Speaker 1: Welcome back to another episode of Possible Now. Today we
Speaker 1: are diving deep into the world of one of the
Speaker 1: most iconic brands on the planet, the NFL, and who
Speaker 1: better to join us than the man at the helm
Speaker 1: of its innovative marketing strategies, Tim Ellis, who is the
Speaker 1: executive vice president and Chief Marketing Officer of the NFL.
Speaker 1: Tim is not just redefining how the NFL engages with
Speaker 1: fans across the globe. He's a trailblazer in blending creativity,
Speaker 1: culture and cutting edge technology to make America's game a
Speaker 1: worldwide phenomenon. From unforgettable Super Bowl campaigns to redefining fan
Speaker 1: experiences in the digital age. Tim's vision and leadership have
Speaker 1: pushed the boundaries of what sports marketing can achieve. But
Speaker 1: today's conversation isn't just about marketing, playbox and brand wins.
Speaker 1: It's about the passion behind this, and we will explore
Speaker 1: Tim's journey, the lessons he's learned, and his vision for
Speaker 1: the future of the NFL. Whether you're a diehard football fan,
Speaker 1: or a marketing and to the s or just someone
Speaker 1: who loves hearing from brilliant minds, you want one to
Speaker 1: visit so grab your headphones, settle in and get ready
Speaker 1: to be inspired by one of the marketing world's MVPs,
Speaker 1: Tim Ellis, Tim a One, Welcome to our Possible Now podcast.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Christian, that was quite quite an introduction. I
Speaker 2: appreciate that. Glad to be here with you.
Speaker 1: Awesome, awesome Tim, when I spent a couple of minutes
Speaker 1: of course to be prepared for our conversation today and
Speaker 1: read your fascinating summary what you did so far over
Speaker 1: the last decades, and of course there's more to come.
Speaker 1: This is super impressive. As I learned, you started on
Speaker 1: the creative agency side. You know, you work for two
Speaker 1: famous global car manufacturer brands in the marketing department.
Speaker 3: You led the marketing department.
Speaker 1: You enter the gaming and entertainment world at Activision, and
Speaker 1: then of course you change industries, but still you are
Speaker 1: in the gaming and entertainment world with NFL. I'm normly
Speaker 1: kicking off, you know, my podcast with a personal anecdote sometimes,
Speaker 1: you know, I know I have something in common with
Speaker 1: my guests here in your case before talking about NFL marketing,
Speaker 1: and you have visions ten us a bit more, maybe
Speaker 1: something personal. Your life revolves around the NFL. But I'm
Speaker 1: sure there's another passion you know in your life, or
Speaker 1: maybe several. Are you, for example, I don't know, Let's
Speaker 1: say a secret music style you know, and we can
Speaker 1: find you on a stage, you know, every Friday night
Speaker 1: in a club. Or are you someone you know who
Speaker 1: runs ten marathons a year? Is there anything you want
Speaker 1: to share with us? People don't know about you yet.
Speaker 2: I think probably the most surprising thing people don't realize
Speaker 2: is that the way I started my career was not
Speaker 2: in advertising and marketing or anything that is traditional at all.
Speaker 2: I was an actor. I was a stage actor for
Speaker 2: a few years, and then after that, all right, I
Speaker 2: decided that I was going to go out and not
Speaker 2: just see the world, but I was going to experience
Speaker 2: it in a way to where I could dive deep
Speaker 2: into cultures and live in different countries and do various
Speaker 2: jobs along the way. So most people don't know that,
Speaker 2: but I started out studying and learning how to fence,
Speaker 2: you know, if I was a fencer. I learned in Paris,
Speaker 2: and I studied French and comparative literature there and then
Speaker 2: I just didn't want to go home, so I kept
Speaker 2: moving my way around the world for the next five years.
Speaker 2: And you know, I taught English, I worked on oil
Speaker 2: rigs in Norway. I throw tractors in the Middle East.
Speaker 2: I was an actor and model in Tokyo. I worked
Speaker 2: on a cruise ship as a bartender for a few years.
Speaker 2: I did a lot of very interesting jow where again,
Speaker 2: I think I got to really explore and experience the
Speaker 2: world in a very special way. And I think that's
Speaker 2: a lot of what I've learned in terms of the
Speaker 2: connectivity between people and how to sort of like communicate
Speaker 2: on a human level has really that's really helped me,
Speaker 2: I think see the world way first of all.
Speaker 1: Definitely one of those who didn't know all about this,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure most of our audience as well, but
Speaker 1: this is super impressive. So you're recognized as being the
Speaker 1: driving force behind some of the most innovative and award
Speaker 1: winning marketing campaigns in the US and across Europe, and
Speaker 1: you received tons of different awards, like you became the
Speaker 1: Marketer of the Year by at Age, you recognized as
Speaker 1: a top Cemobile adwagan at age you want emmys? I mean,
Speaker 1: tell us our awards really important and if it's not
Speaker 1: for you personally, is it important to be recognized what
Speaker 1: you and your teams and together with the agencies, what
Speaker 1: are you doing here?
Speaker 3: Is this an important thing?
Speaker 2: Well? I do think awards are important for the team,
Speaker 2: uh and to you know, sort of assess your own
Speaker 2: capabilities and performance outside you know, your own your own industry.
