Tag: NFL

The Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials of All Time.

In the United States, there is no TV event bigger than the Super Bowl. With over 100 million viewers it has 5 times as many viewers as the Oscars, 6 times as many as the Grammys, and 25 times more than the Emmys. And with Taylor Swift playing cheerleader for the Kansas City Chiefs, this year’s game could draw even more viewers, as you know all too well.

No other American sporting event compares. While the NBA, NHL and MLB take up to 7 games to decide a winner, the Super Bowl is a one-punch champ. If you are going to have a purposeful wardrobe malfunction (and we all know it was purposeful, Janet) do it during the Super Bowl.

The Pricetag

This year a Super Bowl spot costs $7 million for 30 seconds. At first glance that seems like a lot of Cheddar Doritos. But as a must-see TV event, advertisers line up to get in front of this massive audience. With today’s extremely fragmented media landscape, the Super Bowl represents the best, if not only way to reach a huge audience without a Jenner or a Kardashian.

Pay For Attention

Even better than the size of the Super Bowl audience is their attentiveness. The big game is the one time when viewers make a point of actively watching the commercials. In fact, there are many viewers who don’t care about football or Taylor Swift. They tune in for the commercials and because of water cooler FOMO. (Or its modern cousin, Zoom banter FOMO.) This focused attention on the ads is worth a premium.

I Like Big Budgets And I Can Not Lie

Remember, These brands have huge budgets. Most of the brands advertising in the Super Bowl have massive marketing dollars to spend. I was once in a meeting with one of my clients, a very large brand, that everyone knows, when my client’s boss walked in and announced that he had just secured her a third of a billion-dollar marketing budget. In that context, $7 million is less cost-prohibitive.

The Big Reveal

15 years ago advertisers used to save the big reveal of their spots for the Super Bowl. No sneak peeks or leaks to the media. No shares to YouTube or Facebook. (You should also know that there was a time when the Super Bowl existed but YouTube and Facebook did not.)

Today, as prices have risen, more and more advertisers are sharing their commercials ahead of time.  This is a little like wearing your wedding dress before your wedding. It improves the return on your investment. But it ruins the surprise.

The Best Of The Big Game

I’m not here to spoil any surprises from the upcoming Super Bowl. I want to share 10 of my top Super Bowl commercials of all time. So let’s kick this thing off.

The Top 10 Super Bowl Commercials of All Time.

10. Coke: Mean Joe Greene 

This commercial proves that a Coke tastes so good it can even make Mean Joe Green smile. I was a little boy when this commercial first appeared. I was totally jelly of the young boy in the spot. I credit this commercial with me becoming a lifelong Coke drinker.

9. EDS: Cat Herders

This hilarious spot makes a very simple point about a complex tech company. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now.

8. Monster.com : When I grow Up… 

This commercial was packed with universal truths about bad jobs, and career aspirations gone sideways. Plus it was packed with classic lines like, I want to work my way up to middle management. I want to be a yes man. And I want to get paid less to do the same job.

7. Ram Trucks: God Created A Farmer

This shockingly simple spot didn’t use humor. It features a collection of simple images and still photographs and a sparse Paul Harvey narration. It was powerful. I come from a long line of farmers. So this really spoke to me.


6. McDonald’s: Showdown

You can’t help but love this spot featuring basketball’s biggest stars in the early 90s, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird, playing an extreme game of horse for a burger, and bragging rights.

5. Wendy’s: Where’s The Beef 

This was an amazing spot, with a killer catchphrase that caught America by storm. Wendy’s sales surged 31 percent that year.

4. Old Spice: The Man You Could Smell Like.

This was hilarious, surprisingly random, and fascinating. It made Old Spice relevant again. And we all started repeating the lines ‘I’m on a horse.’ And ‘Look at your man.’

3. Snicker’s: Betty White.  (You’re not you when you’re hungry.)

I get hangry. This spot really spoke to my hunger-induced split personality. We all started referencing lines from this spot and the ensuing campaign in everyday conversation.

2. Apple: 1984

This was epic. A pivotal moment. A rebellious moment in history that set the stage for all that Apple changed. Plus it featured a hammer thrower.

Wassup? Chillin, Watching the game. Having a Bud. This spot was fun, relatable, and funny. It offered multiple catchphrases that infiltrated everyday conversation and changed the way we greeted each other for the next year.

Key Takeaway

The greatest entertainment on Super Bowl Sunday doesn’t come from the game. Or the halftime show. Or even the Puppy Bowl. It’s the commercials that provide the big bang that make the Super Bowl a Must-See cultural event.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

+For more of the best life lessons I have learned check out my book, What Does Your Fortune Cookie Say? from Ripples Media.

Is your work preventing you from feeling joy?

There is a unique word that popped up in my news feed twice this week: The word was Joy. It appeared as a key reason that 2 high profile Americans quit their jobs. What was even more unique is that both of these Americans played a game for a living. And if anyone should be experiencing on-the-job-joy it should be people playing a game for money.

Work Takes A Toll

But Andrew Luck, the recently retired 29-year-old quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League, and 30-year-old tight end Rob ‘Gronk’ Gronkowski, who recently retired from the New England Patriots, the best football team in the history of history, both stated this week that their jobs had actually taken their joy from them.

Whoa…

If you had heard that Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble quit their jobs because it was stealing their joy you would understand. After all, those dudes worked in a rock mine, operating dinosaurs. So if they told you they didn’t want to yabba-dabba-do it any more you would get it.

Money Isn’t Everything

But we are talking about 2 guys whose jobs have brought them fortune and fame. Luck earned over $100 million dollars. Gronkowski made $53 million by the time he turned 30, while winning 3 Super Bowls.

