MATT TOUCHARD knew his life would change when his 15-minute brush with fame turned into three and a half hours.
Touchard, a 43-year-old graphic designer, went from being a faceless fan of Pat Benatar to being a key player in her promotions team.
It all started with a day of daydreaming, when Touchard and partner Stephany Geiling spouted off about the ideal accounts they would like to handle at Zermatt Advertising + Design Ltd., their two-person firm in Luling. When Touchard said "Pat Benatar," his 27-year-old partner laughed.
But Touchard decided to go for it. He sent Benatar's manager, John Malta, a three-line e-mail explaining why Benatar and her husband/partner Neil Giraldo needed his help. He emphasized that his agency had won six American Graphic Design USA awards.
"The very next day they called," Touchard says. "Basically, (Malta) was intrigued. He told me, 'I'll give you 48 hours to show us what you can do."'
Touchard waited until he was off the phone to panic.
"At first we started throwing together our corporate brochures, specifying pieces we had done for other clients," he says. "Then we realized this is not going to work. We need to blow it out of the watermake them stand up and make their hearts stop for a minute."
This is when being a Benatar/Giraldo fan came in handy.
"I turned an old guitar case into a complete 20-year retrospective of Pat and Neil," he says of the custom plastic wrap he created using memorabilia including ticket stubs, album covers, autographs and paparazzi photos.
Touchard isn't just an average fan. He played in a Pat Benatar cover band, Le Metro, in the '80s and had followed the artists since the 1970s.
"I created a new logo since they never had a true logo," Touchard says. "And the inside of the case, since I knew they were huge Hawaii buffs-they had gotten engaged and married there and were moving there-I decorated with Hawaiian print and a pop-up hula girl."
The case came from a guitar Giraldo recommended to Touchard when they briefly met back in 1978.
To top it off, Touchard threw business cards, a brief autobiography and 300 guitar picks totaling "pick the best,"' in a package sent overnight to Malta.
That same week, Malta called.
"It was really funny ... Matt was not here, and I was the only one in the studio," Geiling says. "I just thought 'Oh my God, I can't believe he called.' I called Matt in his car and he had to pull over to the side of the road when I told him."
Malta told Touchard he would have 15 minutes to meet with the artists and their managers that week at the New Orleans Ritz Carlton.
That meeting turned into three and a half hours.
For the first few moments, the hair on Touchard's arms matched the mane on his head.
"It was standing straight up," he says. "It was very unnerving at first. I guess you could say I knew it was a life-altering experience. ...They were extremely pleasant, down to earth, just the greatest people. At that moment, I was just thinking, 'My gosh, these are my two music idols and I'm actually sitting with them having a conversation.'" Since this summer, Touchard and Geiling have designed a number of Benatar and Giraldo items ranging from their corporate logo to tour posters, T-shirts, lava lamps and a calendar. In all, more than 40 items have been completed. More, including a Benatar cookbook and new CD, are in the works.
Malta says true fans like Touchard make the best employees. "They tend to be more loyal, more devoted and care about the kind of work they're doing as fans" he says, praising Touchard's creativity and ambition. "When they have gifts and abilities we like to put them to good use."
Touchard declined to put a dollar amount on the account, saying that it was too new to speculate upon its worth.
"I think it's worth more in prestige than from a financial standpoint," Touchard says. "But it's certainly a viable account."
The most thrilling part of landing the account, Touchard says, happened when the duo asked him to hit the stage.
"The most exciting thing, because I'm a frustrated guitar player who has never made it outside the Gulf Coast panhandle, was at the first concert of the tour when they let me sound check the guitar on stage in front of the whole arena-in front of about 5,000 people," he says.
Now, in addition to continuing advertising work for the Benatar and Giraldo account as well as working for other notables such as the Cirque du Soilell, Copeland's, Scandinavia Furniture and Chef John Folse, Touchard is putting a CD together with area pop singer Andree Ice.
"Pat and Neil said when it's finished they want a copy of it, and if they like it, I might get to open for them on tour," Touchard says, excitement building in his voice. "Now that would be a story to tell!"
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