Category: Branding

Let’s get this out of the way right now: we’re not talking about the NFL. The National Football League — America’s most lucrative sports brand — remains the established juggernaut with logical divisions of teams and mass appeal throughout the country, especially in the largest of cities. It is, in a word, stable. Some might say strong. Others might say … sterile

We won’t go there. Can a lot of the league’s teams and stadiums feel a little, um, corporate sometimes? Depends on who you ask. And even if the answer is yes, would it really matter — will people still watch? The eyeballs are there, say the ratings.

Here’s a better question, though, and one that relates to all of us in the B2B branding world: What’s the risk of every experience feeling NFL-like? Or Apple-like? Simple: blending in. Boring people. Being bound by a singular standard of success and expression. And maybe trying to be something we’re not. So, we say be yourself. Be different. And be open to borrowing from brands that might not always be the biggest, but are the best at creating truly compelling experiences — and tremendously loyal followers.

Friends, let’s talk about college football, the anything-but-sterile (or stable) fan experience that’s as varied and vast (some would say illogical) as, well, our B2B landscape. Let’s talk about how and where we can infuse the energy and emotion of Saturdays in the fall into our own brands. And let’s start our conversation with … a video game.

Design thinking empowers business leaders to reimagine their organizations, products, and services through a user-centric lens.

Create a cathedral

It’s back. EA Sports College Football 25 returned in Summer 2024, greeting fans after the gaming franchise’s 11-year hiatus. We won’t get into the backstory of the break — search for “name, image, and likeness” for more on that soap opera — but we will dig into this: how many people are buying the game.

On its first day of early access (read: before the game was fully released), more than 700,000 gamers hopped on. In fact, so many people hopped on that it jammed up EA’s servers. A week into its full release, more than 5 million unique users had played, according to a recent EA earnings report. And the game could help boost sales of the newest consoles (namely, Sony’s PS5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S), as it’s not available on the older platforms. When you remember that EA has another wildly popular football franchise — the Madden NFL line — the numbers are even more impressive. Considering this, what makes College Football 25 different enough to attract customers, especially those who also plan to buy the newest Madden game?

Catch that on-campus cool

So, that magical atmosphere — how can we create it? First, we have to understand it. What is magic?

• Engaging: It invites fans to be part of the game. It invites customers to be part of the journey, even as heroes vital to its success.
• Emotional: It’s fans feeling seen, heard, and supported, in the good times and the bad. It’s customers feeling like you not only understand them, but empathize with them — and root for them.
• Everything: Not just the players or the game or the stadium or the fans or the food or the alma mater or the colors or the mascot or the university’s culture. Not just your product or your features or your sales strategy or your mission or your company culture. No single thing. But everything, all together. Honed and harmonized.

Goodbye, cruel world. Goodbye, cruel lamp. Goodbye, cruel velvet drapes, lined with what would appear to be some sort of cruel muslin and the cute little pom-pom curtain pull cords. Cruel though they may be…

Bender?! You stole the atom. One hundred dollars. Is the Space Pope reptilian!? Wow, you got that off the Internet? In my day, the Internet was only used to download pornography.

All I want is to be a monkey of moderate intelligence who wears a suit… that’s why I’m transferring to business school! In our darkest hour, we can stand erect, with proud upthrust bosoms. I can explain. It’s very valuable.

OK, if everyone’s finished being stupid.

What kind of a father would I be if I said no? Hello Morbo, how’s the family? Ow, my spirit! Can I use the gun?

1. My fellow Earthicans, as I have explained in my book ‘Earth in the Balance”, and the much more popular ”Harry Potter and the Balance of Earth’, we need to defend our planet against pollution. Also dark wizards.
2. Yeah, I do that with my stupidness.
3. Now, now. Perfectly symmetrical violence never solved anything.

They’re like sex, except I’m having them!

Yes! In your face, Gandhi! Why am I sticky and naked? Did I miss something fun? What are you hacking off? Is it my torso?! ‘It is!’ My precious torso! Oh, but you can. But you may have to metaphorically make a deal with the devil. And by “devil”, I mean Robot Devil. And by “metaphorically”, I mean get your coat.

• Say what?
• Maybe I love you so much I love you no matter who you are pretending to be.
• Oh, I think we should just stay friends.

Bite my shiny metal ass. I don’t ‘need’ to drink. I can quit anytime I want! Belligerent and numerous. Tell her she looks thin. Hey, you add a one and two zeros to that or we walk! It’s okay, Bender. I like cooking too.

Kif, I have mated with a woman. Inform the men. Alright, let’s mafia things up a bit. Joey, burn down the ship. Clamps, burn down the crew. Ah, yes! John Quincy Adding Machine. He struck a chord with the voters when he pledged not to go on a killing spree.

No! The cat shelter’s on to me. Oh, but you can. But you may have to metaphorically make a deal with the devil. And by “devil”, I mean Robot Devil. And by “metaphorically”, I mean get your coat. What are you hacking off? Is it my torso?! ‘It is!’ My precious torso!

They’re like sex, except I’m having them! Yep, I remember. They came in last at the Olympics, then retired to promote alcoholic beverages! Now Fry, it’s been a few years since medical school, so remind me. Disemboweling in your species: fatal or non-fatal?

Soothe us with sweet lies. There, now he’s trapped in a book I wrote: a crummy world of plot holes and spelling errors! Belligerent and numerous. With gusto. Yeah, and if you were the pope they’d be all, “Straighten your pope hat.” And “Put on your good vestments.”

Son, as your lawyer, I declare y’all are in a 12-piece bucket o’ trouble. But I done struck you a deal: Five hours of community service cleanin’ up that ol’ mess you caused. Morbo can’t understand his teleprompter because he forgot how you say that letter that’s shaped like a man wearing a hat.

I barely knew Philip, but as a clergyman I have no problem telling his most intimate friends all about him. Maybe I love you so much I love you no matter who you are pretending to be. Good news, everyone! There’s a report on TV with some very bad news!

I haven’t felt much of anything since my guinea pig died. We can’t compete with Mom! Her company is big and evil! Ours is small and neutral! What are their names? I videotape every customer that comes in here, so that I may blackmail them later.

But existing is basically all I do! You guys aren’t Santa! You’re not even robots. How dare you lie in front of Jesus? Five hours? Aw, man! Couldn’t you just get me the death penalty? Wow! A superpowers drug you can just rub onto your skin? You’d think it would be something you’d have to freebase.

Ok, we’ll go deliver this crate like professionals, and then we’ll go ride the bumper cars. File not found. Professor, make a woman out of me. THE BIG BRAIN AM WINNING AGAIN! I AM THE GREETEST! NOW I AM LEAVING EARTH, FOR NO RAISEN!

Is the Space Pope reptilian!? No! Don’t jump! We need rest. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised. You’re going to do his laundry? We’ll need to have a look inside you with this camera.