March 20, 2025 • 42 mins
From Super Bowl commercials to global fan engagement, Tim Ellis is reshaping how we experience the NFL. The league’s CMO joins Possible Now to talk about bringing football to new audiences, how digital platforms are changing the game, and why storytelling is at the heart of great marketing.Whether you're a marketer, a football fanatic, or just love a great behind-the-scenes story, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome back to another episode of Possible Now. Today we
are diving deep into the world of one of the
most iconic brands on the planet, the NFL, and who
better to join us than the man at the helm
of its innovative marketing strategies, Tim Ellis, who is the
executive vice president and Chief Marketing Officer of the NFL.
(00:29):
Tim is not just redefining how the NFL engages with
fans across the globe. He's a trailblazer in blending creativity,
culture and cutting edge technology to make America's game a
worldwide phenomenon. From unforgettable Super Bowl campaigns to redefining fan
experiences in the digital age. Tim's vision and leadership have
(00:50):
pushed the boundaries of what sports marketing can achieve. But
today's conversation isn't just about marketing, playbox and brand wins.
It's about the passion behind this, and we will explore
Tim's journey, the lessons he's learned, and his vision for
the future of the NFL. Whether you're a diehard football fan,
or a marketing and to the s or just someone
(01:12):
who loves hearing from brilliant minds, you want one to
visit so grab your headphones, settle in and get ready
to be inspired by one of the marketing world's MVPs,
Tim Ellis, Tim a One, Welcome to our Possible Now podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Thank you, Christian, that was quite quite an introduction. I
appreciate that. Glad to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Awesome, awesome Tim, when I spent a couple of minutes
of course to be prepared for our conversation today and
read your fascinating summary what you did so far over
the last decades, and of course there's more to come.
This is super impressive. As I learned, you started on
the creative agency side. You know, you work for two
famous global car manufacturer brands in the marketing department.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You led the marketing department.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You enter the gaming and entertainment world at Activision, and
then of course you change industries, but still you are
in the gaming and entertainment world with NFL. I'm normly
kicking off, you know, my podcast with a personal anecdote sometimes,
you know, I know I have something in common with
my guests here in your case before talking about NFL marketing,
and you have visions ten us a bit more, maybe
(02:15):
something personal. Your life revolves around the NFL. But I'm
sure there's another passion you know in your life, or
maybe several. Are you, for example, I don't know, Let's
say a secret music style you know, and we can
find you on a stage, you know, every Friday night
in a club. Or are you someone you know who
runs ten marathons a year? Is there anything you want
to share with us? People don't know about you yet.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I think probably the most surprising thing people don't realize
is that the way I started my career was not
in advertising and marketing or anything that is traditional at all.
I was an actor. I was a stage actor for
a few years, and then after that, all right, I
decided that I was going to go out and not
just see the world, but I was going to experience
(02:58):
it in a way to where I could dive deep
into cultures and live in different countries and do various
jobs along the way. So most people don't know that,
but I started out studying and learning how to fence,
you know, if I was a fencer. I learned in Paris,
and I studied French and comparative literature there and then
(03:19):
I just didn't want to go home, so I kept
moving my way around the world for the next five years.
And you know, I taught English, I worked on oil
rigs in Norway. I throw tractors in the Middle East.
I was an actor and model in Tokyo. I worked
on a cruise ship as a bartender for a few years.
I did a lot of very interesting jow where again,
(03:42):
I think I got to really explore and experience the
world in a very special way. And I think that's
a lot of what I've learned in terms of the
connectivity between people and how to sort of like communicate
on a human level has really that's really helped me,
I think see the world way first of all.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Definitely one of those who didn't know all about this,
and I'm sure most of our audience as well, but
this is super impressive. So you're recognized as being the
driving force behind some of the most innovative and award
winning marketing campaigns in the US and across Europe, and
you received tons of different awards, like you became the
Marketer of the Year by at Age, you recognized as
a top Cemobile adwagan at age you want emmys? I mean,
(04:23):
tell us our awards really important and if it's not
for you personally, is it important to be recognized what
you and your teams and together with the agencies, what
are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Is this an important thing?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well? I do think awards are important for the team,
uh and to you know, sort of assess your own
capabilities and performance outside you know, your own your own industry.
So we pride in the recognition that we received from
sort of the marketing world overall, not just a sports
industry segment, but you know, overall in marketing. And then
(04:58):
of course know it's important to our teams to really
see and to recognize that we are really breakthrough stuff
and that we are being heralded is some of the
best in the business, and that's important. I think it
also just drives excitement and the culture, right the culture
is just so important between our own groups inside the
(05:19):
NFL as well as right with our with our core
partners or our long partner right today is seventy two
and Sunny and they have a lot of brands and
they do a lot of standout work, but I think
some of the some of their most proud moments within
the industry have been with the NFL and before that
with Activision. I work with them with Activision for seven
(05:40):
years as well. And of course what we do and
what really matters is how we're moving the business, we're
driving the business, how we're capturing people's hearts and minds,
how we're really getting people, in one way or another
to think differently about our brand and about associating and
engaging with our brand.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
That's awesome, that's all.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
And there's plenty to talk about because as you said,
there were not just many awards, but also so incredible
stuff we have to share with our audience. Before we
do this, let's dig in a bit, so you will
come to Possible end of April and Miami Beach. When
we invented Possible as an event for the industry, we
thought about, Okay, it has to be we feel it
has to be at the intersection of marketing, technology and culture,
(06:20):
both from the business perspective but also from a consumer perspective,
from your CMO perspective. Is this kind of complexity we
are facing today? Is there anything missing or would you say, okay,
one of these pillars, if you would agree, is more
important than others. So how do you look into your
today's work and the complexity which is obviously you know
(06:40):
ahead of us even more than ever before.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I think the way, what will you ask what is missing?
I think, to me, what is missing? That is there
be this notion that you have to make a choice
and dive deep into one of those areas, whether it
be culture, technology or high creativity. And I think that
how you bring all that together and how you keep
your eye on, you know, connecting with other human beings
(07:06):
in an impactful way is really what it's all about.
And a lot of that has to do with, you know,
leveraging and harnessing technology right to provide experiences and to
you know, create storytelling that just hasn't been seen before. Right.
That is really a surprise to people in terms of
how you bring it to them. So I don't really
(07:27):
look at the world as like making a choice or
you know, there seems to be this thing today amongst
successful cmos they're either data people or their brand people.
And I think, you know, you have to be both,
you know, and you should not in any way shy
away from things you don't know. Listen, I have an
incredible team that works with me, and I don't even
(07:50):
begin to think that I know what they know, right.
I hired them because of how good they are, and
I sort of let them loose and do their thing.
And you know, do I every day I try to
grasp more about the world when it comes to technology
and culture. Yes, I do. I'm a very curious person
and so one of the things that gives me joy
(08:10):
in life is just to find out and to explore
things that I don't know. So I just think that
it's important that that cmos and the marketers really look
at what's at their fingertips and try to like Hartist,
and leverage it to sort of focus on the things
that really matter, which is really creating some level of
intimacy with their fan base or with their audiences, depending
(08:34):
on your industry.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And at the same time, I think we, of course
we all agree that you know, the audiences are and
their behaviors are changing grammatically because of those kind of trends,
the media landscape is changing grammatically. So if you consider this,
I mean, since you joined NFL in twenty eighteen, you
focus on growing and redefining what it means to be
a football fan. You stepped in and I've read an
(08:57):
articular the way you said you felt immediately you know
something which was hitting you was you needed to connect
with your fans and with the players, and between the
fans and the players even better, So considering reaching out
to new audiences. I think you've mentioned jen Z fans,
the Latino community, and women are really important for the
NFL specifically. How do you balance staying true to the
(09:18):
NFL's legacy while also appealing to new and more diverse audiences.
How do you do this? I mean, you made the
players and therefore the sport more visible for everybody, but
how do you envision this for the new future.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I really look at it sort of as a strategy
which has two core areas of focus, right, yeah, And
one is to celebrate the joy of the game and
the heritage and the excitement and the adrenaline and all
that goes along with professional football. And then on the
other hand, we transcend the game and we connect with
(09:54):
people in a much more human, compassionate way. And then
we sort of bring all that together is one strong, coherent,
modern brand. And I think that, you know, you have
to make sure that there's a connective tissue across all that.
And I think that what's really there is it's all
about passion and humanity and the notion that sports but
(10:17):
particularly the NFL is a uniter, right, we bring people together.