Speaker 2: So we pride in the recognition that we received from
Speaker 2: sort of the marketing world overall, not just a sports
Speaker 2: industry segment, but you know, overall in marketing. And then
Speaker 2: of course know it's important to our teams to really
Speaker 2: see and to recognize that we are really breakthrough stuff
Speaker 2: and that we are being heralded is some of the
Speaker 2: best in the business, and that's important. I think it
Speaker 2: also just drives excitement and the culture, right the culture
Speaker 2: is just so important between our own groups inside the
Speaker 2: NFL as well as right with our with our core
Speaker 2: partners or our long partner right today is seventy two
Speaker 2: and Sunny and they have a lot of brands and
Speaker 2: they do a lot of standout work, but I think
Speaker 2: some of the some of their most proud moments within
Speaker 2: the industry have been with the NFL and before that
Speaker 2: with Activision. I work with them with Activision for seven
Speaker 2: years as well. And of course what we do and
Speaker 2: what really matters is how we're moving the business, we're
Speaker 2: driving the business, how we're capturing people's hearts and minds,
Speaker 2: how we're really getting people, in one way or another
Speaker 2: to think differently about our brand and about associating and
Speaker 2: engaging with our brand.
Speaker 3: That's awesome, that's all.
Speaker 1: And there's plenty to talk about because as you said,
Speaker 1: there were not just many awards, but also so incredible
Speaker 1: stuff we have to share with our audience. Before we
Speaker 1: do this, let's dig in a bit, so you will
Speaker 1: come to Possible end of April and Miami Beach. When
Speaker 1: we invented Possible as an event for the industry, we
Speaker 1: thought about, Okay, it has to be we feel it
Speaker 1: has to be at the intersection of marketing, technology and culture,
Speaker 1: both from the business perspective but also from a consumer perspective,
Speaker 1: from your CMO perspective. Is this kind of complexity we
Speaker 1: are facing today? Is there anything missing or would you say, okay,
Speaker 1: one of these pillars, if you would agree, is more
Speaker 1: important than others. So how do you look into your
Speaker 1: today's work and the complexity which is obviously you know
Speaker 1: ahead of us even more than ever before.
Speaker 2: I think the way, what will you ask what is missing?
Speaker 2: I think, to me, what is missing? That is there
Speaker 2: be this notion that you have to make a choice
Speaker 2: and dive deep into one of those areas, whether it
Speaker 2: be culture, technology or high creativity. And I think that
Speaker 2: how you bring all that together and how you keep
Speaker 2: your eye on, you know, connecting with other human beings
Speaker 2: in an impactful way is really what it's all about.
Speaker 2: And a lot of that has to do with, you know,
Speaker 2: leveraging and harnessing technology right to provide experiences and to
Speaker 2: you know, create storytelling that just hasn't been seen before. Right.
Speaker 2: That is really a surprise to people in terms of
Speaker 2: how you bring it to them. So I don't really
Speaker 2: look at the world as like making a choice or
Speaker 2: you know, there seems to be this thing today amongst
Speaker 2: successful cmos they're either data people or their brand people.
Speaker 2: And I think, you know, you have to be both,
Speaker 2: you know, and you should not in any way shy
Speaker 2: away from things you don't know. Listen, I have an
Speaker 2: incredible team that works with me, and I don't even
Speaker 2: begin to think that I know what they know, right.
Speaker 2: I hired them because of how good they are, and
Speaker 2: I sort of let them loose and do their thing.
Speaker 2: And you know, do I every day I try to
Speaker 2: grasp more about the world when it comes to technology
Speaker 2: and culture. Yes, I do. I'm a very curious person
Speaker 2: and so one of the things that gives me joy
Speaker 2: in life is just to find out and to explore
Speaker 2: things that I don't know. So I just think that
Speaker 2: it's important that that cmos and the marketers really look
Speaker 2: at what's at their fingertips and try to like Hartist,
Speaker 2: and leverage it to sort of focus on the things
Speaker 2: that really matter, which is really creating some level of
Speaker 2: intimacy with their fan base or with their audiences, depending
Speaker 2: on your industry.
Speaker 1: And at the same time, I think we, of course
Speaker 1: we all agree that you know, the audiences are and
Speaker 1: their behaviors are changing grammatically because of those kind of trends,
Speaker 1: the media landscape is changing grammatically. So if you consider this,
Speaker 1: I mean, since you joined NFL in twenty eighteen, you
Speaker 1: focus on growing and redefining what it means to be
Speaker 1: a football fan. You stepped in and I've read an
Speaker 1: articular the way you said you felt immediately you know
Speaker 1: something which was hitting you was you needed to connect
Speaker 1: with your fans and with the players, and between the
Speaker 1: fans and the players even better, So considering reaching out
Speaker 1: to new audiences. I think you've mentioned jen Z fans,
Speaker 1: the Latino community, and women are really important for the
Speaker 1: NFL specifically. How do you balance staying true to the
Speaker 1: NFL's legacy while also appealing to new and more diverse audiences.
Speaker 1: How do you do this? I mean, you made the
Speaker 1: players and therefore the sport more visible for everybody, but
Speaker 1: how do you envision this for the new future.
Speaker 2: I really look at it sort of as a strategy
Speaker 2: which has two core areas of focus, right, yeah, And
Speaker 2: one is to celebrate the joy of the game and
Speaker 2: the heritage and the excitement and the adrenaline and all
Speaker 2: that goes along with professional football. And then on the
Speaker 2: other hand, we transcend the game and we connect with
Speaker 2: people in a much more human, compassionate way. And then
Speaker 2: we sort of bring all that together is one strong, coherent,
Speaker 2: modern brand. And I think that, you know, you have
Speaker 2: to make sure that there's a connective tissue across all that.
Speaker 2: And I think that what's really there is it's all
Speaker 2: about passion and humanity and the notion that sports but
Speaker 2: particularly the NFL is a uniter, right, we bring people together.
