Author: Robert Steele

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What is Your Super Bowl Commercial?

The NFL sent this football to every high school in America where one of their former students had played in a Super Bowl. I was privileged to receive a phone call from the principal of Hardaway High School, Matt Bell letting me know he had just received this from the NFL. I was not aware the NFL was doing that. This was sent prior to Super Bowl L (50).

Each year, following Super Bowl XIII (13), I reflect on my experience of the game and how much my life has changed over the years. Yes, they are getting ready to play Super Bowl LIV (54). I do not even like to do that math anymore, 54-13= “I cannot remember”. It is better looking at it in Roman numerals rather than years…..

I now look at the Super Bowl more like an out of body experience, almost not believing I got to play in a Super Bowl game.

Inevitably, my mind always moves back to the business of the game, the financial impact the game has on the city where each Super Bowl is hosted and more importantly the Super Bowl commercials.

No one cared much about Super Bowl commercials in those early years. The cost for a 30-second ad in Super Bowl I was $37,500 dollars. In Super Bowl XIII, it was $185,000. Today, it is $5,600,000 which is not that much money if you say it fast as my father used to say.

This is a pretty good investment of money for 30 seconds of airtime. Speaking of saying it quickly, that is only $186,000 per second.

The interesting thing about this is that is just the cost of air time. That does not include the cost of production of the commercial itself, which could be a million or more dollars. Now, you are talking about serious money for getting your message to an audience of more than 115 million people.

Fox Sports and the Fox Brand will make a significant haul this weekend. The final estimates are close to $550 million dollars in pre-game, during the game and post-game commercials.

The game is always the draw for the fans and sponsors. The halftime show is now an ‘over-the-top’ experience each year because each entertainer or entertainers wants this to be a statement for themselves. Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson made a statement a few years ago that everyone still talks about.

The commercials are a show in itself. Every company that buys an ad is making its own statement. A statement about their product they are promoting but also how the company can connect with the audience. The number one commercial is the Mean Joe Green commercial, which we all remember that is was a Coca Cola ad featuring one of the toughest football players with a young fan when the fan offered Mean Joe Green his Coca Cola in one of those twelve-ounce bottles. Mean Joe turned it down as he was limping to the locker room. The fan was persistent and Mean Joe finally took his offer and swallowed the entire bottle in one swig. As the fan turned away, Mean Joe turned around and said. hey kid, here catch”, offering his game-worn Pittsburgh Steelers jersey. The kid was elated. That commercial was aired in the 1980 Super Bowl and it is still the number one commercial.

There have been plenty of bad commercials as well. The worst and I would bet no one reading this will remember it. But, Nationwide, a company and brand that hardly ever makes a mistake made a big blunder with this one. Nationwide showed a child, that had died, promoting their life insurance, that this child would not get to experience the Super Bowl or anything else because of his premature death. The commercial bombed and Nationwide apologized to the world for its’ mistake.

The interesting about each Super Bowl game, halftime and commercials is the experience and for those whose team is in the game, they remember every element. For the average fan, which I am today, is more about the entertaining element. I always watch the commercials because of the advertising value and the education I receive as I analyze each commercial.

My question to each company, each CEO, every salesperson, and even every CFO is this. What is your Super Bowl commercial? More importantly, what is the value of your Super Bowl ad?

Almost every time I ask someone about their Super Bowl commercial, I am immediately met with the response, “oh, you mean my elevator pitch”. NO, I am not talking about that. An elevator pitch is 30 – 45 seconds as you ride up an elevator or at a bar or cocktail party. An elevator pitch needs to be a quick intro of you, the name of your company, and the product you sell and a one-sentence statement about something unique about you, your company or your product. Nothing more. The next statement out of your mouth needs to be, ” and how about you?’. This does not matter if you are Ain an elevator, a bar trying to score points or at a cocktail party where very few people really care who you are or what you do. Am I right?

No, your Super Bowl commercial is much different than that. Here is the best news of all. When you ask a prospect to lunch, have a 30-minute meeting scheduled or even a scheduled introductory call, you have about five minutes to get your guest to engage or the worst fear of all is to have your guest, also known as your next best prospect, check out of the conversation. We all know when it happens.

I once had a competitor come up to me at a cocktail party, he was trying to make a point and try and shame me, and make a bold statement in front of a few of his friends. He said, “I bet that ring, pointing to my Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl XIII NFC Championship ring, gets you in a lot of doors. I quickly said, to his embarrassment, You know, John, you are right. It has gotten me in a few doors. But, you know what else, it has not kept me in a single one”. He quickly departed because he knew I had kicked his butt on a few deals he desperately needed.