That is our strength. And some of that is to
create an escape and joy, right right. And then some
of that is to be provocative and to make people
rethink and to consider some of the choices that they
have and the notions that they have. And I think
that the way that we've worked together with our players
(10:40):
has really made the difference in terms of since I've
been here at the NFL. We came in sort of
with a very clear vision of what the NFL needed
to do from a brand perspective and from the perspectives
around how do you connect with broader, wider audio instances,
and that was simply to have the players be the
(11:03):
face of the game, right you can you provide a
more human expression and more compassionate expression of the game,
and you sort of like provide a sort of a
deeper level of understanding of the game through these players,
because when you get behind the things that they really
care about, and obviously a lot of that is around
the sportard itself in there as all of us. They
(11:26):
have all kinds of passions and interests, and so you know,
understanding what makes a player tick and what he really
cares about, and that could be anything from a video
game to fashion, to music to an important cause. That
they have a foundation for. All of these things are
what makes them special and unique. And so by really
(11:50):
getting behind these players and having them be the face
of the NFL and a helmets ov strategy, right, that's
really made a huge difference and how people per see
the NFL and how they've been willing to reconsider and
engage with us.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Understand So, But at the same time we talk about
technology trends. Obviously you came in, and I mean NFL
already was and of course even more in today's time,
is one of the biggest sport platforms in the world.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
But you also helped to furthermore digitalize.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
The whole sport, right you came in, and I mean
if you reach out for any kind of content, you
see NFL everywhere on not just every device, in any
kind of distribution channel.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I'll call it like this.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So, with a changing media landscape in mind, you are
on screening platform, social media, short form content and this
helped at the same time.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
To be able to reach out to new audiences as well.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Is this the case or was it more the approach,
as you described before, make the players and therefore the
sport more visible for the audience.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Was it an independent approach here?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It's helped in a number of ways, and a lot
of our choices that we've made has really been keeping
a keen eye on the youth segment, right yea. We
look at when I say youth, we look at it
from five to twelve and then from you know, thirteen
to twenty four essentially. And I think that when you
talk about technology, some of that can be done with
(13:18):
the sort of expression of the game itself, like an
all cast like you may have seen Toy Story last year,
where we took the technology that we actually use in
our health and safety program, which is quite frankly, it's
just like a chip and the shoulder pad and then
the mouthpiece, and by doing that we are able to
bring the game to life in a toy story setting,
(13:39):
so and you all the characters were actually watching and
cheering on the game in real time, so you saw
an animated expression of the game in real time that
was just so fun and so fascinating that yes, kids
loved it, but also their parents did as well. This
year we did the exact same approach with the same technology,
but we did it with the sientsence again a ton
(14:01):
of fun and you even saw some of the Simpson
characters who were playing as the you know, the actual
players in the game and score, you know, all kinds
of wonderful things. And so that's that's one example of
how we really we look deep and hard about how
do you leverage technology to to sort of surprise and
delight audiences in a way that they never imagined. Right,
(14:23):
And then you can look at in a very simple
form in terms of our distribution, right, like we've made
some major moves and I've been fortunate to be here
as a part of that, but we made some major
moves since I got here in terms of like how
we've broadened out our distribution from linear TV to a
number of streaming services.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
The most recent beings where we had two games on
Christmas which went all over the world, not just in
the US, but it was a great sort of level
of distribution worldwide, and even some of our traditional partners
like NBC we have Peacock, right, and so whether it
be Amazon where we have you know, went into having
Thursday night football there as an ongoing basis we've really,
(15:05):
I think, taken very courageous leaps into that side of
the world, because if you think about it, you want
to be where your audiences are. Right. We've been able
to do is not only bring the audiences that we
had previously to that in terms of numbers of linear TV,
so we're getting like TV like audiences if you will,
(15:25):
or bigger in these streaming services. But at the same time,
we're lowering our age significantly of the average viewer and
the average fan, and that, of course is really important.
When I first came to the NFL, I started sort
of ringing the bell of urgency immediately that like, we're
aging out, we have got to sort of focus on
our youngest segments. And what we're going to do for
(15:48):
us is like, in the short term and the long term,
we're going to you know, rejuvenate the brand and we're
going to get younger fans in who will help us
stay modern and relevant. But it's also going to give
a sense of energy, an excitement and adrenaline to the
sport itself as well that you segment is. And so
let's from those two perspectives, let's really embrace our youngest
(16:09):
audiences and you know, we learned that our older, more
mature audiences enjoyed that as well. Right, So obviously there
are certain channels that you can speak to that you know,
you're going to get the right, right mix of your segments.
But we also saw that our more mature, older white
male was also excited about a lot of the things
(16:31):
that we were doing.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And flag football is obviously part of that strategy, right,
I mean you your emphasis you know on flag football.
L marketing is reshaping how the lead connects with fans
as well. And as we all know, it becomes part
of the Olympics in twenty twenty eight in LA. But
tell me, because I'm not sure, is it just a
demonstration a sport in LA or will it become a
(16:52):
permanent part of the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, we hope that will. But you have, you know,
you have each Olympics, they have their own assessment of
what they're going to keep.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, even before the games in twenty eight, we will
have to make our way in, if you will, for
the Australian Olympics.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So that's so we're in deep discussions with them, and
you know, we're very confident and optimistic about that. Hopefully
it all works out the way we hope, and like
you know, this has been exciting again the things that
just happened in the last couple of years. You know,
you can look at the data and it's pretty clear
if a young person participates in the game, if they
(17:33):
play the game and that could be tackle or flag
there four times is likely to be a lifelong fan.
And if you don't, you don't get a fan by
the time they're eighteen years old. Yeah, yet I don't.
We don't have an acquisition strategy for a thirty six
year old, right, you have to you have to get
fans before the before the age of eighteen. So participation
(17:54):
is absolutely one of the best things to do there.
It's also another choice of how to play the game.
You know, we every family can choose do they want
their child to play tackle or flag? And you know,
obviously a lot of a lot of children start and
flag and then they migrate over to tackle. But you
can now play into college as well, play in the NCAA.
(18:15):
It's exciting to see what's happening now there with major
colleges all over the country, how they're bringing in flag
football now as well. So it was you know, it
was a way to sort of bring football back to
the family unit, to get kids to start playing more
and to really open up the game. It's the most
inclusive part of our game. Boys and girls, men and
(18:38):
women can play. You know, athletes of all sizes and
shapes can play. So it's really it's it's exciting to
see it's one of the fastest scoring sports right now.
It's exciting to see how that's all working. And again, yes,
that's all part of our youth strategy.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, first of all, it's never too late, you know
for somebody like me, you know, even older than who
you mentioned you know to me for this sport. But
I you know, I live in New Zealand, so we
we have this flack rugby game here as well to
bring in very young kids to the sport. By the way,
what would you say if the key wei which I
became a key role of the time, you know, would
say rugby is the real one, you know, and not
(19:16):
American football.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
What would you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Say, Hey, we have to fight for our place in
people's minds and you know, on the on the on
the on the playing fields, right like, we know that
we are not a top three scoot around the world
and and that and that is our aim to be
a top three sport in every major market around the world.
It's not going to be easy. It's going to take time.
(19:38):
But flag football in the Olympics is certainly a part
of that strategy. There are other really interesting things that
we're doing in terms of like developing players around the world.
We have a player Pathway program. You know, we're we're
helping young people learn the game, show what they can
what they can do on the field, and then help
them come back to the US and and play you know,
collegiate football and then hopefully onto professional A lot of
(20:02):
the we're seeing a lot of growth of professional players
now from outside the US. But it takes time, right
and we're very uber about the challenge there. I always
remind people around here, like, hey, just just think about
how difficult it would be for like cricket to come
to the US and like be a top three sport.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Not easy, and this is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Cricket is one you know, if the World Cup is
going on or what championships, you know, it has the
biggest audience in the world because of those countries like
India and Pakistan, and others. This is fascinating how how
you know, cultures are really different here. But I think
you're on a good way to become one of the
top sports top three in the world. I mean, listening
to you what you already did. Talk about your past
(20:59):
for a second. I mean what you did in the
in the past. I mean you you changed the Super
Bowl advertising hype, you know, or around advertising years ago.
I mean, we definitely have to talk about this for
a minute. You've been at the heart of some of
the most iconic Super Bowl ads, including the Volkswagen The Force.