Speaker 2: That is our strength. And some of that is to
Speaker 2: create an escape and joy, right right. And then some
Speaker 2: of that is to be provocative and to make people
Speaker 2: rethink and to consider some of the choices that they
Speaker 2: have and the notions that they have. And I think
Speaker 2: that the way that we've worked together with our players
Speaker 2: has really made the difference in terms of since I've
Speaker 2: been here at the NFL. We came in sort of
Speaker 2: with a very clear vision of what the NFL needed
Speaker 2: to do from a brand perspective and from the perspectives
Speaker 2: around how do you connect with broader, wider audio instances,
Speaker 2: and that was simply to have the players be the
Speaker 2: face of the game, right you can you provide a
Speaker 2: more human expression and more compassionate expression of the game,
Speaker 2: and you sort of like provide a sort of a
Speaker 2: deeper level of understanding of the game through these players,
Speaker 2: because when you get behind the things that they really
Speaker 2: care about, and obviously a lot of that is around
Speaker 2: the sportard itself in there as all of us. They
Speaker 2: have all kinds of passions and interests, and so you know,
Speaker 2: understanding what makes a player tick and what he really
Speaker 2: cares about, and that could be anything from a video
Speaker 2: game to fashion, to music to an important cause. That
Speaker 2: they have a foundation for. All of these things are
Speaker 2: what makes them special and unique. And so by really
Speaker 2: getting behind these players and having them be the face
Speaker 2: of the NFL and a helmets ov strategy, right, that's
Speaker 2: really made a huge difference and how people per see
Speaker 2: the NFL and how they've been willing to reconsider and
Speaker 2: engage with us.
Speaker 1: Understand So, But at the same time we talk about
Speaker 1: technology trends. Obviously you came in, and I mean NFL
Speaker 1: already was and of course even more in today's time,
Speaker 1: is one of the biggest sport platforms in the world.
Speaker 3: But you also helped to furthermore digitalize.
Speaker 1: The whole sport, right you came in, and I mean
Speaker 1: if you reach out for any kind of content, you
Speaker 1: see NFL everywhere on not just every device, in any
Speaker 1: kind of distribution channel.
Speaker 3: I'll call it like this.
Speaker 1: So, with a changing media landscape in mind, you are
Speaker 1: on screening platform, social media, short form content and this
Speaker 1: helped at the same time.
Speaker 3: To be able to reach out to new audiences as well.
Speaker 1: Is this the case or was it more the approach,
Speaker 1: as you described before, make the players and therefore the
Speaker 1: sport more visible for the audience.
Speaker 3: Was it an independent approach here?
Speaker 2: It's helped in a number of ways, and a lot
Speaker 2: of our choices that we've made has really been keeping
Speaker 2: a keen eye on the youth segment, right yea. We
Speaker 2: look at when I say youth, we look at it
Speaker 2: from five to twelve and then from you know, thirteen
Speaker 2: to twenty four essentially. And I think that when you
Speaker 2: talk about technology, some of that can be done with
Speaker 2: the sort of expression of the game itself, like an
Speaker 2: all cast like you may have seen Toy Story last year,
Speaker 2: where we took the technology that we actually use in
Speaker 2: our health and safety program, which is quite frankly, it's
Speaker 2: just like a chip and the shoulder pad and then
Speaker 2: the mouthpiece, and by doing that we are able to
Speaker 2: bring the game to life in a toy story setting,
Speaker 2: so and you all the characters were actually watching and
Speaker 2: cheering on the game in real time, so you saw
Speaker 2: an animated expression of the game in real time that
Speaker 2: was just so fun and so fascinating that yes, kids
Speaker 2: loved it, but also their parents did as well. This
Speaker 2: year we did the exact same approach with the same technology,
Speaker 2: but we did it with the sientsence again a ton
Speaker 2: of fun and you even saw some of the Simpson
Speaker 2: characters who were playing as the you know, the actual
Speaker 2: players in the game and score, you know, all kinds
Speaker 2: of wonderful things. And so that's that's one example of
Speaker 2: how we really we look deep and hard about how
Speaker 2: do you leverage technology to to sort of surprise and
Speaker 2: delight audiences in a way that they never imagined. Right,
Speaker 2: And then you can look at in a very simple
Speaker 2: form in terms of our distribution, right, like we've made
Speaker 2: some major moves and I've been fortunate to be here
Speaker 2: as a part of that, but we made some major
Speaker 2: moves since I got here in terms of like how
Speaker 2: we've broadened out our distribution from linear TV to a
Speaker 2: number of streaming services.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: The most recent beings where we had two games on
Speaker 2: Christmas which went all over the world, not just in
Speaker 2: the US, but it was a great sort of level
Speaker 2: of distribution worldwide, and even some of our traditional partners
Speaker 2: like NBC we have Peacock, right, and so whether it
Speaker 2: be Amazon where we have you know, went into having
Speaker 2: Thursday night football there as an ongoing basis we've really,
Speaker 2: I think, taken very courageous leaps into that side of
Speaker 2: the world, because if you think about it, you want
Speaker 2: to be where your audiences are. Right. We've been able
Speaker 2: to do is not only bring the audiences that we
Speaker 2: had previously to that in terms of numbers of linear TV,
Speaker 2: so we're getting like TV like audiences if you will,
Speaker 2: or bigger in these streaming services. But at the same time,
Speaker 2: we're lowering our age significantly of the average viewer and
Speaker 2: the average fan, and that, of course is really important.
