7 Business Lessons from Super Bowl XLIX

[Dien Rice]

I enjoyed the game... for much of the game, it certainly had me on the edge of my seat!

Here are 7 business lessons I jotted down afterwards, that I learned from Super Bowl XLIX !

1. If you can succeed by picking low hanging fruit (like 1 yard to a touchdown standing between you and victory), don't risk your neck for the high, risky, hard to reach fruit - just pick the low hanging fruit! (Of course, I'm talking about the turnover right at the end of the game, which snatched defeat for the Seahawks from the hands of victory, because they arguably decided to play a "risky" play, rather than a "safer" one!)

2. Sometimes you can find good things in unexpected places, so keep your eyes open. The Seahawks' Chris Matthews was found working at a Foot Locker store, which is where he was recruited from - and he was responsible for a lot of their gains in the game!

3. "It ain't over till the fat lady sings" - or it ain't over till it's over. In this game, you first thought the Patriots had it in the bag, then you thought it was the Seahawks' game, then the Patriots were sure to win, then the Seahawks were about to win it, and finally, the Patriots came through!

3 (continued). Never give up, whether you are behind or ahead, since you never know what could happen around the corner. As was experienced by both the Patriots and the Seahawks in the game!

4. Overseas rights for the Super Bowl were separate for broadcast rights and for online streaming rights... The lesson is, monetize every channel!

5. If you make ads interesting, people will watch them and talk about them... However, they may not necessarily be effective. In my opinion, the Liam Neeson ad for the game "Clash of Clans" was both entertaining and effective. However, the Lexus ad - I had no idea what was going on there. Maybe it was just me.

More on the Super Bowl ads (graded from A to F) here...

And an earlier article (written last year), which claims to show that Super Bowl ads are mostly ineffective. In fact, some of the most-liked ads were among the least-effective at making sales. and some of the least-liked ads were among the most-effective at making sales!

Effective ads still need salesmanship...

6. There were rumors that Katy Perry would sing about the "feud" between her and Taylor Swift in her halftime show. But she didn't - which was good, I think. Why give your "rival" extra publicity?

7. You can still be successful and be "clean" - like Katy Perry's half-time show at the Super Bowl. That's in contrast to Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake's "Nipplegate" show at the Super Bowl in 2004, or M.I.A.'s "middle finger gate" at Madonna's half-time show at the Super Bowl in 2012.

As well as a pretty close and intense game, those were some extra benefits that I got out of it...

Best wishes,

Dien

Great observations Dien. Yup.....calling a Pass Play when the "Tank" was guaranteed to make that last yard was the "dumbest" play call I've ever seen.

Reminds me of something that happened with my first business (Alarm Systems) One of my sales guys had gotten ONE store of a chain of 33, to have my biz install an alarm.

After it was installed and working fine....my sales guy got an appointment to meet with the Board to get the OK to install OUR Alarms in their remaining stores.

My sales guy apparently figured this sale was "In The Bag" so....he went to the meeting wearing Levi's and a Sports Coat and no tie.

Well, 2 of the Board members were women and thought that "if the Company Rep didn't consider dressing "properly" for a Board Meeting, maybe the Company would also be remiss in other things. ....so they gave the other stores to a competitor.

I could have "wrung his neck"! It's never "In The Bag" until it's "In The Bag"!

Also.....your #5 about "Ads Being Effective"; When I sold the Alarm Co and went to selling Biz-Ops I chose to create a Sales Funnel by offering "FREE" Preview Videos where I asked prospects to pay a "Refundable Deposit" of $20 for the Video.

My initial videos were so bad I didn't call them "Gorilla" Videos.....I called mine "Jungle" Videos. Just me sitting behind a desk talking and explaining what the biz-op was about and how the viewers could profit.

For Lighting I used 2 Clampon Flood Lights.... clamped on the back of 2 chairs.

And.....that video helped me sell over 300 Biz-ops at $795 each. When I later paid an Ad Firm to produce a "Professional" video.....it didn't get a fraction of the response that my "Jungle" video got...so I went back to my first video.

My first video came off as being "Sincere and Believable"! No fancy backdrop...no fancy music...no fancy graphics...just ME.

And my "Funnel System" of getting prospects to pay a "$20 Refundable Deposit" (If they didn't want to buy the Biz-Op.....I'd refund their $20)..... was touted by some of the "Marketing Gurus" as being "Genius".

Well.....I didn't care what the Gurus thought.....I found that MOST of the people who paid $20 for the video....DID NOT REQUEST A REFUND! So, the videos, shipping and Ad expenses were paid for by the "$20 Refundable Deposit".

Also.....
1) the initial Ads asked interested parties to "Call a FREE Recorded Message".....(Knowing they could get more info WITHOUT having to talk to a Sales Person, allayed their fears)
2) where they heard a 2 minute message asking anyone interested in receiving more info.....to "Leave Their Mailing Address at the Sound of the Beep"....
3) where I Mailed them a 4 page Sales Letter promoting the Biz-op and requesting the "$20 Refundable Deposit" for the Video...
4) whereupon I mailed my Videos with a Sales Letter and an Order Form for the Biz-Op (This was b4 PayPal)

Thus.....that was my "Sales Funnel" that helped me become "Independent".

Even though THIS is years later....I firmly believe that this SAME Sales Funnel could STILL be effective.....although I'd use PayPal nowadays.

Have a great day.....Don Alm