I of course personally remember this as well. That wasn't
(21:20):
round twelve, maybe thirteen forteen years ago something like this,
And I think that was the year where you where
you booked two slots in a row with two different ads,
and that was that was called by the Time magazine
as a game changer. So tell me a bit about that,
I mean, and also maybe your personal kind of favorite
ad you know you've seen around the Super Bowl that
was I mean you at this time you was working
(21:41):
for Volkswag or was it for the agency Volkswagen.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I spent twelve years in Europe. My last job in
Europe was working for Volvo in Sweden, yeah, about four years,
and then we did a lot of interesting work with
Spike Jones and with some other Stephen Frears and some
other incredible directors, and that caught the attention of the
North American Volkswagen team and they asked me to come
(22:06):
over and head up North America for them in their marketing,
which was you know, Volkswagen has a history of some
of the best advertising, not just auto advertising, but some
of them emizing ever right, and so I really just
wanted to put a page in the book of Volkswagen advertising.
And I really I feel like that I was able
to accomplish that with my team with the ad the Force,
(22:29):
and we did a lot of great work there. But
I think the Force was very special to me, and
it's a great example I think of what sort of
having the right level of confidence and trusting in your
gut and not willing to take no for an answer,
right Like I That ad had to survive so many
sort of hurdles and people who are trying to kill it,
(22:52):
and you know it was for a car that wasn't
launching for six months. The German team in Wolfsburg didn't
want us to run it, and you know, the CEO
at the time, of course had a hard time defending
it to you know, to the Germans.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But I.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Believed in it, and I just kept fighting for it
for months, and then ultimately, once we did the ad
we we created it, I realized that the sixty second
version of that ad was so much stronger than the
thirty And the thirty was great, but the sixty was phenomenal,
(23:30):
and so I decided that we would put it on
YouTube several days. It was on Wednesday, several days before
the game, and at that time that the conventional wisdom,
in fact, none of the major advertisers ever did that.
And again everybody fought me on it, like everybody around
me was fighting, like, you can't do that. That's not
(23:52):
the way it works. You got a debut, you're creative
on the game. But I just knew and I believed
in the power of the creative, and ultimately it was
a risk, right, And I think that again talking about
lessons for marketers, I think having the courage to do
things that you know are right and that you sort
of really feel in your gut is the right way
(24:14):
to go really matters. So we put it out there
and it happened exactly the way I had hoped. I mean,
it caught fire, It went viral, and everybody was talking
about that ad before the Super Bowl. We had the game,
and we sortaly won the Super Bowl a ward before
the first play of the game, right.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Right, And this opened the door, you know, for the
campaign itself, right, because then the campaign started with the
assume more, the shorter version, thirty second version. But then
it helped to sell costs, right, which was the original
purpose of that of that campaign.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, it was a brand ad. I mean, of course
it helped sell ours. And then I think that's why
I think that's why the company was so uncomfortable with
it in the beginning, because they thinking about it, they
couldn't step outside and see it as a big brand campaign,
thinking about it as as a as an ad for
that specific you know.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
So, and of course what happened the history was is
that after that year, then of course all the marketers
were putting their ads out before the game, right. It
became a new thing. And that's why you mentioned Time magazine. Yeah,
Time wrote an article the ad to changed the Super
Bowl forever. And I think that I'm very proud of
that because the creative is amazing and it's very human
(25:24):
and touching, and it's it's relatable to anybody, right whether
you can buy a Volkswagen or not.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
But and you created the hype.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
I mean, now everybody, like you know these days, you
know that everybody's looking forward to the next game. And
of course more people have talked about the advertising and
what's happening during the break during the halftime.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So do you have a personal favorite Super Bowl moment, whether.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You know, either on the field or during the half
time from recent years, something which stands out immediately.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I mean, listen, the first time I was not I
was working at Volkswagen. And the first time I ever
walked out on the field, which I'm very lucky get
to do that a lot now. The first time I
ever walked down of the field was a Super Bowl.
It was the Giants against the Patriots, you know, the
one of the famous Eli versus Tom Brady games. And
(26:13):
I was with my dad and like, oh my god,
I mean, I've never been so excited in my life.
And to really experience that moment, it was like surreal.
It's like you couldn't you know. I never forget that
because I think about how important this game is to
people and how exciting it is and how big it is,
and I, you know, it's kind of helped me in
(26:35):
my passion and sort of what I give to my
job because of how I feel about the sport, right
I mean, I you know, you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
I was.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I went into a lot of different segments, and I
was on that agency side for twelve years before it
became a client. But I never took a job that
I didn't really love the product or service. And I
didn't also know that I had something to contribute, like
a big thing to contribute. You know, as you go
through your your career, you get offered various things, and
(27:06):
some of them are better for you monetarily or not.
But I always knew the companies that I knew I
could help, Like I knew that immediately I could go
and help them grow or become more successful. And I
also chose things that I personally love. So I love cars,
I love video games, I love sports, I love football.
(27:26):
So that you know, I I to me, that's important
and it's it's worked for me awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
And you can combine all these experiences and your passion
for this. You know, more and more it looks like,
you know, coming from Activision and coming from the agency
world and from from other marketing world. Was there somebody
who has been the biggest influencer on your career, whether
it's a personal maybe a moment, and how have they
you know, at this moment or event shaped the way
(27:53):
you lead as a CEMO today. Was there anything you
can share with our audience what they are dedicated moment
or personality and you you.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Know, I would give it to the culture and the
leaders of the first agency I worked with for many years,
and that was good being never seen in partners it
was back. It was good Bee Berlin and Silverstein when
I first went through this before Andy, Yeah went off,
and I was so enthralled with how they approached their
(28:21):
work and how they ideas and how they would bring
human insight into it and really do their homework to
understand the problem, and the sort of the care that
they brought into how they crafted everything that they did.
You know, it was like in those days they were
doing things creatively that just no other agency was doing
(28:42):
around the world, really not just in the country, but
around the world. I mean, Wyden was doing some wonderful
things at that time with Nike, but it was that
one brand, and like Goodbee was doing that with so
many brands at that time. Yeah, and just sort of
be a part of that culture and to learn from
it and to be inspired by it, which really kind
of fed my soul, because that's what I That's the
reason I went into advertising, right, that's because I wanted
(29:04):
to do that kind of work. But I think that
you know, the passion, the care, the willingness to step
out there and take risks, all that, I think, you know,
I I think I was so inspired I learned in
those days from Jeff in particular. Jeff could be, but
many of the people who I work with there it
could be. And then I listen, I think that I
(29:28):
love a big stage, right, I like, I love you
look at the jobs I've done and the work that
I've done. It's there's a risk, of course, when you
go in front of that many people, when you go
in front of anywhere from twenty to two hundred million
people and you boldly show your work. I don't not
only do I not hide from that, I get just
pumped from being in front of that many people and
(29:49):
believe it or not, I like learn that when I
was on the stage as an actor, like I love
to be out there in front of all those people
and like, you know, you could you could feel like
them waiting for the next beat of what you were doing,
and that excitement that like I could entertain them and
that I could do things that maybe tonight that I
didn't do last night was so exciting and so I think,
(30:12):
you know, I literally had people ask me now in
my current job, like, well, aren't you afraid to do
these big super Bowl as and stuff? Because you know,
if you know a lot of a lot of cmos,
they don't do a good job in the Super Bowl,
they get fired. Ye, why would I ever think about
getting fired? Like that's the least thing I'm thinking about.
All I'm thinking of doing an incredible job and sort
(30:32):
of impressing the world and exciting people and entertaining them
and getting them to think differently about you know, what
we do. And ultimately, in my mind, if you're worried
about how you might fail, then you're never going to
do anything that's truly brilliant.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That's amazing, that's amazing seeing the opportunities then more than
than the risk, and of course it comes along with
a lot of responsibility, responsibility for budget, responsibility for your audience,
you know, talking to more people, reaching out to more people,
talking you know, responsibly for your team.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
But I totally get what you're saying, and I really
appreciate these kind of insights. And I mean, you know,
the stage can't be big enough obviously for you, because
you're not just doing this amazing work all day long,
but you also spend a lot of time initiated, you know, partnerships.
You know, you use NFL as a platform for good
(31:25):
as well. And let's talk about this for a couple
of minutes, because this will link us over to your
stage appearance at possible end of April in Miami Beach
you will enter the stage. Was the CEO of Big
Brothers Big Sisters of America and you created this amazing
partnership between NFL based on the Inspired Change initiative. So
what inspired the NFL and of course yourself, to prioritize
(31:48):
mentorship and social justice as part of its community engagement strategy.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, our relationship with all of our partners have inspired change.