Speaker 2: When I first came to the NFL, I started sort
Speaker 2: of ringing the bell of urgency immediately that like, we're
Speaker 2: aging out, we have got to sort of focus on
Speaker 2: our youngest segments. And what we're going to do for
Speaker 2: us is like, in the short term and the long term,
Speaker 2: we're going to you know, rejuvenate the brand and we're
Speaker 2: going to get younger fans in who will help us
Speaker 2: stay modern and relevant. But it's also going to give
Speaker 2: a sense of energy, an excitement and adrenaline to the
Speaker 2: sport itself as well that you segment is. And so
Speaker 2: let's from those two perspectives, let's really embrace our youngest
Speaker 2: audiences and you know, we learned that our older, more
Speaker 2: mature audiences enjoyed that as well. Right, So obviously there
Speaker 2: are certain channels that you can speak to that you know,
Speaker 2: you're going to get the right, right mix of your segments.
Speaker 2: But we also saw that our more mature, older white
Speaker 2: male was also excited about a lot of the things
Speaker 2: that we were doing.
Speaker 1: And flag football is obviously part of that strategy, right,
Speaker 1: I mean you your emphasis you know on flag football.
Speaker 1: L marketing is reshaping how the lead connects with fans
Speaker 1: as well. And as we all know, it becomes part
Speaker 1: of the Olympics in twenty twenty eight in LA. But
Speaker 1: tell me, because I'm not sure, is it just a
Speaker 1: demonstration a sport in LA or will it become a
Speaker 1: permanent part of the Olympics.
Speaker 2: Well, we hope that will. But you have, you know,
Speaker 2: you have each Olympics, they have their own assessment of
Speaker 2: what they're going to keep.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, even before the games in twenty eight, we will
Speaker 2: have to make our way in, if you will, for
Speaker 2: the Australian Olympics.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So that's so we're in deep discussions with them, and
Speaker 2: you know, we're very confident and optimistic about that. Hopefully
Speaker 2: it all works out the way we hope, and like
Speaker 2: you know, this has been exciting again the things that
Speaker 2: just happened in the last couple of years. You know,
Speaker 2: you can look at the data and it's pretty clear
Speaker 2: if a young person participates in the game, if they
Speaker 2: play the game and that could be tackle or flag
Speaker 2: there four times is likely to be a lifelong fan.
Speaker 2: And if you don't, you don't get a fan by
Speaker 2: the time they're eighteen years old. Yeah, yet I don't.
Speaker 2: We don't have an acquisition strategy for a thirty six
Speaker 2: year old, right, you have to you have to get
Speaker 2: fans before the before the age of eighteen. So participation
Speaker 2: is absolutely one of the best things to do there.
Speaker 2: It's also another choice of how to play the game.
Speaker 2: You know, we every family can choose do they want
Speaker 2: their child to play tackle or flag? And you know,
Speaker 2: obviously a lot of a lot of children start and
Speaker 2: flag and then they migrate over to tackle. But you
Speaker 2: can now play into college as well, play in the NCAA.
Speaker 2: It's exciting to see what's happening now there with major
Speaker 2: colleges all over the country, how they're bringing in flag
Speaker 2: football now as well. So it was you know, it
Speaker 2: was a way to sort of bring football back to
Speaker 2: the family unit, to get kids to start playing more
Speaker 2: and to really open up the game. It's the most
Speaker 2: inclusive part of our game. Boys and girls, men and
Speaker 2: women can play. You know, athletes of all sizes and
Speaker 2: shapes can play. So it's really it's it's exciting to
Speaker 2: see it's one of the fastest scoring sports right now.
Speaker 2: It's exciting to see how that's all working. And again, yes,
Speaker 2: that's all part of our youth strategy.
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, it's never too late, you know
Speaker 1: for somebody like me, you know, even older than who
Speaker 1: you mentioned you know to me for this sport. But
Speaker 1: I you know, I live in New Zealand, so we
Speaker 1: we have this flack rugby game here as well to
Speaker 1: bring in very young kids to the sport. By the way,
Speaker 1: what would you say if the key wei which I
Speaker 1: became a key role of the time, you know, would
Speaker 1: say rugby is the real one, you know, and not
Speaker 1: American football.
Speaker 3: What would you.
Speaker 2: Say, Hey, we have to fight for our place in
Speaker 2: people's minds and you know, on the on the on
Speaker 2: the on the playing fields, right like, we know that
Speaker 2: we are not a top three scoot around the world
Speaker 2: and and that and that is our aim to be
Speaker 2: a top three sport in every major market around the world.
Speaker 2: It's not going to be easy. It's going to take time.
Speaker 2: But flag football in the Olympics is certainly a part
Speaker 2: of that strategy. There are other really interesting things that
Speaker 2: we're doing in terms of like developing players around the world.
Speaker 2: We have a player Pathway program. You know, we're we're
Speaker 2: helping young people learn the game, show what they can
Speaker 2: what they can do on the field, and then help
Speaker 2: them come back to the US and and play you know,
Speaker 2: collegiate football and then hopefully onto professional A lot of
Speaker 2: the we're seeing a lot of growth of professional players
Speaker 2: now from outside the US. But it takes time, right
Speaker 2: and we're very uber about the challenge there. I always
Speaker 2: remind people around here, like, hey, just just think about
Speaker 2: how difficult it would be for like cricket to come
Speaker 2: to the US and like be a top three sport.
Speaker 3: Not easy, and this is fascinating.
Speaker 1: Cricket is one you know, if the World Cup is
Speaker 1: going on or what championships, you know, it has the
Speaker 1: biggest audience in the world because of those countries like
Speaker 1: India and Pakistan, and others. This is fascinating how how
Speaker 1: you know, cultures are really different here. But I think
Speaker 1: you're on a good way to become one of the
Speaker 1: top sports top three in the world. I mean, listening
Speaker 1: to you what you already did. Talk about your past
Speaker 1: for a second. I mean what you did in the
Speaker 1: in the past. I mean you you changed the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl advertising hype, you know, or around advertising years ago.
Speaker 1: I mean, we definitely have to talk about this for
Speaker 1: a minute. You've been at the heart of some of
Speaker 1: the most iconic Super Bowl ads, including the Volkswagen The Force.
