Comments

Brilliant, Steve.

Posted by Michael D. Pollock at January 30, 2005 9:09 AM

Perhaps the most obvious lesson is that it takes years to build up one’s brand and only a fraction of time to destroy it. When it’s all said and done, brands are built on trust, integrity, and honesty. Steroids and dishonesty are not branding traits that have lasting power. What ever our area of interest and passion, we should under stand that the game is bigger than we are. The only professional sport I watch is the most boring; Golf. Jack, Arnold, and Gary had it. Tiger, Phil, and Sergio have it. Thus the game of golf still has it. Grace, integrity, and honor. How much of that will we see in next weeks Super Bowl?

Posted by RTodd at January 30, 2005 9:43 AM

It was not the corked bat and it was not the sneeze. It was the inability of Sammy to stay true to his persona, his brand, in the face of difficult times. He was meaningful in Chicago because he loved baseball, he loved the fans, and he loved being a Cub. Or so it seemed. We may never know whether all that was faked for those years or whether Sammy is just a man that cannot handle adversity. What ruined Sammy is this simple fact: if you love baseball, you love hitting 6th for the Chicago Cubs.
What we can learn is that when adversity comes, and it comes to all of us, stay true to what makes you special. Another Chicago sports legend showed us that. Michael Jordan has not played for years and is still the number one shoe endorser in the world.

Posted by erics at January 30, 2005 11:47 AM

Very good, insightful post, Steve. You're absolutely right that brands are ephemeral, which is why I am amused when I see reports about the "billion dollar value" of high-profile brands. There are so many examples of brand value plummeting overnight (Ford with the Explorer, Firestone with defective tires, Tylenol with adulterated content, Suzuki with its RAV SUV, Kodak with digital cameras, Lucent with, um, everything they touch :-), Coke with their "new coke") that I don't really understand why there's still such a fuss made about brand in the first place.

We don't live in a brand universe any more. We live in a universe of "stuff", everything's ultimately commoditized, and as clueless consumers looking for a deal, we're more influenced by price, packaging and placement than by logos and corporate ownership.

Posted by Dave Taylor at January 30, 2005 12:38 PM

I've had this experience, at the top and then what? If you believe your happiness, your life, is based on fans / consumers / brands, you're going to crash. Sammy forget he is more than baseball. Sammy forgot homeruns don't make him happy, but being a man who plays the sport does and enhancing fans lives in that moment does; he forgot how to connect and separate, he forgot how to be multi-dimentional. Sammy is a conduit, not a life giver, an emotional conduit for fans. Baseball is a part of his identity not the entire part. It all got muddied. Michael Jordon was very good at bringing the feeling to the fans, helping us transition to that place of "sport" [however you define it] for a few hours, and I for one love him for it. He helped me cross over to an emotional world of bliss. He also has shoes that enable me to do that one my own, everyday; I'm not dependent on him. He is a conduit.

Posted by Wendy at January 30, 2005 12:55 PM

Sammy Sosa, No More Nomar, in the end, it's not about the individual--it's all about teaming and building team cultures.
Ask any great coach--stellar teams beat allstar teams hands down because the stellar ones put egos aside to really reinvent the team and the individual--to get role clarity and role acceptance, to develop talent relenlessly in a reinvention circle that never ends. In the spirit of talent development, stellar teams continue to assess who can field, who can man/woman first and who has the best pitch going--and they put those people in regardless of rank or longevity. Performance, operating with values (as in corkless and steroid-free) and striving toward excellence are the highlights of the stellar game--on the wide worlds of sport and competitive business!

And in the end? It's GO SOX GO (as in THE RED ones...).

Posted by Pam Brill at January 30, 2005 10:46 PM

And I just keep thinking, "If it could happen to Sammy ..."

Posted by Steve Yastrow at January 31, 2005 12:56 AM

Think about the brand Cal Ripken, a brand that stood for durability, rugged performance, honor, sportsmanship, grace, and so much more.

Cal earned his brand by being a good player EVERY time he stepped onto the field.

No tantrums, or tirades, or silly excuses.

I'm just glad Sammy Sosa didn't get traded to my NEW favorite team, the Washington Nationals.

Posted by Erick Blackwelder at January 31, 2005 1:38 AM

Brands go bad when the "brandee" comes to believe that the power of his brand can do his work for him -- that it has taken on an immortal sheen and can't be touched. How often have we seen companies, or individuals, react too late to brand erosion because they thought it was invincible?

The focus has to be on performance. The mutual fund disclaimer is great advice for Sammy, and for us all: "Past performance does not guarantee future results."

Posted by David Gottlieb at January 31, 2005 5:04 AM

Great post, Steve.

This all grieves me very much...yet, Sammy brought it on himself.

I blogged on the corked bat the day after it happened at

http://joeelylean.blogspot.com/2003_06_01_joeelylean_archive.html#200384240.

This started the lack of trust.

The "marketplace" of his fans, me included (hey, we even named our dog after him...), grew more disenchanted with his self-centeredness and whining. Leaving the clubhouse on the last day of the season was the proverbial last straw.

Bummer to be in the same division now with the Yankees and Red Sox. But that's where he is.

Nevertheless, he and McGwire gave us one of the most memorable seasons ever in 1998. Thanks for the memories, Sammy.

Posted by Joe Ely at January 31, 2005 8:29 AM

The time to be performing at our peak is when we believe things are going really well.

In my experience THAT is when we are most vulnerable.

The natural tendency may be to relax and become complacent.

I think we must do the opposite. When on top the only way to stay there is to be looking for improvement. We must work HARDER when things are good.

Over here in England the best example in sport is George Best (Soccer) - a tragic waste of talent - he was finished at the top flight at age 27 - the age most pro soccer players are at their peak.

It gives me no pleasure to type this as George was my sporting hero of all time ....but there is no doubt he let his high standards of professionalism slip and the rest - as they say - is history... sadly

Great discussion, thanks.

Posted by Trevor at January 31, 2005 10:27 AM

AND HOW ABOUT THAT WEIRD KISSING THING HE DOES WITH HIS fingers over and over - enough of a reason right there for him to be blown off to Baltimore [the new homicide capital of the USA] - heads up, baby.

Posted by John at January 31, 2005 10:58 AM