But maybe in particular with Big Brothers Big Sisters. As
a relates to mentorship, Yeah, I think that we believe
deeply in and something that I personally believe deeply in.
I've seen how people's lives have changed for the better
in a dramatic fashion. And not just the littles, right,
(32:14):
not just those who who are being mentored, but for
the mentee as well, like the bigs, I mean, it
changes their life as well, and giving back really kind
of like it helps them realize things and become people
that they didn't that they didn't even realize that they
could be. And so I have a really strong commitment
(32:36):
to that because again I know that by working closely
together we can help them be more successful and that
we're literally changing or even saving people's lives. And as
I said earlier, I think that as the NFL as
a uniter, we do look at this sort of dual
strategy of you know, focusing on the joy of the
game and then transcending the game. And a lot of
(32:56):
the sending the game has to do with our cause marketing, right,
has to do with us getting behind the things that
we believe in and that we know can help the world,
and and and and literally like do things that couldn't
be done without our platform, without our support. And so
(33:17):
that you know, and I will say this too, is
that it's an area of our of our program that
is not embraced by all, right, all of our fan base.
Some of our fan base is very unhappy that we
focus on some of these things, whether it be social
justice or anything in the cause arena. They think we
should just stay to football and not you know, not
(33:39):
talk or not use our platform. But we don't agree.
That's part of our values. It's just something. So I
think that you have to be willing as a marketer
to sort of make some people uncomfortable. If if some
of the you know, some of the segments of our
of our total fan base don't like what we're doing,
that's okay, right, Like what's important is that we're abiding
(34:00):
by our beliefs and then we're doing things that we
know are having an impact out there in communities, and
you know, it's it's worth it making some people uncomfortab
when you know your literally lives for others. And I've
done some work here which was I mean, let's face
it was very controversial and quite provocative. We did an
(34:21):
ad that started out with football is Gay. That ad
was not embraced by everybody. There was a lot of people,
even in NFL and other areas who were uncomfortable with that.
But guess what, the people who we were speaking to
really appreciated it and it changed their views on the NFL,
and it helped us really communicate in a very powerful
(34:42):
way that football is for everyone. That you know, you
should be able to open up the game without necessarily
driving others out. I think that that those lessons that
we have learned have helped us continually broaden our band base,
to strength in our perception, our image, and to sort
(35:02):
of have you know, people who before had felt like
the was not relatable or relevant to them, made them
think differently about the NFL, and they sort of come
on board, if you will, and helped us create an
even bigger impression.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
That's super impressive.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
And of course, how to measure this kind of success,
I mean definitely not in a commercial way, but this
is as you said, you know, broaden up you know,
the fan base, bringing new audiences in.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Also, while others may disagree with.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
This specific campaign or initiative, do you see that other
major sport leagues use this as an example as well.
Are you at the forefront, you know, as a sport league,
you know, for for others as well?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Do you see that I see others who are making
strides to you know, give back into programs. I mean, listen,
the reality is that in this country least I'm not
talking about outside the US. Yeah, the US, you know,
we have a very powerful, you know, opportunity. Let's put
(36:02):
it that one. We are by far that we have
the you know, the most fans. We have the most
powerful position in the sports industry right now, and know
that that could change, right So we're I think we
understand that we have to keep earning that and that
that is not something we should take for granted. But
it also gives us opportunities that other sports don't. I
(36:24):
think that one of the things that I am proud
of is that we have not you know, gone back
and forth in terms of our commitment. Back in twenty twenty,
when we realized, after so many of the atrocities and
senseless murders, starting with George Floyd but many others, that
we can and needed to do more right, that we
(36:45):
had to be more committed and have a stronger program
in all directions. And I, you know, I when we
started focusing on what could we do not only you know,
providing financials, but using our platform and working together with
our players and things that they cared about, and we
have not retreated in any way. You still see starting
(37:06):
in twenty twenty, you saw that, you know, on the field,
it takes all of us into in racism and to
focus on and not hate. These are all things that
we have consistently used in our platform, on the player's helmets,
on the field, in our PSAs, like consistently year after
year after year. And I think that the mistake that
(37:27):
some entities make is that they react to what's happening
and then they pull back and they focus on other things.
And I think that we have proved that you don't
have to sort of pull back, that you continue to,
like have that other part of your program which thrills
and excites and keeps people watching your game, but at
the same time you have that steady, consistent approach which
(37:50):
is constantly bringing people together. It's constantly opened up your
arms and inviting people to join you in a way
which you know, I think that really speaks to a
different side of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
And why did they pull back because they experienced some pushbacks,
you know, because not everybody greed on your actions as
an NFL and or what you do would you handled
things differently based on that experience or would you do
it in a very similar way?
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Well, I think listen, I yeah, I think that there's
pressure in all of this and someone has to do
We only have so many I agree sources, right, we
only have so many opportunities to get in front of people.
You know, most of the sporting leagues have what we
call institutional media, which is essentially barter media that you
get in the agreement with your with your broadcast and
streaming partners, and so you only have so many messages
(38:36):
you can throw out there. Right, There's a lot of
priorities and a lot of things that you want to do.
So I think someone has to do with all. Right, Well,
this isn't as much of a priority this year because
not as much in the headlines or whatever or could
be you know, fear of controversy or fear of you know,
getting embroiled in something that you know that you fear
(38:57):
might detract or might take away from your business. And
I think again, if it if it aligns with your
values and you're consistent. My experience has been that people
will see that and not you know, react in different
ways because they know that's who you are. They know
that that's how you behave. If you act one way
one month and you act another way in the next,
(39:20):
then I think, you know, there's a question there, right.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
You lose trust, of course, Yeah, you lose kids for sure,
right yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
And I think that that you know, I will say
this too, Christian, because it's important in the sports industry.
The relationship you have with your players is very important, right.
They have to know that they can trust you. And
I think that one of the things of the Helmets
soft strategy that maybe we don't talk about enough is
that a lot of that was about, you know, having
(39:47):
more of a stronger bond and relationship and having more
trust in between the league and the players. Our fans
can feel that there was too much tension between the
league and the and the players. And I think anybody
in this building, as wor hard as we have in
marketing to sort of have this way of connecting and
the power of those relationships and working closely together to
(40:08):
sort of be you know, really use the collective power
of what we can bring and I think that you know,
the trust that we built in the relationships we build,
I'm very proud of and I think that's been a
big part of it as well. So your players they care.
If they know you care about the things that they
care about, that you care about their welfare and their communities,
(40:28):
is they're going to work with you in a very
different way.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
That's a perfect kind of final statement.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
I don't want to comment too much on this because
that was really super important, and especially because I personally feel,
I think you agree that nothing is settled here in
this area and this business area and in our culture.
It will go on for at least some time, and
therefore we need people like you, you know, such a strong, important,
(40:54):
bold representative of not just the entire industry, but also
with you what you believe. And it was really enjoyable,
you know, to spend time with you in the last
what was it, thirty forty minutes, and I'm so much
looking forward together with our audience to see you on
stage at Possible in Miami, and this will be one
of the topics. We can't cover everything, but again based
(41:17):
on your you know, on your summary of your previous life.
We definitely have to come back at some stage, you know,
and talk about all the amazing things you did before.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
That was super impressive.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Thank you so much, Tim for joining us today and
take care and I see you in.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
A couple of weeks in Miami.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Thank you, Christian. I look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning in everyone. Once again,
I'm your host, Christian Moha. If you have a question
or suggestion to me, reach out, send me the m
on LinkedIn. If you're courious to learn more about Possible,
sign up for our newsletter, or if you want to
join us at the Possible Show in Miami, visit Possible
(41:58):
event dot com. Possible Now is a co production of
iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan Martz and
Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks
to Colleen Lawrence Mack from our programming team. Our theme
music is composed by Anthony Kellacoli. For more podcasts from iHeart,
(42:19):
visit the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
Welcome back to another episode of Possible Now. Today we
are diving deep into the world of one of the
most iconic brands on the planet, the NFL, and who
better to join us than the man at the helm
of its innovative marketing strategies, Tim Ellis, who is the
executive vice president and Chief Marketing Officer of the NFL.