Speaker 1: I of course personally remember this as well. That wasn't
Speaker 1: round twelve, maybe thirteen forteen years ago something like this,
Speaker 1: And I think that was the year where you where
Speaker 1: you booked two slots in a row with two different ads,
Speaker 1: and that was that was called by the Time magazine
Speaker 1: as a game changer. So tell me a bit about that,
Speaker 1: I mean, and also maybe your personal kind of favorite
Speaker 1: ad you know you've seen around the Super Bowl that
Speaker 1: was I mean you at this time you was working
Speaker 1: for Volkswag or was it for the agency Volkswagen.
Speaker 2: I spent twelve years in Europe. My last job in
Speaker 2: Europe was working for Volvo in Sweden, yeah, about four years,
Speaker 2: and then we did a lot of interesting work with
Speaker 2: Spike Jones and with some other Stephen Frears and some
Speaker 2: other incredible directors, and that caught the attention of the
Speaker 2: North American Volkswagen team and they asked me to come
Speaker 2: over and head up North America for them in their marketing,
Speaker 2: which was you know, Volkswagen has a history of some
Speaker 2: of the best advertising, not just auto advertising, but some
Speaker 2: of them emizing ever right, and so I really just
Speaker 2: wanted to put a page in the book of Volkswagen advertising.
Speaker 2: And I really I feel like that I was able
Speaker 2: to accomplish that with my team with the ad the Force,
Speaker 2: and we did a lot of great work there. But
Speaker 2: I think the Force was very special to me, and
Speaker 2: it's a great example I think of what sort of
Speaker 2: having the right level of confidence and trusting in your
Speaker 2: gut and not willing to take no for an answer,
Speaker 2: right Like I That ad had to survive so many
Speaker 2: sort of hurdles and people who are trying to kill it,
Speaker 2: and you know it was for a car that wasn't
Speaker 2: launching for six months. The German team in Wolfsburg didn't
Speaker 2: want us to run it, and you know, the CEO
Speaker 2: at the time, of course had a hard time defending
Speaker 2: it to you know, to the Germans.
Speaker 3: But I.
Speaker 2: Believed in it, and I just kept fighting for it
Speaker 2: for months, and then ultimately, once we did the ad
Speaker 2: we we created it, I realized that the sixty second
Speaker 2: version of that ad was so much stronger than the
Speaker 2: thirty And the thirty was great, but the sixty was phenomenal,
Speaker 2: and so I decided that we would put it on
Speaker 2: YouTube several days. It was on Wednesday, several days before
Speaker 2: the game, and at that time that the conventional wisdom,
Speaker 2: in fact, none of the major advertisers ever did that.
Speaker 2: And again everybody fought me on it, like everybody around
Speaker 2: me was fighting, like, you can't do that. That's not
Speaker 2: the way it works. You got a debut, you're creative
Speaker 2: on the game. But I just knew and I believed
Speaker 2: in the power of the creative, and ultimately it was
Speaker 2: a risk, right, And I think that again talking about
Speaker 2: lessons for marketers, I think having the courage to do
Speaker 2: things that you know are right and that you sort
Speaker 2: of really feel in your gut is the right way
Speaker 2: to go really matters. So we put it out there
Speaker 2: and it happened exactly the way I had hoped. I mean,
Speaker 2: it caught fire, It went viral, and everybody was talking
Speaker 2: about that ad before the Super Bowl. We had the game,
Speaker 2: and we sortaly won the Super Bowl a ward before
Speaker 2: the first play of the game, right.
Speaker 1: Right, And this opened the door, you know, for the
Speaker 1: campaign itself, right, because then the campaign started with the
Speaker 1: assume more, the shorter version, thirty second version. But then
Speaker 1: it helped to sell costs, right, which was the original
Speaker 1: purpose of that of that campaign.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a brand ad. I mean, of course
Speaker 2: it helped sell ours. And then I think that's why
Speaker 2: I think that's why the company was so uncomfortable with
Speaker 2: it in the beginning, because they thinking about it, they
Speaker 2: couldn't step outside and see it as a big brand campaign,
Speaker 2: thinking about it as as a as an ad for
Speaker 2: that specific you know.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: So, and of course what happened the history was is
Speaker 2: that after that year, then of course all the marketers
Speaker 2: were putting their ads out before the game, right. It
Speaker 2: became a new thing. And that's why you mentioned Time magazine. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Time wrote an article the ad to changed the Super
Speaker 2: Bowl forever. And I think that I'm very proud of
Speaker 2: that because the creative is amazing and it's very human
Speaker 2: and touching, and it's it's relatable to anybody, right whether
Speaker 2: you can buy a Volkswagen or not.
Speaker 3: But and you created the hype.
Speaker 1: I mean, now everybody, like you know these days, you
Speaker 1: know that everybody's looking forward to the next game. And
Speaker 1: of course more people have talked about the advertising and
Speaker 1: what's happening during the break during the halftime.
Speaker 3: So do you have a personal favorite Super Bowl moment, whether.
Speaker 1: You know, either on the field or during the half
Speaker 1: time from recent years, something which stands out immediately.
Speaker 2: I mean, listen, the first time I was not I
Speaker 2: was working at Volkswagen. And the first time I ever
Speaker 2: walked out on the field, which I'm very lucky get
Speaker 2: to do that a lot now. The first time I
Speaker 2: ever walked down of the field was a Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: It was the Giants against the Patriots, you know, the
Speaker 2: one of the famous Eli versus Tom Brady games. And
Speaker 2: I was with my dad and like, oh my god,
Speaker 2: I mean, I've never been so excited in my life.
