Who Dat? The Saints, Dat's Who.

Fairy tales are named such because of their rarity.

If there is a better description of the New Orleans Saints' 31-17 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday then I'd love to hear it.

In their forty four years of existence, the Saints have been the epitome of a hapless franchise. It took them two decades to achieve a winning season, and over four decades to reach a Super Bowl. As if this weren't bad enough, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, put their very existence in the Big Easy in jeopardy.

Amongst the obligatory hoopla and celebration, I felt the happiest for Drew Brees, the undersized free agent that 30 teams felt was washed up in in 2006. Hall of Fame Quarterback Steve Young's appraisal of Brees' performance after the game was quite telling. Describing his play as "pure artistry" seemed quite surreal given most pundits were about to anoint Peyton Manning as the "greatest of all time" only four hours earlier.

Of course it wouldn't be the Super Bowl without the commercials. To view them all, click here.

A Team Brand is Not a Star Player

The NBA Finals have arrived and the Los Angeles Lakers are the overwhelming favorite to beat the Orlando Magic. For the record I'd like to see the Magic get up -- there really is nothing like a Cinderella story in sports!

Despite the lead up to the Finals, the bigger story this week was the uncertain future of LeBron James following the Cavaliers' early exit. King James becomes a free agent following the 2010 season, and the New York Knicks are well poised to sign the young superstar, having already cleared enough salary cap space for "The Little Emperor" to ply his trade in the Big Apple.

If this happens, and it's far from a done deal, Cleveland will be transported back to their past, struggling to appeal to star recruits wanting to play for bigger market teams that more frequently compete for titles. If LeBron leaves, and it is still a big "if," it will reinforce the notion that a team's brand must be bigger than its individual components.

Sure, a star player can add value to the brand, as LeBron has done in spades with the Cavs, but ultimately a star player's effect is a temporary ingredient in building a franchise brand. The Chicago Bulls still struggle to define its brand without its most famous ingredient -- Michael Jordan. And because "His Airness" is irreplaceable, it probably always will. And what is the Indianapolis Colts' brand without Peyton Manning? It's pretty hard to define isn't it?

So, like the Cavaliers, any poorly defined franchise brand is taking a gamble by building its brand using stellar, but perishable ingredients. A team must decide what it is going to stand for, and like the New York Yankees or the Pittsburgh Steelers, stick through it through championships, failures and roster changes. These "Loss-Proof Brands" should become the platform for all franchise decisions as the diagram above depicts.

Even in the event LeBron stays in Cleveland, his career still has a shelf life. If the Cavs want to stay competitive beyond LeBron's tenure, it must begin by defining what its brand represents independent of its playing roster.

Weak Team Brands - As Vulnerable As A House Of Cards

They really are. Unless there is a strategic idea that forms the vision for the franchise, the popularity of a sporting team is tied to the skill (or lack thereof) of its playing roster.

If a team bases its brand strategy on winning games, what happens when the players that helped them win retire or get traded? Just as a Shimano reel on a fishing rod or Rolls-Royce engine on a Boeing jet increases the value of that product, star players are valuable ingredients to building the value of the franchise they represent. But unlike a fishing reel or a jet engine, great players can not be cloned. What's worse, no matter how resilient the player, they all have shelf-lives.

So sure, a star player can add value to the brand, but ultimately their effect is a temporary ingredient in building a franchise brand. The Chicago Bulls still struggle to define who they are without their famous ingredient brand Michael Jordan. And because "His Airness" is irreplaceable, they probably always will. And what is the Indianapolis Colts' brand without Peyton Manning? What about the Cavaliers' brand without LeBron James? They are pretty hard to define aren't they?

So any poorly defined franchise brand is taking a gamble by building their brand using stellar, but perishable ingredients. Unfortunately for them, the best ingredients thrown together without a strategic recipe does not a delicious meal make.

Brand Favre

Within the first 48 hours of his signing with the Jets, 20,000 Brett Favre jerseys were sold. Jersey supplier Reebok was unable to keep up with the unprecedented demand. This begs the question, are these jersey buyers Jets fans or Favre fans? Sure, the man is a lock to be a Hall of Famer, but this sort of fan hysteria for a guy about to turn 39 in October? Why such a groundswell of expectation and excitement?

NFL headline makers can be broadly split into two groups. Square jawed, All-American heartthrobs (Think Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Brady Quinn); or controversy-courting bad-boys (Terrell Owens, Randy Moss or Pacman Jones). While landing firmly in the heartthrob category, throughout his career Brett has not always been the perfect boyscout. As mentioned in a recent post, Favre’s bouts of alcoholism, pain-killer addiction and infidelity have helped to sully any chance of maintaining a cookie-cutter image.

However, perhaps these mistakes are really what help drive the appeal of “Brand Favre”. Not a homecoming king like Brady, or from football royalty like Manning, Favre’s many foibles and mistakes remind us of his inescapable humanity. Yet over the course of his career, he's managed to bounce back from several personal tragedies and perform when it matters. In an era when sporting figures are expected to be emotionless, bulletproof, superhuman deities, Favre's enthusiasm for the game remains his greatest appeal. While the Bradys of the world treat a football game like a high-stakes poker match, Favre has always retained the unbridled enthusiasm of a 6-year old running out for his first throw of the pigskin. To use a Top Gun analogy, Favre is Maverick to Brady's Iceman - a talented, passionate thrill seeker facing off against the cool, level-headed and cunning alpha male.

Perhaps It's this underdog "everyman" appeal that makes "Brand Favre" so likeable. Perhaps it's the reason for the unprecedented jersey sales. Perhaps it's the reason that while they are sorry to see him go, even dyed in the wool Packers fans will wish the man well come September.