What did I mean by that? I was referring to my Super Bowl commercial. Yes, I have guys and gals ask me about my sports background. The people who know me also know I do not wear that on my sleeve or speak about it unless asked. After the normal pleasantries. your guest, also known as a prospect, is more interested in how you can help them or their company. Everything else is a waste of time.

My Super Bowl commercial is always about three to five minutes long, well written, practiced over and over, and delivered as if I was on TV in front of a national audience. The best news of all is that it does not cost me millions to prepare, nor millions more to air on TV. This is my story, my moment to share this story and a very short attention span of my guest or prospect.

Please do not think of this as an elevator pitch.

This is also what you want to use during a job interview, an approach to the opposite sex, your boss asking for your next raise or for the guys when you ask your potential father in law for his daughter’s hand in marriage.

Let me say this could be construed as a “sales pitch”. Yes, it could be that. But, I believe it is much more than that. For the CEO, who may read this, this is something every single person in the company should be able to state when they are out in the public eye. I believe that every person, employed by a company, represents that company no matter if they are at a cocktail party, at a sports game, other social events or even a family reunion.

As you watch the game this weekend, it will be a great game, enjoy all the three elements of the day. The game, halftime and the commercials. Especially the commercials. Put yourself in the shoes of the executive and the creative staff that is anxiously waiting for their commercial to air. Will it one a hit? Will it bomb? Will they remember which company made the ad? Will it generate more sales. An investment of $7 million dollars to tell the world who you are or why your company is the bomb, your job could be on the line.

More importantly, when you call in sick on Monday, more than 1.5 million of us will, sit down and write out your Super Bowl commercial. It will not cost you seven million. But, it could make you seven million. The next job, the next few sales or even the next promotion could earn you millions. It has worked for me.

Let me conclude that putting together a Super Bowl commercial, that becomes a game-changer for a company, is hard work. So it will be to create your Super Bowl commercial. You may do this for you personally, your company to use for every salesperson or every employee as they represent you in the public square. Mr. or Ms. CEO. every person in your company is in sales whether you now or even believe it.

If you would like help in creating your Super Bowl commercial, send me a note. You can reach me at robert@mympb.com. I teach people how to fish, so they are fed for life. If you want to join our team send me a note as well. If you are a CEO and want to learn how to get your entire team to act as a part of your sales team, I would be happy to have a call as well. Life is fun. Learn to enjoy the journey.

Robert H Steele

Robert Steele has 40 years of Insurance, Employee Benefits, Healthcare, and Technology experience as a sales and marketing executive. Robert’s biggest asset is his ability to take companies in transition and turn them around when sales, marketing or product development was causing financial or operational bottlenecks.

 

 

 

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What I Learned from Landry, Reeves and Ditka by Robert H. Steele, CLU, ChFC December  2003

 

NAHU member Robert Steele played wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XIII and also held for extra points and field goals. His accomplishments in the insurance and benefits industry and his management, sales and organizational experiences very much mirror the discipline, single-mindedness and preparation that earned him a position on America’s Team. Mr. Steele is the founder and CEO of PrimeWire, an employee benefits technology company. He is listed as an active member in the Yearbook of Experts for delivering motivational sales speeches to the insurance and financial services industries. He is also noted for his inspirational speech titled “Dream Big Dreams,” which illustrates the steps to achieving innumerous goals.

Mr. Steele produced Million-Dollar Round Table production credits every year he was in personal production, beginning in 1981. He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives in 1988 and served in the Georgia House in 1989 and 1990. He earned his bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of North Alabama. You can contact him at rsteele@primewire.com.
Robert H Steele

Twenty-five years ago I graduated from the University of North Alabama with a degree in marketing. I didn’t know it then, but my first job would teach me more about business than I had ever learned in college. It would also help train me for all of my other jobs as well. Everybody’s first job should be like that.

In their particular market, the number-one organization in America offered me the opportunity to try out for employment. They did not guarantee me employment. I had to compete with 15 other people for the same position and work at least 70 hours per week without overtime before I was moved off of probation. The company was the World Champion Dallas Cowboys, who had just beaten the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII in January 1978.

I had played wide receiver in college and was All Gulf-South Conference my senior year. But I was not selected to play in any of the college all-star games. My football days were coming to a close. I was about to graduate and had no clue what I was going to do. Just six weeks from graduation one of my coaches called me into his office to tell me he had a job interview for me. A scout was in town to watch game films. He would put me through some drills and time me in the 40-yard dash. How about that for an initial job interview?

Within six weeks, 69 other free agent players and I had signed contracts to report to work. Along with 12 draft choices, we would fight for exactly five roster spots. Some odds!

Training camp lasted six long, hard weeks. It was a time of testing to determine both if your skills measured up and if you could stand up mentally to the task. Players were asked to learn their positions, all assignments, given new tasks the night before, and asked to perform them the next day without mistakes. Dreams were on the line, every day, and tensions flared.