Speaker 2: And to really experience that moment, it was like surreal.
Speaker 2: It's like you couldn't you know. I never forget that
Speaker 2: because I think about how important this game is to
Speaker 2: people and how exciting it is and how big it is,
Speaker 2: and I, you know, it's kind of helped me in
Speaker 2: my passion and sort of what I give to my
Speaker 2: job because of how I feel about the sport, right
Speaker 2: I mean, I you know, you're right.
Speaker 3: I was.
Speaker 2: I went into a lot of different segments, and I
Speaker 2: was on that agency side for twelve years before it
Speaker 2: became a client. But I never took a job that
Speaker 2: I didn't really love the product or service. And I
Speaker 2: didn't also know that I had something to contribute, like
Speaker 2: a big thing to contribute. You know, as you go
Speaker 2: through your your career, you get offered various things, and
Speaker 2: some of them are better for you monetarily or not.
Speaker 2: But I always knew the companies that I knew I
Speaker 2: could help, Like I knew that immediately I could go
Speaker 2: and help them grow or become more successful. And I
Speaker 2: also chose things that I personally love. So I love cars,
Speaker 2: I love video games, I love sports, I love football.
Speaker 2: So that you know, I I to me, that's important
Speaker 2: and it's it's worked for me awesome.
Speaker 1: And you can combine all these experiences and your passion
Speaker 1: for this. You know, more and more it looks like,
Speaker 1: you know, coming from Activision and coming from the agency
Speaker 1: world and from from other marketing world. Was there somebody
Speaker 1: who has been the biggest influencer on your career, whether
Speaker 1: it's a personal maybe a moment, and how have they
Speaker 1: you know, at this moment or event shaped the way
Speaker 1: you lead as a CEMO today. Was there anything you
Speaker 1: can share with our audience what they are dedicated moment
Speaker 1: or personality and you you.
Speaker 2: Know, I would give it to the culture and the
Speaker 2: leaders of the first agency I worked with for many years,
Speaker 2: and that was good being never seen in partners it
Speaker 2: was back. It was good Bee Berlin and Silverstein when
Speaker 2: I first went through this before Andy, Yeah went off,
Speaker 2: and I was so enthralled with how they approached their
Speaker 2: work and how they ideas and how they would bring
Speaker 2: human insight into it and really do their homework to
Speaker 2: understand the problem, and the sort of the care that
Speaker 2: they brought into how they crafted everything that they did.
Speaker 2: You know, it was like in those days they were
Speaker 2: doing things creatively that just no other agency was doing
Speaker 2: around the world, really not just in the country, but
Speaker 2: around the world. I mean, Wyden was doing some wonderful
Speaker 2: things at that time with Nike, but it was that
Speaker 2: one brand, and like Goodbee was doing that with so
Speaker 2: many brands at that time. Yeah, and just sort of
Speaker 2: be a part of that culture and to learn from
Speaker 2: it and to be inspired by it, which really kind
Speaker 2: of fed my soul, because that's what I That's the
Speaker 2: reason I went into advertising, right, that's because I wanted
Speaker 2: to do that kind of work. But I think that
Speaker 2: you know, the passion, the care, the willingness to step
Speaker 2: out there and take risks, all that, I think, you know,
Speaker 2: I I think I was so inspired I learned in
Speaker 2: those days from Jeff in particular. Jeff could be, but
Speaker 2: many of the people who I work with there it
Speaker 2: could be. And then I listen, I think that I
Speaker 2: love a big stage, right, I like, I love you
Speaker 2: look at the jobs I've done and the work that
Speaker 2: I've done. It's there's a risk, of course, when you
Speaker 2: go in front of that many people, when you go
Speaker 2: in front of anywhere from twenty to two hundred million
Speaker 2: people and you boldly show your work. I don't not
Speaker 2: only do I not hide from that, I get just
Speaker 2: pumped from being in front of that many people and
Speaker 2: believe it or not, I like learn that when I
Speaker 2: was on the stage as an actor, like I love
Speaker 2: to be out there in front of all those people
Speaker 2: and like, you know, you could you could feel like
Speaker 2: them waiting for the next beat of what you were doing,
Speaker 2: and that excitement that like I could entertain them and
Speaker 2: that I could do things that maybe tonight that I
Speaker 2: didn't do last night was so exciting and so I think,
Speaker 2: you know, I literally had people ask me now in
Speaker 2: my current job, like, well, aren't you afraid to do
Speaker 2: these big super Bowl as and stuff? Because you know,
Speaker 2: if you know a lot of a lot of cmos,
Speaker 2: they don't do a good job in the Super Bowl,
Speaker 2: they get fired. Ye, why would I ever think about
Speaker 2: getting fired? Like that's the least thing I'm thinking about.
Speaker 2: All I'm thinking of doing an incredible job and sort
Speaker 2: of impressing the world and exciting people and entertaining them
Speaker 2: and getting them to think differently about you know, what
Speaker 2: we do. And ultimately, in my mind, if you're worried
Speaker 2: about how you might fail, then you're never going to
Speaker 2: do anything that's truly brilliant.
Speaker 1: That's amazing, that's amazing seeing the opportunities then more than
Speaker 1: than the risk, and of course it comes along with
Speaker 1: a lot of responsibility, responsibility for budget, responsibility for your audience,
Speaker 1: you know, talking to more people, reaching out to more people,
Speaker 1: talking you know, responsibly for your team.
Speaker 3: Et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1: But I totally get what you're saying, and I really
Speaker 1: appreciate these kind of insights. And I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: the stage can't be big enough obviously for you, because
Speaker 1: you're not just doing this amazing work all day long,
Speaker 1: but you also spend a lot of time initiated, you know, partnerships.
