Super Bowl Ads Fail To Deliver On The Night.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I am a Steelers fan.

The Super Bowl has now come and gone. There was certainly plenty of chatter about the commercials but did any cut through the clutter? Did any stick?

I thought a couple were clever: Hyundai, Castrol, Coke with the bugs in the park; the Wes Anderson-esque one for cars.com(?), I think Careerbuilder.com might have had a good one too.

Can any of the Super Bowl advertisers keep momentum going with online activations? I think that’s going to be tough. The game itself was very exciting, so no one is saying, “Well, the game was a dud, but what about those commercials?”  Between the game, the economy, the million and one other things going on in this world and you wonder if anything that aired last night will resonate beyond its initial context.

Here’s a look at various Super Bowl Ad reviews/ratings:

Jeremiah Owyang

USA Today

Ad Rants

DJ Francis

PSFK & WSJ Fail to Score TD

I’m a big fan of PSFK and I respect the work of the Wall St. Journal, so I appreciated their takes on the impact of new logos for NFL teams. But I think they missed a key concept. The premise of the article is that in recent years teams like the New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks, Tamba Bay Buccaneers and this year’s NFC Super Bowl entrant, the Arizona Cardinals have updated their logos and that their subsequent success may not be a coincidence. I would add that going back even further the Cincinnatti Bengals also updated their look shortly before going to the Super Bowl. How much of a difference did it make to the success of the team? It’s hard to say, but the WSJ hints that anecdotal evidence would seem to suggest it had some effect. None of those teams had been to a Super Bowl before they changed logos. I undersand were just talking football here, and not something serious like “real” business, but a deeper analysis was probably in order. That deeper analysis would have turned up a couple of other points worth factoring in:

New logos? Or new talent = Super Bowl

Image courtesy of the Wall St. Journal

 

Like what about the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants and Indianapolis Colts – the last three Super Bowl winners (and the Steelers are in it again this year) – teams that have had the same logo since their inceptions – and have by and large been successful franchises. Is staying with tradition as likely to generate success as making a change?

But perhaps more importantly, what other changes did these teams make around the same time they changed their logos?

A little research would show that other factors may have played a larger role in their turnaround than simply a changed logo. For instance, new ownership and a new coach in Tampa Bay. A new coach and player upgrades in Arizona and New England. It’s also important to remember that the NFL is set up differently than regular business. Poor performing teams are given advantages – higher draft choices, easier schedules – that can contribute to improved performance.

This article, which I’m sure was written by the WSJ and supported by PSFK was written with lighthearted intention, but it really does illuminate an important issue. Plenty of brands try to change their fortunes with cosmetic changes like new taglines, different colors and yes, altered logos. But real change – in leadership, in talent – are what leads the way to increased performance – whether we are talking about the NFL or the Fortune 500. The logo change can have benefits like increased merchandise sales and even a new fan perception, but it’s not taking you to the Super Bowl.

What Brand Managers Can Learn From The Pittsburgh Steelers

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin photo by Matt Freed/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Full disclosure: I’m a Pittsburgh Steelers fan. Have been since the late-70s. The NFL and several its teams have done a great job of distinguishing themselves and creating strong brands. The Raiders, Cowboys and Packers are all great examples of teams with unique personalities, or really, brands. But I think the Steelers may be the best example for brand marketers. You can make an argument they are the most successful franchise in the NFL (if they win the Super Bowl in two weeks, they will have won more than any other team). Let’s take a look at several of the lessons the Steelers can teach us:

 

1. Stable ownership

While many pro sports teams have been bought and sold several times over in recent decades, the Steelers have been owned by the Rooney family since the teams founding in 1933. But it is more than just that, the Rooney’s have been smart enough to not only hire the right people, but to then get out of their way. In an era when so many owners think they are the most important part of the team, the Rooneys have quietly watched from the sidelines as their teams keep winning and winning.

The Lesson: Stick to what you know best, hire the best people and let them do their jobs.

2. Continuity matters

Since 1969 the Pittsburgh Steelers have had three head coaches: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and now Mike Tomlin. All three coaches have taken the team to the Super Bowl. There were times when it would have been easy to fire Noll or Cowher, but management stuck with them and it paid dividends. We live in a “what have you done for me lately” world, especially in sports. But developing a winning team, in sports or business, takes a little time.

The Lesson: Sometimes success takes a little time, but altering course three years into a five year plan only puts you back at square one.

3. Know your market, know yourself

It’s interesting to watch teams from New York or L.A. get caught up making player moves just to get media attention. Or to see a team from try to one up its rival. The people in Pittsburgh aren’t flashy, don’t want to be flashy and don’t particularly like players who are flashy. As a result, you rarely hear about Steelers players writing books, starring in movies or dating supermodels. And when too much celebrity came to QB Ben Roethlisberger, the football Gods punished him with a motorcycle accident and an apendectomy. Big Ben learned his lesson the hard way. But the Steelers are a reflection of their city, and as such, have been, are and will always been synonymous with the city.

The Lesson: Understand your consumer and make your brand a reflection of what they respect and admire.

4. Don’t rely on the cult of personality, build on the strength of component parts

It’s funny how Ben Roethlisberger doesn’t get credit, because the defense is so good. And head coach Mike Tomlin doesn’t get credit because he stepped in to a winning situation. And the defense is so good because of the coordinator, Dick LeBeau. Or is LeBeau so good because of the players on the field? I’ve been following the Steelers for 30 years, and they’ve had plenty of great players, but never one that has stood head and shoulders above the rest of the team, like say Peyton Manning in Indianapolis or John Elway in Denver (both great players and very good franchises). The Steelers have always been team first and that’s why they have 17 players/coaches in the Hall of Fame, because they all made themselves and each other better.

The Lesson: Having a strong team beats having one superstar. Football, like business, is too complicated, with too many specialized skills, for one person to do it all. As great as Steve Jobs is, what’s going to happen when he steps away from Apple? (Best wishes to him during this current health scare.)

5. Understand the fundamentals of your business

Since 1972 the Steelers have had seven losing seasons. During that same time period the legendary Green Bay Packers have had 14 losing seasons. The Steelers success is based on their understanding of how football has worked since its inception: stop the other team and successfully run the ball. You can add other elements, like win the turnover battle, but really it’s run the ball, and have a great defense. That was the formula for their Super Bowl victories in the 1970s and it’s what they rely on today.

The Lesson: Focus on the two most important elements for achieving success, and don’t worry about everything else.

Stability, Continuity, Understand, Teamwork & Fundamentals. The foundation of a great team, the foundation of a great brand