I didn’t know the first thing about, but I agreed.

On my first day, he told me that no matter what, “Don’t tarnish the star.” As we set out into the unknown before us, we kept the star, and our brand legacy as a whole, top of mind. It was important to our organization but more importantly, it meant everything to our fans. But we knew we had to innovate. When we came in to take the reins, it wasn’t enough to rest on that legacy and hope everything would get better. We worked really hard to revive the Cowboys into a sustainable franchise that the fans could be proud to support while still honoring its storied past, and we are so proud of what we’ve built and so grateful it resonates with so many people around the world.

MR: At JCPenney, we’re on a mission to honor the legacy of our iconic brand while remaining fresh and relevant to our customers. As you’ve said, the Cowboys brand faced a similar challenge when your family took over the team in 1989. How do you balance honoring the brand’s past while looking ahead to the future?

CJ: At the end of the day, it’s all about our fans, and we want to do right by them. It’s our job to do a few things – honor our past through traditions like our logo, the cheerleaders and our Thanksgiving halftimes shows, to name a few; serve our fans and meet them where they are, whether that’s at AT&T Stadium or halfway around the globe; and support the communities that give us so much love.

When we think about remaining relevant, we often remind ourselves that the game is just that – a game – but our purpose is much bigger than that. I’ve always said that football is the great unifier. No matter your background, people come together on Sunday to cheer on the same team. If we can take that and spread it into our communities, we can build stronger communities while building love for our brand.

AT&T Stadium in Arlington and The Star in Frisco are a great example of how we’re fulfilling a lot of our goals. First and foremost, the Cowboys are a football team – and they need a place to play. AT&T Stadium provides that and so much more, creating an atmosphere that draws fans in, gives them an unforgettable experience and leaves them with memories for a lifetime. We also recognize that most of our fans may never make it to our stadium, or even visit Dallas. That’s where fun things like merchandise, social media and more help us connect. And even for people who aren’t football fans, AT&T Stadium offers so much more – from facilities tours to those interested in our structural engineering or wireless connectivity to a state-of-the-art concert venue drawing Taylor Swift, Billy Joel, Stevie Nicks and so many others.

The Star, other than being our headquarters, offers office space, retail storefronts, restaurants, training facilities and more. In building The Star, we partnered with the City of Frisco and Frisco ISD to forge a unique partnership and through this campus, we literally invite our neighbors in to be a part of our community, whether or not they care about the sport of football. It’s been incredible to see how the city has embraced it and we’re so honored to serve this community.

These spaces are just one example of many in which we honor our past – paying homage to great players like Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Roger Staubach and many more – while providing more ways than ever before to welcome people into the Cowboys fanbase in one way or another.

MR: JCPenney and the Dallas Cowboys have worked together for a long time in what is now a rich three-decade partnership. Tell me about your favorite JCPenney memory.

CJ: We first began our relationship with JCPenney back in 1995. The chairman of JCPenney at the time was from Danville, Arkansas, a tiny town of 800 people, which is also, coincidentally, my mom’s hometown. It was a business relationship built on trust which has led to a really beautiful long-term partnership between our brands.

That same year, we filed a lawsuit against the NFL to own the trademark to our logo – and to allow all other teams to do the same – which changed the course of team merchandise forever. Once we had the rights to our logo, we came to JCPenney and we created a jacket together that Jimmy Johnson, our coach at the time, would wear on the sideline. Then, we sold that same jacket exclusively in JCPenney stores. I think 15,000 jackets were sold in a week. It was the most unbelievable, insane thing you’ve ever seen.

MR: What an awesome memory – can’t believe we’re coming up on 30 years of partnership and love that it was one built on trust and friendship from the beginning. As you forge new collaborations, what do you look for? What are the key attributes of a good partner for the Cowboys?

CJ: - We value longevity with our partnerships! And that all starts by partnering with brands you can trust.? We want to honor tradition, but forge new innovations which is a delicate balance. So we celebrate partnerships that understand and value that same balance.?And most importantly, we want our partners to be successful. It’s imperative we understand the business objectives of our partners and be confident that our partnership can help them be successful with their goals.?

MR: Now for some rapid-fire questions. You’re an incredible philanthropic leader in the Dallas-Fort Worth community and beyond. Are there any projects you’re working on right now that you’re particularly passionate about?

CJ: I proudly serve as the Chairman of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation, a building currently under construction near AT&T Stadium in Arlington. I am passionate about its mission - to inspire America with the stories of the bravest of the brave. I have been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with some of these American soldiers who received the highest military recognition and who distinguished themselves by acts of valor.

MR: What piece of advice would you give your younger self?

CJ: To spend less time on the things you can’t change and more time on the things you can!?

MR: You oversee the iconic Thanksgiving halftime shows for the Cowboys. What’s your favorite show you’ve ever produced?

CJ: Well, it would have to be Dolly Parton. Are you kidding me? Dolly Parton in a cheerleader outfit, rocking that at 78 years old? She blew up the Internet. That was the most amazing experience ever.