Speaker 1: You know, you use NFL as a platform for good
Speaker 1: as well. And let's talk about this for a couple
Speaker 1: of minutes, because this will link us over to your
Speaker 1: stage appearance at possible end of April in Miami Beach
Speaker 1: you will enter the stage. Was the CEO of Big
Speaker 1: Brothers Big Sisters of America and you created this amazing
Speaker 1: partnership between NFL based on the Inspired Change initiative. So
Speaker 1: what inspired the NFL and of course yourself, to prioritize
Speaker 1: mentorship and social justice as part of its community engagement strategy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, our relationship with all of our partners have inspired change.
Speaker 2: But maybe in particular with Big Brothers Big Sisters. As
Speaker 2: a relates to mentorship, Yeah, I think that we believe
Speaker 2: deeply in and something that I personally believe deeply in.
Speaker 2: I've seen how people's lives have changed for the better
Speaker 2: in a dramatic fashion. And not just the littles, right,
Speaker 2: not just those who who are being mentored, but for
Speaker 2: the mentee as well, like the bigs, I mean, it
Speaker 2: changes their life as well, and giving back really kind
Speaker 2: of like it helps them realize things and become people
Speaker 2: that they didn't that they didn't even realize that they
Speaker 2: could be. And so I have a really strong commitment
Speaker 2: to that because again I know that by working closely
Speaker 2: together we can help them be more successful and that
Speaker 2: we're literally changing or even saving people's lives. And as
Speaker 2: I said earlier, I think that as the NFL as
Speaker 2: a uniter, we do look at this sort of dual
Speaker 2: strategy of you know, focusing on the joy of the
Speaker 2: game and then transcending the game. And a lot of
Speaker 2: the sending the game has to do with our cause marketing, right,
Speaker 2: has to do with us getting behind the things that
Speaker 2: we believe in and that we know can help the world,
Speaker 2: and and and and literally like do things that couldn't
Speaker 2: be done without our platform, without our support. And so
Speaker 2: that you know, and I will say this too, is
Speaker 2: that it's an area of our of our program that
Speaker 2: is not embraced by all, right, all of our fan base.
Speaker 2: Some of our fan base is very unhappy that we
Speaker 2: focus on some of these things, whether it be social
Speaker 2: justice or anything in the cause arena. They think we
Speaker 2: should just stay to football and not you know, not
Speaker 2: talk or not use our platform. But we don't agree.
Speaker 2: That's part of our values. It's just something. So I
Speaker 2: think that you have to be willing as a marketer
Speaker 2: to sort of make some people uncomfortable. If if some
Speaker 2: of the you know, some of the segments of our
Speaker 2: of our total fan base don't like what we're doing,
Speaker 2: that's okay, right, Like what's important is that we're abiding
Speaker 2: by our beliefs and then we're doing things that we
Speaker 2: know are having an impact out there in communities, and
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's worth it making some people uncomfortab
Speaker 2: when you know your literally lives for others. And I've
Speaker 2: done some work here which was I mean, let's face
Speaker 2: it was very controversial and quite provocative. We did an
Speaker 2: ad that started out with football is Gay. That ad
Speaker 2: was not embraced by everybody. There was a lot of people,
Speaker 2: even in NFL and other areas who were uncomfortable with that.
Speaker 2: But guess what, the people who we were speaking to
Speaker 2: really appreciated it and it changed their views on the NFL,
Speaker 2: and it helped us really communicate in a very powerful
Speaker 2: way that football is for everyone. That you know, you
Speaker 2: should be able to open up the game without necessarily
Speaker 2: driving others out. I think that that those lessons that
Speaker 2: we have learned have helped us continually broaden our band base,
Speaker 2: to strength in our perception, our image, and to sort
Speaker 2: of have you know, people who before had felt like
Speaker 2: the was not relatable or relevant to them, made them
Speaker 2: think differently about the NFL, and they sort of come
Speaker 2: on board, if you will, and helped us create an
Speaker 2: even bigger impression.
Speaker 3: That's super impressive.
Speaker 1: And of course, how to measure this kind of success,
Speaker 1: I mean definitely not in a commercial way, but this
Speaker 1: is as you said, you know, broaden up you know,
Speaker 1: the fan base, bringing new audiences in.
Speaker 3: Also, while others may disagree with.
Speaker 1: This specific campaign or initiative, do you see that other
Speaker 1: major sport leagues use this as an example as well.
Speaker 1: Are you at the forefront, you know, as a sport league,
Speaker 1: you know, for for others as well?
Speaker 2: Do you see that I see others who are making
Speaker 2: strides to you know, give back into programs. I mean, listen,
Speaker 2: the reality is that in this country least I'm not
Speaker 2: talking about outside the US. Yeah, the US, you know,
Speaker 2: we have a very powerful, you know, opportunity. Let's put
Speaker 2: it that one. We are by far that we have
Speaker 2: the you know, the most fans. We have the most
Speaker 2: powerful position in the sports industry right now, and know
Speaker 2: that that could change, right So we're I think we
Speaker 2: understand that we have to keep earning that and that
Speaker 2: that is not something we should take for granted. But
Speaker 2: it also gives us opportunities that other sports don't. I
Speaker 2: think that one of the things that I am proud
Speaker 2: of is that we have not you know, gone back
Speaker 2: and forth in terms of our commitment. Back in twenty twenty,
Speaker 2: when we realized, after so many of the atrocities and
Speaker 2: senseless murders, starting with George Floyd but many others, that
Speaker 2: we can and needed to do more right, that we
Speaker 2: had to be more committed and have a stronger program
Speaker 2: in all directions. And I, you know, I when we
Speaker 2: started focusing on what could we do not only you know,
Speaker 2: providing financials, but using our platform and working together with
Speaker 2: our players and things that they cared about, and we
Speaker 2: have not retreated in any way. You still see starting
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty, you saw that, you know, on the field,
Speaker 2: it takes all of us into in racism and to
Speaker 2: focus on and not hate. These are all things that
Speaker 2: we have consistently used in our platform, on the player's helmets,
Speaker 2: on the field, in our PSAs, like consistently year after
Speaker 2: year after year. And I think that the mistake that
Speaker 2: some entities make is that they react to what's happening
Speaker 2: and then they pull back and they focus on other things.
