Mark Cuban for Vice President

A continuation on the leadership theme. Have to go there today, considering yesterday’s historic events. And I don’t mean Daunte Culpepper possibly becoming the new Lions’ QB.

How long has it been since you’ve seen a leader with the strength, fire, conviction, and intelligence of our new President? It’s pretty impressive stuff. He might even be qualified for the second toughest job in the world right now: coaching the Michigan football team.

The best commentary I’ve seen on the President-elect and his innate ability to not just motivate, but electrify, came from Mark Cuban. His blog Maverick is often long and thoughtful, mostly about economic issues, but once in a while, he cuts to the chase with a ridiculously insightful POV, which he would probably say is nothing more than his opinion. In this case, his support of Obama was anything but economically motivated—it was a direct result of his pride in being an American. And a great observation on what Obama’s election means to this country. Check it out.

If it’s true that confidence shows itself as generosity, Obama/Cuban might be just the ticket in ’12.

Hmm...why does this version work?

Same product, same gag, different casting, a world of difference. I’m trying to put my finger on why this version of Guitar Hero’s Risky Business parody works so much better than the one with A-Rod, Kobe, Tony Hawk and Michael Phelps. It’s so hard to figure out…

No it’s not. And it has nothing to do with skin.



She made not be a pro athlete, but Heidi Klum is most definitely athletic. And smart, too, by choosing to star in this ad. She gets to show off her moves, have some fun, and deflect some of the ice princess criticism she’s received for her role hosting Project Runway. It’s an entertaining ad for an entertainment product. And Monday Night Football is the perfect media placement. Hell, run it on every sporting event for the next month. She plays much better in this ad and for this brand than the superstar quartet in and pink tops and barely visible undies. Interestingly enough, fans seem to be agreeing. Go figure.

Maybe Kobe should’ve taken his top off too.

How Sports And Marketing Are Oddly Similar, Part 1

I know it’s somewhat clichéd. But by their definition, clichés are overused truths, so while it may try your patience to endure them, it also means that there’s some value in them to begin with. So I offer this to you:

Creativity is nothing without leadership. In sports, as in marketing.

The marketing part, as in all business, seems pretty obvious, right? Even the strongest business people in the world can flounder without strong leadership.

But I’d suggest that even the most creative people will flounder, too. Great ideas are one of the single most important factors in business success, but without someone to nurture, refine, and sell them, they'll meet the same fate as a Brooks Bollinger pass. Nowhere, fast. Most ideas that come out looking like diamonds take a lot of polishing to get there. It's a team effort.

Same’s true in sports. Even more so. A strong collection of athletes is just that until someone shapes them into a Team, puts the idea of Winning into their collective head, and leads them. One example of this is the current squad that use to be called “America’s Team,” but now should be called “Where the hell is Tony Romo’s team?”

The key line from yesterday’s stats:

PASSING_Dallas, B.Johnson 5-11-2-71, Bollinger 9-16-1-63.

Ouch. The projected division champs fall to the bottom of the division. Looks like the Cowboys miss their leader.

The other side of the coin is, when one leader falls, sometimes, another rises up. That’s how Mr. Romo got his break (sorry, Drew Bledsoe).

In Chicago, Bears fans are hoping that Rex Grossman is the next Tony Romo, not the next Brooks Bollinger.

Peyton Manning: the best endorser in the business

There’s a reason Peyton Manning is in so many commercials. Like his fellow Gatorade endorser Michael Jordan, he’s money in the bank.

He’s got comedic chops and great timing. The man is funny. As proven by his latest effort for Mastercard.



He’s reliable. He’s sincere. And he’s just so damn likeable.

And more important, he’s got cred from winning the Super Bowl. That way, he can make people laugh without being a joke.

And having worked with him a couple of times, I know that he’s truly a good guy.

He’s living proof that you get what you pay for.

$1 billion for a plumber's smile?

The new Pepsi logo is popping up everywhere on Ad blogs. The corporate Mega Giant took five months to develop it and will spend a billion dollars to update their 21 year old wavy thing.



That means repainting trucks, rewrapping vending machines, replacing stadium signage and sending out new point-of-sale materials…and that’s just the beginning; picture anything with a logo. Letterhead, briefcases, those slick polo shirts and all of their wonderful corporate clothing, even the napkins in the cafeteria. All will need to change. I still see trucks with logos from the late ‘90’s on one of the brands I used to work on. The is a massive undertaking.