(00:29):
Tim is not just redefining how the NFL engages with
fans across the globe. He's a trailblazer in blending creativity,
culture and cutting edge technology to make America's game a
worldwide phenomenon. From unforgettable Super Bowl campaigns to redefining fan
experiences in the digital age. Tim's vision and leadership have
(00:50):
pushed the boundaries of what sports marketing can achieve. But
today's conversation isn't just about marketing, playbox and brand wins.
It's about the passion behind this, and we will explore
Tim's journey, the lessons he's learned, and his vision for
the future of the NFL. Whether you're a diehard football fan,
or a marketing and to the s or just someone
(01:12):
who loves hearing from brilliant minds, you want one to
visit so grab your headphones, settle in and get ready
to be inspired by one of the marketing world's MVPs,
Tim Ellis, Tim a One, Welcome to our Possible Now podcast.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Thank you, Christian, that was quite quite an introduction. I
appreciate that. Glad to be here with you.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Awesome, awesome Tim, when I spent a couple of minutes
of course to be prepared for our conversation today and
read your fascinating summary what you did so far over
the last decades, and of course there's more to come.
This is super impressive. As I learned, you started on
the creative agency side. You know, you work for two
famous global car manufacturer brands in the marketing department.
Speaker 3 (01:52):
You led the marketing department.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
You enter the gaming and entertainment world at Activision, and
then of course you change industries, but still you are
in the gaming and entertainment world with NFL. I'm normly
kicking off, you know, my podcast with a personal anecdote sometimes,
you know, I know I have something in common with
my guests here in your case before talking about NFL marketing,
and you have visions ten us a bit more, maybe
(02:15):
something personal. Your life revolves around the NFL. But I'm
sure there's another passion you know in your life, or
maybe several. Are you, for example, I don't know, Let's
say a secret music style you know, and we can
find you on a stage, you know, every Friday night
in a club. Or are you someone you know who
runs ten marathons a year? Is there anything you want
to share with us? People don't know about you yet.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
I think probably the most surprising thing people don't realize
is that the way I started my career was not
in advertising and marketing or anything that is traditional at all.
I was an actor. I was a stage actor for
a few years, and then after that, all right, I
decided that I was going to go out and not
just see the world, but I was going to experience
(02:58):
it in a way to where I could dive deep
into cultures and live in different countries and do various
jobs along the way. So most people don't know that,
but I started out studying and learning how to fence,
you know, if I was a fencer. I learned in Paris,
and I studied French and comparative literature there and then
(03:19):
I just didn't want to go home, so I kept
moving my way around the world for the next five years.
And you know, I taught English, I worked on oil
rigs in Norway. I throw tractors in the Middle East.
I was an actor and model in Tokyo. I worked
on a cruise ship as a bartender for a few years.
I did a lot of very interesting jow where again,
(03:42):
I think I got to really explore and experience the
world in a very special way. And I think that's
a lot of what I've learned in terms of the
connectivity between people and how to sort of like communicate
on a human level has really that's really helped me,
I think see the world way first of all.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Definitely one of those who didn't know all about this,
and I'm sure most of our audience as well, but
this is super impressive. So you're recognized as being the
driving force behind some of the most innovative and award
winning marketing campaigns in the US and across Europe, and
you received tons of different awards, like you became the
Marketer of the Year by at Age, you recognized as
a top Cemobile adwagan at age you want emmys? I mean,
(04:23):
tell us our awards really important and if it's not
for you personally, is it important to be recognized what
you and your teams and together with the agencies, what
are you doing here?
Speaker 3 (04:34):
Is this an important thing?
Speaker 2 (04:36):
Well? I do think awards are important for the team,
uh and to you know, sort of assess your own
capabilities and performance outside you know, your own your own industry.
So we pride in the recognition that we received from
sort of the marketing world overall, not just a sports
industry segment, but you know, overall in marketing. And then
(04:58):
of course know it's important to our teams to really
see and to recognize that we are really breakthrough stuff
and that we are being heralded is some of the
best in the business, and that's important. I think it
also just drives excitement and the culture, right the culture
is just so important between our own groups inside the
(05:19):
NFL as well as right with our with our core
partners or our long partner right today is seventy two
and Sunny and they have a lot of brands and
they do a lot of standout work, but I think
some of the some of their most proud moments within
the industry have been with the NFL and before that
with Activision. I work with them with Activision for seven
(05:40):
years as well. And of course what we do and
what really matters is how we're moving the business, we're
driving the business, how we're capturing people's hearts and minds,
how we're really getting people, in one way or another
to think differently about our brand and about associating and
engaging with our brand.
Speaker 3 (05:57):
That's awesome, that's all.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
And there's plenty to talk about because as you said,
there were not just many awards, but also so incredible
stuff we have to share with our audience. Before we
do this, let's dig in a bit, so you will
come to Possible end of April and Miami Beach. When
we invented Possible as an event for the industry, we
thought about, Okay, it has to be we feel it
has to be at the intersection of marketing, technology and culture,
(06:20):
both from the business perspective but also from a consumer perspective,
from your CMO perspective. Is this kind of complexity we
are facing today? Is there anything missing or would you say, okay,
one of these pillars, if you would agree, is more
important than others. So how do you look into your
today's work and the complexity which is obviously you know
(06:40):
ahead of us even more than ever before.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
I think the way, what will you ask what is missing?
I think, to me, what is missing? That is there
be this notion that you have to make a choice
and dive deep into one of those areas, whether it
be culture, technology or high creativity. And I think that
how you bring all that together and how you keep
your eye on, you know, connecting with other human beings
(07:06):
in an impactful way is really what it's all about.
And a lot of that has to do with, you know,
leveraging and harnessing technology right to provide experiences and to
you know, create storytelling that just hasn't been seen before. Right.
That is really a surprise to people in terms of
how you bring it to them. So I don't really
(07:27):
look at the world as like making a choice or
you know, there seems to be this thing today amongst
successful cmos they're either data people or their brand people.
And I think, you know, you have to be both,
you know, and you should not in any way shy
away from things you don't know. Listen, I have an
incredible team that works with me, and I don't even
(07:50):
begin to think that I know what they know, right.
I hired them because of how good they are, and
I sort of let them loose and do their thing.
And you know, do I every day I try to
grasp more about the world when it comes to technology
and culture. Yes, I do. I'm a very curious person
and so one of the things that gives me joy
(08:10):
in life is just to find out and to explore
things that I don't know. So I just think that
it's important that that cmos and the marketers really look
at what's at their fingertips and try to like Hartist,
and leverage it to sort of focus on the things
that really matter, which is really creating some level of
intimacy with their fan base or with their audiences, depending
(08:34):
on your industry.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And at the same time, I think we, of course
we all agree that you know, the audiences are and
their behaviors are changing grammatically because of those kind of trends,
the media landscape is changing grammatically. So if you consider this,
I mean, since you joined NFL in twenty eighteen, you
focus on growing and redefining what it means to be
a football fan. You stepped in and I've read an
(08:57):
articular the way you said you felt immediately you know
something which was hitting you was you needed to connect
with your fans and with the players, and between the
fans and the players even better, So considering reaching out
to new audiences. I think you've mentioned jen Z fans,
the Latino community, and women are really important for the
NFL specifically. How do you balance staying true to the
(09:18):
NFL's legacy while also appealing to new and more diverse audiences.
How do you do this? I mean, you made the
players and therefore the sport more visible for everybody, but
how do you envision this for the new future.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
I really look at it sort of as a strategy
which has two core areas of focus, right, yeah, And
one is to celebrate the joy of the game and
the heritage and the excitement and the adrenaline and all
that goes along with professional football. And then on the
other hand, we transcend the game and we connect with
(09:54):
people in a much more human, compassionate way. And then
we sort of bring all that together is one strong, coherent,
modern brand. And I think that, you know, you have
to make sure that there's a connective tissue across all that.
And I think that what's really there is it's all
about passion and humanity and the notion that sports but
(10:17):
particularly the NFL is a uniter, right, we bring people together.