AP COLTS LUCK FOOTBALL S FBN USA IN
Andrew Luck announced his retirement at 29, saying that football has taken his joy. Then he Eskimo kissed the mic.

Yet the work robbed them of their joy. The pain, the grind, the mental and physical fatigue, the injuries, surgeries and stress that came with it all negated the benefits of the handsome compensation.

The Reminder

This is a reminder to that money and fame are no fair trade for our joy. Because without joy, a delicious cocktail of pleasure and happiness, it’s hard to find value in our work and our careers.

The Question

This raises an important question for us all.

Is your work adding joy to your life or taking it from you? 

For some people that answer is easy. A quick check of the ole joy-meter may show that your joy is at maximum levels. Others will find their work is more or less joy-neutral. Which is fine. But just fine. However, if your work is exporting your joy like Art Vandelay, you need a new job. Or a new career.

Search Yourself

A little self evaluation will tell you whether you need a new environment, new boss, new challenge, or new career. This may be the right time to focus on an old life goal that has gathered dust, moss or rust. Because by making a career change or launching a new business you may experience a flood of joy and excitement that will make you wonder why you didn’t do it earlier. That’s exactly what happened to me when I started my entrepreneurial adventure. And 3 years after starting my own company I am shocked that more people don’t do it.

Key Takeaway

If your work is depleting your personal joy you have to make a change. Life is too short not to enjoy your work and the people you work with. Money is not the most important contributor to a joyful life. So make sure you are not trading money for happiness. Make joy your number one goal. And everything else will fall into place.

*If you know someone who could benefit from this message, please share it with them.

Why Peyton Manning should be in the Marketing Hall of Fame.

 

Super Bowl 50 has come and gone. There were winners and at least one very sore loser. There was the expected halftime Pepsiganza and gonzo commercials. But what was particularly interesting to armchair marketingbacks  were the brands that scored extra points outside the 30 second commercial thanks to Denver Broncos quarterback, Peyton Manning.

After a historic career Peyton has an open invitation to the Pro Football Hall of fame. But as the clock counts down on his days playing football Peyton Manning will transition seamlessly into his next chapter. Because Peyton knows marketing. And endorsement. And business. Perhaps better than any other current athlete. My good friends at Nationwide will surely want him to share how their insurance and financial products will help him in retirement. Because those guys are on his side (and your side too). But I believe his actual retirement plan looks like this:

  1. Take a stake in a brand.
  2. Market brand at big moments.
  3. Cash checks.

We got a good look at his playbook during the Super Bowl. Just in case you missed it, here’s a breakdown of three of his scores.

The first came just before kickoff. Because it was Super Bowl 50 it created the perfect opportunity to honor the 49 past Super Bowl MVPs. The NFL invited them all to the game. And one by one they were announced to the crowd, emerged from the tunnel to much applause, and took their place in Canton’s West Coast Exhibit. There was, however, one notable exception. Peyton Manning. When they announced Manning’s name the collective NFL fan base wondered what would happen next. Was he really going to come out and join this elite group? Surely not. Didn’t he have someplace more important to be? I had flashbacks to when the Von Trapp Family Singer’s were announced as the winners of the Nazi talent show in The Sound of Music. So what happened next?

Suddenly the television coverage cuts to a profile shot of Peyton, sitting alone in the locker room. But wait! He was dressed to play, football!?! But he is 39 years old!?! How could he still be playing in the Super Bowl? Nobody this old has ever started at quarterback in the Super Bowl. But the answer was right there too. Because Peyton was seated in front of perfectly positioned pallets of performance-sustaining, career- sustaining, camera-shot-sustaining Gatorade. And if that wasn’t enough, the NFL’s ambassador to AARP was shown contemplatively sipping from his electrolyte-laden fountain of youth. Touchdown for Gatorade. Just another day at the office for this veteran spokesback.

Petyon drinking gatorade

The second marketing score was on a trick play. Just as the clock was ticking to zero and all eyes and cameras were on Peyton he started to jog onto the field. But then he stopped. He turned to his left and obviously saw someone worthy of his attention. So he paused before he ran on to the field to celebrate the biggest and perhaps final moment of his career. But who would warrant a delay at such a moment? Archie Manning? John Elway? Beyonce’? Nope. The next thing we saw on camera was a hearty embrace between Peyton and John ‘Papa John’ Schnatter, The Pizza King of Louisville. Peyton obviously plays starting endorserback for Papa Johns. And he own 21 franchises in Colorado. But I was certainly surprised to see that they were close enough and brand savvy enough to get their pepperoni rally  in front of a world stage.

Peyton and Papa

The final drive was for Budweiser. After Old Man Manning won the Super Bowl the world wanted to know, “Are you going to ride off into the sunset now on your Bronco, or Colt or Buick? We waited with bated breath. But Peyton really wanted to kiss his wife and kids before he got himself a little beer breath. Which is what he said next. But not with just any beer. He said this moment called for the King of Beers, Budweiser. Twice he mentioned that he wanted to drink a bunch of Budweiser. Once in his post game interview and again on stage accepting the Lombardi Trophy. Closer examination reveals that Peyton owns a swig of two Budweiser distributors in Louisiana. Which means Peyton was going to celebrate his win by taking care of a little more business.

As you contemplate your next marketing move consider teaming up with someone who can help your brand move further faster. It doesn’t have to be a household name. Because in the social age important influencers are everywhere. They are key employees, consumers, bloggers, tweeters and YouTube celebrities. They can all be important advocates for your brands, dropping natural endorsements for you at important moments.  And the value you receive from your relationship may far exceed the investment. After all, my best performing blog post was the one Vanilla Ice retweeted. But just imagine if I could get Peyton to mention my blog …