According to Pepsi leadership, each brand has it’s own version:

Pepsi’s logo is a smile, Diet Pepsi looks like a grin, and Pepsi Max will be a full laugh. Hmm. It’s so…what’s the best way to say this…well intentioned, yet horribly unclear, and more confusing than memorable.

It’s a great example of a marketer telling us what they want us to know, not what we might be interested in.

In general, I think change is good, but this is very expensive, very corporate change. If Pepsi thinks people are going to remember the smile distinctions between the different products, they’ve been to one too many logo design presentations.

Some have described the new logo as asscrack. I wouldn’t go that far, but Coke has been kicking ass in the marketing world. And I think Pepsi blinked.

Superstars in Underpants

I didn’t know whether to laugh or wince when I saw this. So I did both.

OK, I admit it: It’s funny. The sliding entrances, the gyrating on the couch, the utter lack of rhythm and grace from such talented men…I had to laugh. And so will lots of other people. Millions, even. Everyone loves it on youtube. So it works, right?

For Guitar Hero, yes. For the athletes? No.

I loved Risky Business. Bash Tom Cruise all you want; the movie was a generation definer (“Sometimes, you’ve just got to say ‘What the f*ck.’”) So I appreciated the parody.

But it was made 25 years ago, which makes it a decade older than Guitar Hero’s teen target. So are these megastar athletes being used well? You could say they’re capturing the youth market and showing their silly sides. I’d argue that’s what Saturday Night Live is for.

So much goes into choosing endorsers to represent a brand, because there’s so much at stake. Money, of course, but even more important is the athlete’s brand. How the people who they need to influence perceive them. How they connect to the right target in the right manner.

I’m not sure why Guitar Hero picked these four athletes. I suppose if you have the cash to gather this collection of talent, it would be cool. Good for Guitar Hero.

But for these athletes, just doing something “cool” doesn’t cut it. Doing something that works for them is more important. I could feel Phelps’ discomfort and A-Rod’s forced enjoyment. Kobe, I give credit for going all out. He’s a crazy man out there. But he got to wear longer boxers, so he didn’t look as silly. And I’d much rather see him jump a car. That at least connects to his basketball chops.

When it comes to sports and advertising, how you put athletes and brands together is crucial to both.

That’s why I liked Tony Hawk in this spot. It fits his offbeat sport and character. It fits his brand. And I loved the helmet.

But I still ask, “Why these guys?” Four elite athletes, a young target, an old movie, and the suggestion to “Release your inner rock star.”

If I were their agents, I’d release these guys from their contract with Guitar Hero. Would you?

Hey Tiger Woods: Padraig Harrington has your mojo

Padraig Harrington isn’t just the best golfer in the world right now; he’s also the coolest golfer in the world in the world right now.

No, he’s not holing Rubiks Cubes from 15 feet away. That would be Tiger Woods, who, although injured, is smart enough to heed the old adage of “Out of sight, out of mind.” He also knows that he’ll never make as much money playing golf as he will make from his endorsements, so keeps up on the ad front. Hence the latest from EA Sports.



Pretty fun, I’ll grant you that, and in a world where where “Is it real?” viral videos are cropping up more often than interceptions in Jets games, it ranks right up there. Not for technical wizardry, but as proof that Tiger can do still some pretty wonderful things, injured or not. The story has it that it took him only two takes. Probably explains why he was so psyched when it went in, since I’m guessing they told him he’d be done once he sank one.

So Tiger is still around, and the world hasn’t collapsed. It’s just become a much better place for the quiet, confident, Mr. Harrington, a native of Ireland and a man who prefers ridiculously hard work over the luck of the Irish.

I was once at a tournament to interview him for a video. We had to wait until after his round to shoot him, but he had putted poorly that day so he stopped at the putting green after he finished and practiced his putting…and practiced...and practiced…while it got darker and colder. He was still on the green while his competitors were on their third beer.

He still gave us all the time we needed, and while his performance was just North of lackluster, he was very honest and real.

Those qualities help explain the latest news on Padraig: He just re-signed with Wilson to endorse their golf clubs. It pays him a lot of money, but it was millions short of what we could have made had he switched to any of the new companies that were courting him. But he’s been with Wilson for many years, they’ve worked side by side with him in developing his equipment, and he felt loyalty to the company that’s had a hand in his success.

They both work ridiculously hard, they both have had tremendous success recently, and while Tiger can marry Swedish knockouts and play golf on the moon, Padraig carries his own kind of authentic cool. Sometimes that’s the best kind.