That is our strength. And some of that is to
create an escape and joy, right right. And then some
of that is to be provocative and to make people
rethink and to consider some of the choices that they
have and the notions that they have. And I think
that the way that we've worked together with our players
(10:40):
has really made the difference in terms of since I've
been here at the NFL. We came in sort of
with a very clear vision of what the NFL needed
to do from a brand perspective and from the perspectives
around how do you connect with broader, wider audio instances,
and that was simply to have the players be the
(11:03):
face of the game, right you can you provide a
more human expression and more compassionate expression of the game,
and you sort of like provide a sort of a
deeper level of understanding of the game through these players,
because when you get behind the things that they really
care about, and obviously a lot of that is around
the sportard itself in there as all of us. They
(11:26):
have all kinds of passions and interests, and so you know,
understanding what makes a player tick and what he really
cares about, and that could be anything from a video
game to fashion, to music to an important cause. That
they have a foundation for. All of these things are
what makes them special and unique. And so by really
(11:50):
getting behind these players and having them be the face
of the NFL and a helmets ov strategy, right, that's
really made a huge difference and how people per see
the NFL and how they've been willing to reconsider and
engage with us.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Understand So, But at the same time we talk about
technology trends. Obviously you came in, and I mean NFL
already was and of course even more in today's time,
is one of the biggest sport platforms in the world.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
But you also helped to furthermore digitalize.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
The whole sport, right you came in, and I mean
if you reach out for any kind of content, you
see NFL everywhere on not just every device, in any
kind of distribution channel.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
I'll call it like this.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
So, with a changing media landscape in mind, you are
on screening platform, social media, short form content and this
helped at the same time.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
To be able to reach out to new audiences as well.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Is this the case or was it more the approach,
as you described before, make the players and therefore the
sport more visible for the audience.
Speaker 3 (12:54):
Was it an independent approach here?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
It's helped in a number of ways, and a lot
of our choices that we've made has really been keeping
a keen eye on the youth segment, right yea. We
look at when I say youth, we look at it
from five to twelve and then from you know, thirteen
to twenty four essentially. And I think that when you
talk about technology, some of that can be done with
(13:18):
the sort of expression of the game itself, like an
all cast like you may have seen Toy Story last year,
where we took the technology that we actually use in
our health and safety program, which is quite frankly, it's
just like a chip and the shoulder pad and then
the mouthpiece, and by doing that we are able to
bring the game to life in a toy story setting,
(13:39):
so and you all the characters were actually watching and
cheering on the game in real time, so you saw
an animated expression of the game in real time that
was just so fun and so fascinating that yes, kids
loved it, but also their parents did as well. This
year we did the exact same approach with the same technology,
but we did it with the sientsence again a ton
(14:01):
of fun and you even saw some of the Simpson
characters who were playing as the you know, the actual
players in the game and score, you know, all kinds
of wonderful things. And so that's that's one example of
how we really we look deep and hard about how
do you leverage technology to to sort of surprise and
delight audiences in a way that they never imagined. Right,
(14:23):
And then you can look at in a very simple
form in terms of our distribution, right, like we've made
some major moves and I've been fortunate to be here
as a part of that, but we made some major
moves since I got here in terms of like how
we've broadened out our distribution from linear TV to a
number of streaming services.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Right.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
The most recent beings where we had two games on
Christmas which went all over the world, not just in
the US, but it was a great sort of level
of distribution worldwide, and even some of our traditional partners
like NBC we have Peacock, right, and so whether it
be Amazon where we have you know, went into having
Thursday night football there as an ongoing basis we've really,
(15:05):
I think, taken very courageous leaps into that side of
the world, because if you think about it, you want
to be where your audiences are. Right. We've been able
to do is not only bring the audiences that we
had previously to that in terms of numbers of linear TV,
so we're getting like TV like audiences if you will,
(15:25):
or bigger in these streaming services. But at the same time,
we're lowering our age significantly of the average viewer and
the average fan, and that, of course is really important.
When I first came to the NFL, I started sort
of ringing the bell of urgency immediately that like, we're
aging out, we have got to sort of focus on
our youngest segments. And what we're going to do for
(15:48):
us is like, in the short term and the long term,
we're going to you know, rejuvenate the brand and we're
going to get younger fans in who will help us
stay modern and relevant. But it's also going to give
a sense of energy, an excitement and adrenaline to the
sport itself as well that you segment is. And so
let's from those two perspectives, let's really embrace our youngest
(16:09):
audiences and you know, we learned that our older, more
mature audiences enjoyed that as well. Right, So obviously there
are certain channels that you can speak to that you know,
you're going to get the right, right mix of your segments.
But we also saw that our more mature, older white
male was also excited about a lot of the things
(16:31):
that we were doing.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
And flag football is obviously part of that strategy, right,
I mean you your emphasis you know on flag football.
L marketing is reshaping how the lead connects with fans
as well. And as we all know, it becomes part
of the Olympics in twenty twenty eight in LA. But
tell me, because I'm not sure, is it just a
demonstration a sport in LA or will it become a
(16:52):
permanent part of the Olympics.
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, we hope that will. But you have, you know,
you have each Olympics, they have their own assessment of
what they're going to keep.
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah, even before the games in twenty eight, we will
have to make our way in, if you will, for
the Australian Olympics.
Speaker 3 (17:10):
Right.
Speaker 2 (17:10):
So that's so we're in deep discussions with them, and
you know, we're very confident and optimistic about that. Hopefully
it all works out the way we hope, and like
you know, this has been exciting again the things that
just happened in the last couple of years. You know,
you can look at the data and it's pretty clear
if a young person participates in the game, if they
(17:33):
play the game and that could be tackle or flag
there four times is likely to be a lifelong fan.
And if you don't, you don't get a fan by
the time they're eighteen years old. Yeah, yet I don't.
We don't have an acquisition strategy for a thirty six
year old, right, you have to you have to get
fans before the before the age of eighteen. So participation
(17:54):
is absolutely one of the best things to do there.
It's also another choice of how to play the game.
You know, we every family can choose do they want
their child to play tackle or flag? And you know,
obviously a lot of a lot of children start and
flag and then they migrate over to tackle. But you
can now play into college as well, play in the NCAA.
(18:15):
It's exciting to see what's happening now there with major
colleges all over the country, how they're bringing in flag
football now as well. So it was you know, it
was a way to sort of bring football back to
the family unit, to get kids to start playing more
and to really open up the game. It's the most
inclusive part of our game. Boys and girls, men and
(18:38):
women can play. You know, athletes of all sizes and
shapes can play. So it's really it's it's exciting to
see it's one of the fastest scoring sports right now.
It's exciting to see how that's all working. And again, yes,
that's all part of our youth strategy.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
Well, first of all, it's never too late, you know
for somebody like me, you know, even older than who
you mentioned you know to me for this sport. But
I you know, I live in New Zealand, so we
we have this flack rugby game here as well to
bring in very young kids to the sport. By the way,
what would you say if the key wei which I
became a key role of the time, you know, would
say rugby is the real one, you know, and not
(19:16):
American football.
Speaker 3 (19:17):
What would you.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Say, Hey, we have to fight for our place in
people's minds and you know, on the on the on
the on the playing fields, right like, we know that
we are not a top three scoot around the world
and and that and that is our aim to be
a top three sport in every major market around the world.
It's not going to be easy. It's going to take time.
(19:38):
But flag football in the Olympics is certainly a part
of that strategy. There are other really interesting things that
we're doing in terms of like developing players around the world.
We have a player Pathway program. You know, we're we're
helping young people learn the game, show what they can
what they can do on the field, and then help
them come back to the US and and play you know,
collegiate football and then hopefully onto professional A lot of
(20:02):
the we're seeing a lot of growth of professional players
now from outside the US. But it takes time, right
and we're very uber about the challenge there. I always
remind people around here, like, hey, just just think about
how difficult it would be for like cricket to come
to the US and like be a top three sport.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Not easy, and this is fascinating.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Cricket is one you know, if the World Cup is
going on or what championships, you know, it has the
biggest audience in the world because of those countries like
India and Pakistan, and others. This is fascinating how how
you know, cultures are really different here. But I think
you're on a good way to become one of the
top sports top three in the world. I mean, listening
to you what you already did. Talk about your past
(20:59):
for a second. I mean what you did in the
in the past. I mean you you changed the Super
Bowl advertising hype, you know, or around advertising years ago.
I mean, we definitely have to talk about this for
a minute. You've been at the heart of some of
the most iconic Super Bowl ads, including the Volkswagen The Force.