Sixty-nine players were sent home and told to get a real job. Fortunately for me, I was the only free agent to make the team. Among the several notable players and free agents who did not make the team that year was Brian Billick, now the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens. One year later, I was sent off to the Minnesota Vikings. A year after that, I too was told to go find a real job.

But in my first job, I learned more from my manager and supervisors than can be shared in one article. The entire organization was first rate – a real blueprint for success. The people in key positions were given the responsibility to carry out their assignments. I just had to open my eyes and take it all in.

The management structure was very similar to most businesses. Mike Ditka was my manager; his manager was Dan Reeves. Dan Reeves’ boss and my ultimate boss was Tom Landry. I was able to spend time with each, in a variety of situations, and learn from the masters of the business. I did not know that what they were teaching me was about much more than football — it was about business and life in general.

Mike Ditka taught me about having passion for my job. You can only enjoy your work if you pursue it full speed with carefree abandon, and let tomorrow take care of itself. Without Ditka, I would not have learned to go full speed on every play, every day. In games and at practice, he inspired me to work harder, outperform others who were more talented, and make the most of each day. He believed in me and I worked my butt off for him. Ditka taught me about persistence and passion and being aggressive in everything I do. This made me a good football player but a better salesman.

Dan Reeves’ lessons were totally different. He taught me about the mental aspect of the game. Reeves inspired me to become a lifelong learner. His teaching skills and encouragement, combined with his lead-by-example-approach, showed me how to outwork and outsmart the competition. He taught me that talent only goes so far and that a free agent can be as good as or better than a draft choice.

Dan Reeves was a free agent, like me, who grew up near my hometown of Columbus, Georgia.  In fact, he often joked in training camp that it was his family from home, and not he, who was pulling for me to make the team. Dan Reeves taught me to be a good football player but a better manager of people.

Without even knowing he was teaching a course, Tom Landry taught me things not found in any MBA textbook. Landry’s philosophy, as head coach or CEO, was to coach the coaches (his senior staff) and let the coaches take care of coaching their direct reports – the players. This was at times misinterpreted as his being aloof from the players. As CEO, he created the vision, put together the game plan for execution, then trained the coaches on their responsibility to teach their individual players their overall assignments. It’s a winning philosophy. He proved it.

The training camp process was similar to rolling out a new product every year. First, goals had to be established. With input from his coaches and players, Coach Landry would create the team’s goals and write them on a chalkboard. All team members were also responsible for establishing personal goals, which had to be in complete accord with the overall team goals. Once the team goals were established, Landry got buy-in from each team member to be 100% responsible for helping the team accomplish our collective goals.

One of the more interesting learning experiences from my season with the Cowboys came from the motivational thoughts that were posted all over the locker room and practice fields. Landry would use motivational phrases from time to time to emphasize a particular point. At the end of one practice, he was talking about the game plan for the upcoming NFC Championship game against the Los Angeles Rams. One of the players questioned the amount of preparation for a particular play we were working on. Coach Landry paused and said, “I would rather be lucky than good. Isn’t it interesting that the better-prepared team always seems to have the ball bounce their way?”

That idea captures the heart of the Cowboys: Establish goals for every season, put the best team you can on the field, be overly prepared for every situation, know your competition, anticipate every move and take advantage of every opportunity! This is why the Cowboys became known as America’s Team. They were the first to use computers to analyze the tendencies of their opponents. They were adamant in building from within through the draft, not trading for players. And they demanded the utmost from every member of the organization.

Coach Landry taught me how to be a good football player and, more important, how to be a better CEO. He taught me how to lead by getting all levels involved. He taught me how to manage expectations of my direct reports and theirs. He also taught me that proper preparation prevents poor performance.

This on-the-job training in my first job was the best I could have ever received. My sales career, and ultimately my business career, was forever shaped by my first three supervisors.

The ability to participate in a large, dynamically successful organization taught me more about business and life in general than I ever learned in a classroom. I am a better salesman because of Mike Ditka. I am a better manager because of Dan Reeves. I am definitely a better CEO because of Tom Landry.

Earning the right to wear the silver and blue in Super Bowl XIII taught me to respect the game and seize every moment. My business career was forever shaped by Landry, Reeves and Ditka!

Thank you for visiting our blog.

I hope you enjoyed our point of view and would like to receive regular posts directly to your email inbox.  Toward this end, put your contact information on my mailing list.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read.  Your input is very important to me so; please leave a comment.

Jim Weber – Managing Partner, ITB Partners

Jim Weber, Managing Partner

ITB PARTNERS

Jim.Weber@itbpartners.com

North Fulton Business RadioX Interview, September  26, 2019

Author of: Fighting Alligators, Job Search Strategy For The New Normal