I came up with this model to illustrate the level of importance and primacy a franchise should place on attaining a Loss-Proof Brand. Click here for a closer view.The central idea of the brand universe is that the brand benefit achieved by winning, while important, is ephemeral. Furthermore, it is largely an unknown quantity and even the strongest team brands (Boston Celtics and the San Francisco 49ers to name a couple) fall on hard times eventually.
So rather than being confined to the outlying tactical province of the marketing department, developing a Loss-Proof Brand should be at the center of the franchise's universe. From that position, it influences every aspect of the brand and ensures a consistency of both meaning and messaging across all brand operations.
Ultimately these universe models are meant to depict that relying on the sheer functionality of winning games to build a meaningful brand is a crapshoot. Winning for winning's sake can sometimes give a team brand the shot in the arm it needs - Chelsea FC's recent success in the English Premier League is a great example of this. But winning without fostering a deeper emotional connection with all stakeholders will ensure the euphoria of that success is short lived. It is only by articulating what a team should represent, then ensuring it influences all brand operations can a franchise hope to build a Loss-Proof Brand.