Speaker 2: And I think that we have proved that you don't
Speaker 2: have to sort of pull back, that you continue to,
Speaker 2: like have that other part of your program which thrills
Speaker 2: and excites and keeps people watching your game, but at
Speaker 2: the same time you have that steady, consistent approach which
Speaker 2: is constantly bringing people together. It's constantly opened up your
Speaker 2: arms and inviting people to join you in a way
Speaker 2: which you know, I think that really speaks to a
Speaker 2: different side of the NFL.
Speaker 1: And why did they pull back because they experienced some pushbacks,
Speaker 1: you know, because not everybody greed on your actions as
Speaker 1: an NFL and or what you do would you handled
Speaker 1: things differently based on that experience or would you do
Speaker 1: it in a very similar way?
Speaker 2: Well, I think listen, I yeah, I think that there's
Speaker 2: pressure in all of this and someone has to do
Speaker 2: We only have so many I agree sources, right, we
Speaker 2: only have so many opportunities to get in front of people.
Speaker 2: You know, most of the sporting leagues have what we
Speaker 2: call institutional media, which is essentially barter media that you
Speaker 2: get in the agreement with your with your broadcast and
Speaker 2: streaming partners, and so you only have so many messages
Speaker 2: you can throw out there. Right, There's a lot of
Speaker 2: priorities and a lot of things that you want to do.
Speaker 2: So I think someone has to do with all. Right, Well,
Speaker 2: this isn't as much of a priority this year because
Speaker 2: not as much in the headlines or whatever or could
Speaker 2: be you know, fear of controversy or fear of you know,
Speaker 2: getting embroiled in something that you know that you fear
Speaker 2: might detract or might take away from your business. And
Speaker 2: I think again, if it if it aligns with your
Speaker 2: values and you're consistent. My experience has been that people
Speaker 2: will see that and not you know, react in different
Speaker 2: ways because they know that's who you are. They know
Speaker 2: that that's how you behave. If you act one way
Speaker 2: one month and you act another way in the next,
Speaker 2: then I think, you know, there's a question there, right.
Speaker 3: You lose trust, of course, Yeah, you lose kids for sure,
Speaker 3: right yeah.
Speaker 2: And I think that that you know, I will say
Speaker 2: this too, Christian, because it's important in the sports industry.
Speaker 2: The relationship you have with your players is very important, right.
Speaker 2: They have to know that they can trust you. And
Speaker 2: I think that one of the things of the Helmets
Speaker 2: soft strategy that maybe we don't talk about enough is
Speaker 2: that a lot of that was about, you know, having
Speaker 2: more of a stronger bond and relationship and having more
Speaker 2: trust in between the league and the players. Our fans
Speaker 2: can feel that there was too much tension between the
Speaker 2: league and the and the players. And I think anybody
Speaker 2: in this building, as wor hard as we have in
Speaker 2: marketing to sort of have this way of connecting and
Speaker 2: the power of those relationships and working closely together to
Speaker 2: sort of be you know, really use the collective power
Speaker 2: of what we can bring and I think that you know,
Speaker 2: the trust that we built in the relationships we build,
Speaker 2: I'm very proud of and I think that's been a
Speaker 2: big part of it as well. So your players they care.
Speaker 2: If they know you care about the things that they
Speaker 2: care about, that you care about their welfare and their communities,
Speaker 2: is they're going to work with you in a very
Speaker 2: different way.
Speaker 3: That's a perfect kind of final statement.
Speaker 1: I don't want to comment too much on this because
Speaker 1: that was really super important, and especially because I personally feel,
Speaker 1: I think you agree that nothing is settled here in
Speaker 1: this area and this business area and in our culture.
Speaker 1: It will go on for at least some time, and
Speaker 1: therefore we need people like you, you know, such a strong, important,
Speaker 1: bold representative of not just the entire industry, but also
Speaker 1: with you what you believe. And it was really enjoyable,
Speaker 1: you know, to spend time with you in the last
Speaker 1: what was it, thirty forty minutes, and I'm so much
Speaker 1: looking forward together with our audience to see you on
Speaker 1: stage at Possible in Miami, and this will be one
Speaker 1: of the topics. We can't cover everything, but again based
Speaker 1: on your you know, on your summary of your previous life.
Speaker 1: We definitely have to come back at some stage, you know,
Speaker 1: and talk about all the amazing things you did before.
Speaker 3: That was super impressive.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Tim for joining us today and
Speaker 1: take care and I see you in.
Speaker 3: A couple of weeks in Miami.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Christian. I look forward to it.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning in everyone. Once again,
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Christian Moha. If you have a question
Speaker 1: or suggestion to me, reach out, send me the m
Speaker 1: on LinkedIn. If you're courious to learn more about Possible,
Speaker 1: sign up for our newsletter, or if you want to
Speaker 1: join us at the Possible Show in Miami, visit Possible
Speaker 1: event dot com. Possible Now is a co production of
Speaker 1: iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan Martz and
Speaker 1: Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks
Speaker 1: to Colleen Lawrence Mack from our programming team. Our theme
Speaker 1: music is composed by Anthony Kellacoli. For more podcasts from iHeart,
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