I of course personally remember this as well. That wasn't
(21:20):
round twelve, maybe thirteen forteen years ago something like this,
And I think that was the year where you where
you booked two slots in a row with two different ads,
and that was that was called by the Time magazine
as a game changer. So tell me a bit about that,
I mean, and also maybe your personal kind of favorite
ad you know you've seen around the Super Bowl that
was I mean you at this time you was working
(21:41):
for Volkswag or was it for the agency Volkswagen.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I spent twelve years in Europe. My last job in
Europe was working for Volvo in Sweden, yeah, about four years,
and then we did a lot of interesting work with
Spike Jones and with some other Stephen Frears and some
other incredible directors, and that caught the attention of the
North American Volkswagen team and they asked me to come
(22:06):
over and head up North America for them in their marketing,
which was you know, Volkswagen has a history of some
of the best advertising, not just auto advertising, but some
of them emizing ever right, and so I really just
wanted to put a page in the book of Volkswagen advertising.
And I really I feel like that I was able
to accomplish that with my team with the ad the Force,
(22:29):
and we did a lot of great work there. But
I think the Force was very special to me, and
it's a great example I think of what sort of
having the right level of confidence and trusting in your
gut and not willing to take no for an answer,
right Like I That ad had to survive so many
sort of hurdles and people who are trying to kill it,
(22:52):
and you know it was for a car that wasn't
launching for six months. The German team in Wolfsburg didn't
want us to run it, and you know, the CEO
at the time, of course had a hard time defending
it to you know, to the Germans.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But I.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Believed in it, and I just kept fighting for it
for months, and then ultimately, once we did the ad
we we created it, I realized that the sixty second
version of that ad was so much stronger than the
thirty And the thirty was great, but the sixty was phenomenal,
(23:30):
and so I decided that we would put it on
YouTube several days. It was on Wednesday, several days before
the game, and at that time that the conventional wisdom,
in fact, none of the major advertisers ever did that.
And again everybody fought me on it, like everybody around
me was fighting, like, you can't do that. That's not
(23:52):
the way it works. You got a debut, you're creative
on the game. But I just knew and I believed
in the power of the creative, and ultimately it was
a risk, right, And I think that again talking about
lessons for marketers, I think having the courage to do
things that you know are right and that you sort
of really feel in your gut is the right way
(24:14):
to go really matters. So we put it out there
and it happened exactly the way I had hoped. I mean,
it caught fire, It went viral, and everybody was talking
about that ad before the Super Bowl. We had the game,
and we sortaly won the Super Bowl a ward before
the first play of the game, right.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Right, And this opened the door, you know, for the
campaign itself, right, because then the campaign started with the
assume more, the shorter version, thirty second version. But then
it helped to sell costs, right, which was the original
purpose of that of that campaign.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
Yeah, it was a brand ad. I mean, of course
it helped sell ours. And then I think that's why
I think that's why the company was so uncomfortable with
it in the beginning, because they thinking about it, they
couldn't step outside and see it as a big brand campaign,
thinking about it as as a as an ad for
that specific you know.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Right.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
So, and of course what happened the history was is
that after that year, then of course all the marketers
were putting their ads out before the game, right. It
became a new thing. And that's why you mentioned Time magazine. Yeah,
Time wrote an article the ad to changed the Super
Bowl forever. And I think that I'm very proud of
that because the creative is amazing and it's very human
(25:24):
and touching, and it's it's relatable to anybody, right whether
you can buy a Volkswagen or not.
Speaker 3 (25:31):
But and you created the hype.
Speaker 1 (25:33):
I mean, now everybody, like you know these days, you
know that everybody's looking forward to the next game. And
of course more people have talked about the advertising and
what's happening during the break during the halftime.
Speaker 3 (25:43):
So do you have a personal favorite Super Bowl moment, whether.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
You know, either on the field or during the half
time from recent years, something which stands out immediately.
Speaker 2 (25:52):
I mean, listen, the first time I was not I
was working at Volkswagen. And the first time I ever
walked out on the field, which I'm very lucky get
to do that a lot now. The first time I
ever walked down of the field was a Super Bowl.
It was the Giants against the Patriots, you know, the
one of the famous Eli versus Tom Brady games. And
(26:13):
I was with my dad and like, oh my god,
I mean, I've never been so excited in my life.
And to really experience that moment, it was like surreal.
It's like you couldn't you know. I never forget that
because I think about how important this game is to
people and how exciting it is and how big it is,
and I, you know, it's kind of helped me in
(26:35):
my passion and sort of what I give to my
job because of how I feel about the sport, right
I mean, I you know, you're right.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
I was.
Speaker 2 (26:44):
I went into a lot of different segments, and I
was on that agency side for twelve years before it
became a client. But I never took a job that
I didn't really love the product or service. And I
didn't also know that I had something to contribute, like
a big thing to contribute. You know, as you go
through your your career, you get offered various things, and
(27:06):
some of them are better for you monetarily or not.
But I always knew the companies that I knew I
could help, Like I knew that immediately I could go
and help them grow or become more successful. And I
also chose things that I personally love. So I love cars,
I love video games, I love sports, I love football.
(27:26):
So that you know, I I to me, that's important
and it's it's worked for me awesome.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
And you can combine all these experiences and your passion
for this. You know, more and more it looks like,
you know, coming from Activision and coming from the agency
world and from from other marketing world. Was there somebody
who has been the biggest influencer on your career, whether
it's a personal maybe a moment, and how have they
you know, at this moment or event shaped the way
(27:53):
you lead as a CEMO today. Was there anything you
can share with our audience what they are dedicated moment
or personality and you you.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Know, I would give it to the culture and the
leaders of the first agency I worked with for many years,
and that was good being never seen in partners it
was back. It was good Bee Berlin and Silverstein when
I first went through this before Andy, Yeah went off,
and I was so enthralled with how they approached their
(28:21):
work and how they ideas and how they would bring
human insight into it and really do their homework to
understand the problem, and the sort of the care that
they brought into how they crafted everything that they did.
You know, it was like in those days they were
doing things creatively that just no other agency was doing
(28:42):
around the world, really not just in the country, but
around the world. I mean, Wyden was doing some wonderful
things at that time with Nike, but it was that
one brand, and like Goodbee was doing that with so
many brands at that time. Yeah, and just sort of
be a part of that culture and to learn from
it and to be inspired by it, which really kind
of fed my soul, because that's what I That's the
reason I went into advertising, right, that's because I wanted
(29:04):
to do that kind of work. But I think that
you know, the passion, the care, the willingness to step
out there and take risks, all that, I think, you know,
I I think I was so inspired I learned in
those days from Jeff in particular. Jeff could be, but
many of the people who I work with there it
could be. And then I listen, I think that I
(29:28):
love a big stage, right, I like, I love you
look at the jobs I've done and the work that
I've done. It's there's a risk, of course, when you
go in front of that many people, when you go
in front of anywhere from twenty to two hundred million
people and you boldly show your work. I don't not
only do I not hide from that, I get just
pumped from being in front of that many people and
(29:49):
believe it or not, I like learn that when I
was on the stage as an actor, like I love
to be out there in front of all those people
and like, you know, you could you could feel like
them waiting for the next beat of what you were doing,
and that excitement that like I could entertain them and
that I could do things that maybe tonight that I
didn't do last night was so exciting and so I think,
(30:12):
you know, I literally had people ask me now in
my current job, like, well, aren't you afraid to do
these big super Bowl as and stuff? Because you know,
if you know a lot of a lot of cmos,
they don't do a good job in the Super Bowl,
they get fired. Ye, why would I ever think about
getting fired? Like that's the least thing I'm thinking about.
All I'm thinking of doing an incredible job and sort
(30:32):
of impressing the world and exciting people and entertaining them
and getting them to think differently about you know, what
we do. And ultimately, in my mind, if you're worried
about how you might fail, then you're never going to
do anything that's truly brilliant.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
That's amazing, that's amazing seeing the opportunities then more than
than the risk, and of course it comes along with
a lot of responsibility, responsibility for budget, responsibility for your audience,
you know, talking to more people, reaching out to more people,
talking you know, responsibly for your team.
Speaker 3 (31:03):
Et cetera, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
But I totally get what you're saying, and I really
appreciate these kind of insights. And I mean, you know,
the stage can't be big enough obviously for you, because
you're not just doing this amazing work all day long,
but you also spend a lot of time initiated, you know, partnerships.
You know, you use NFL as a platform for good
(31:25):
as well. And let's talk about this for a couple
of minutes, because this will link us over to your
stage appearance at possible end of April in Miami Beach
you will enter the stage. Was the CEO of Big
Brothers Big Sisters of America and you created this amazing
partnership between NFL based on the Inspired Change initiative. So
what inspired the NFL and of course yourself, to prioritize
(31:48):
mentorship and social justice as part of its community engagement strategy.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
Yeah, our relationship with all of our partners have inspired change.
But maybe in particular with Big Brothers Big Sisters. As
a relates to mentorship, Yeah, I think that we believe
deeply in and something that I personally believe deeply in.
I've seen how people's lives have changed for the better
in a dramatic fashion. And not just the littles, right,
(32:14):
not just those who who are being mentored, but for
the mentee as well, like the bigs, I mean, it
changes their life as well, and giving back really kind
of like it helps them realize things and become people
that they didn't that they didn't even realize that they
could be. And so I have a really strong commitment
(32:36):
to that because again I know that by working closely
together we can help them be more successful and that
we're literally changing or even saving people's lives. And as
I said earlier, I think that as the NFL as
a uniter, we do look at this sort of dual
strategy of you know, focusing on the joy of the
game and then transcending the game. And a lot of
(32:56):
the sending the game has to do with our cause marketing, right,
has to do with us getting behind the things that
we believe in and that we know can help the world,
and and and and literally like do things that couldn't
be done without our platform, without our support. And so
(33:17):
that you know, and I will say this too, is
that it's an area of our of our program that
is not embraced by all, right, all of our fan base.
Some of our fan base is very unhappy that we
focus on some of these things, whether it be social
justice or anything in the cause arena. They think we
should just stay to football and not you know, not
(33:39):
talk or not use our platform. But we don't agree.
That's part of our values. It's just something. So I
think that you have to be willing as a marketer
to sort of make some people uncomfortable. If if some
of the you know, some of the segments of our
of our total fan base don't like what we're doing,
that's okay, right, Like what's important is that we're abiding
(34:00):
by our beliefs and then we're doing things that we
know are having an impact out there in communities, and
you know, it's it's worth it making some people uncomfortab
when you know your literally lives for others. And I've
done some work here which was I mean, let's face
it was very controversial and quite provocative. We did an
(34:21):
ad that started out with football is Gay. That ad
was not embraced by everybody. There was a lot of people,
even in NFL and other areas who were uncomfortable with that.
But guess what, the people who we were speaking to
really appreciated it and it changed their views on the NFL,
and it helped us really communicate in a very powerful
(34:42):
way that football is for everyone. That you know, you
should be able to open up the game without necessarily
driving others out. I think that that those lessons that
we have learned have helped us continually broaden our band base,
to strength in our perception, our image, and to sort
(35:02):
of have you know, people who before had felt like
the was not relatable or relevant to them, made them
think differently about the NFL, and they sort of come
on board, if you will, and helped us create an
even bigger impression.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
That's super impressive.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
And of course, how to measure this kind of success,
I mean definitely not in a commercial way, but this
is as you said, you know, broaden up you know,
the fan base, bringing new audiences in.
Speaker 3 (35:27):
Also, while others may disagree with.
Speaker 1 (35:29):
This specific campaign or initiative, do you see that other
major sport leagues use this as an example as well.
Are you at the forefront, you know, as a sport league,
you know, for for others as well?
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Do you see that I see others who are making
strides to you know, give back into programs. I mean, listen,
the reality is that in this country least I'm not
talking about outside the US. Yeah, the US, you know,
we have a very powerful, you know, opportunity. Let's put
(36:02):
it that one. We are by far that we have
the you know, the most fans. We have the most
powerful position in the sports industry right now, and know
that that could change, right So we're I think we
understand that we have to keep earning that and that
that is not something we should take for granted. But
it also gives us opportunities that other sports don't. I
(36:24):
think that one of the things that I am proud
of is that we have not you know, gone back
and forth in terms of our commitment. Back in twenty twenty,
when we realized, after so many of the atrocities and
senseless murders, starting with George Floyd but many others, that
we can and needed to do more right, that we
(36:45):
had to be more committed and have a stronger program
in all directions. And I, you know, I when we
started focusing on what could we do not only you know,
providing financials, but using our platform and working together with
our players and things that they cared about, and we
have not retreated in any way. You still see starting
(37:06):
in twenty twenty, you saw that, you know, on the field,
it takes all of us into in racism and to
focus on and not hate. These are all things that
we have consistently used in our platform, on the player's helmets,
on the field, in our PSAs, like consistently year after
year after year. And I think that the mistake that
(37:27):
some entities make is that they react to what's happening
and then they pull back and they focus on other things.
And I think that we have proved that you don't
have to sort of pull back, that you continue to,
like have that other part of your program which thrills
and excites and keeps people watching your game, but at
the same time you have that steady, consistent approach which
(37:50):
is constantly bringing people together. It's constantly opened up your
arms and inviting people to join you in a way
which you know, I think that really speaks to a
different side of the NFL.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
And why did they pull back because they experienced some pushbacks,
you know, because not everybody greed on your actions as
an NFL and or what you do would you handled
things differently based on that experience or would you do
it in a very similar way?
Speaker 2 (38:15):
Well, I think listen, I yeah, I think that there's
pressure in all of this and someone has to do
We only have so many I agree sources, right, we
only have so many opportunities to get in front of people.
You know, most of the sporting leagues have what we
call institutional media, which is essentially barter media that you
get in the agreement with your with your broadcast and
streaming partners, and so you only have so many messages
(38:36):
you can throw out there. Right, There's a lot of
priorities and a lot of things that you want to do.
So I think someone has to do with all. Right, Well,
this isn't as much of a priority this year because
not as much in the headlines or whatever or could
be you know, fear of controversy or fear of you know,
getting embroiled in something that you know that you fear
(38:57):
might detract or might take away from your business. And
I think again, if it if it aligns with your
values and you're consistent. My experience has been that people
will see that and not you know, react in different
ways because they know that's who you are. They know
that that's how you behave. If you act one way
one month and you act another way in the next,
(39:20):
then I think, you know, there's a question there, right.
Speaker 3 (39:23):
You lose trust, of course, Yeah, you lose kids for sure,
right yeah.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
And I think that that you know, I will say
this too, Christian, because it's important in the sports industry.
The relationship you have with your players is very important, right.
They have to know that they can trust you. And
I think that one of the things of the Helmets
soft strategy that maybe we don't talk about enough is
that a lot of that was about, you know, having
(39:47):
more of a stronger bond and relationship and having more
trust in between the league and the players. Our fans
can feel that there was too much tension between the
league and the and the players. And I think anybody
in this building, as wor hard as we have in
marketing to sort of have this way of connecting and
the power of those relationships and working closely together to
(40:08):
sort of be you know, really use the collective power
of what we can bring and I think that you know,
the trust that we built in the relationships we build,
I'm very proud of and I think that's been a
big part of it as well. So your players they care.
If they know you care about the things that they
care about, that you care about their welfare and their communities,
(40:28):
is they're going to work with you in a very
different way.
Speaker 3 (40:31):
That's a perfect kind of final statement.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
I don't want to comment too much on this because
that was really super important, and especially because I personally feel,
I think you agree that nothing is settled here in
this area and this business area and in our culture.
It will go on for at least some time, and
therefore we need people like you, you know, such a strong, important,
(40:54):
bold representative of not just the entire industry, but also
with you what you believe. And it was really enjoyable,
you know, to spend time with you in the last
what was it, thirty forty minutes, and I'm so much
looking forward together with our audience to see you on
stage at Possible in Miami, and this will be one
of the topics. We can't cover everything, but again based
(41:17):
on your you know, on your summary of your previous life.
We definitely have to come back at some stage, you know,
and talk about all the amazing things you did before.
Speaker 3 (41:26):
That was super impressive.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Thank you so much, Tim for joining us today and
take care and I see you in.
Speaker 3 (41:31):
A couple of weeks in Miami.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
Thank you, Christian. I look forward to it.
Speaker 1 (41:35):
Thank you so much. Thanks for tuning in everyone. Once again,
I'm your host, Christian Moha. If you have a question
or suggestion to me, reach out, send me the m
on LinkedIn. If you're courious to learn more about Possible,
sign up for our newsletter, or if you want to
join us at the Possible Show in Miami, visit Possible
(41:58):
event dot com. Possible Now is a co production of
iHeartMedia and Possible. Our executive producers are Ryan Martz and
Yasmin Melandez. Our supervising producer is Meredith Barnes. Special thanks
to Colleen Lawrence Mack from our programming team. Our theme
music is composed by Anthony Kellacoli. For more podcasts from iHeart,
(42:19):
visit the iHeart app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.
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