This Sunday, two of the most-followed football teams will face off for the Super Bowl.
On the field, it’s Packers versus Steelers.
But in the stands, it’s black and gold versus green and yellow. Cheese heads versus terrible towels. Dairy farm country folk versus Steel City dwellers. The Green Bay brood versus the people of Pittsburgh.
Just about every sports page in the country has spent the past two weeks comparing the fan bases of the NFL Championship contenders. Citing local Nielsen TV ratings, ticket prices, away game groupie counts, team merchandise sales, and what’s believed to be the most trusted NFL favorites survey - the Harris Interactive (which, by the way, ranked the Packers at #3 and the Steelers at #4).
According to the ultimate source of sports news – the Wall Street Journal (and yes, that was a bigger joke than Brett Favre’s retirement) – sportswriter Jared Diamond concludes that the Green Bay Packers have the “more super fans.” His reasoning is that in every aforementioned category of measuring each franchise’s sports spirit, the scores for Green Bay and Pittsburgh run so close to each other that you’d need to bring out the chains to measure the difference. So when you then take into consider that the physical realm of Green Bay’s community (including Milwaukee) is 26% smaller by population than the metro area of Pittsburgh alone AND further, the fact that the cheese hats haven’t been fastened for a Super Bowl in 13 years yet their popularity remains as strong as their state's sharpest cheddar, ultimately the Packers steel this showdown (though only slightly).
From football seasons to fiscal years, our businesses have their ups and downs too. Whether we come out with a win or end in a loss, it is imperative that we maintain our fan base and preserve the integrity of our network. Somehow both the Packers and the Steelers have managed to never disappoint enough to lose fans and their performance still captures enough excitement and creates enough energy to continually cultivate their communities year after year.
One way for a business to keep a steady following is to keep its word. For us at eQ, “keeping your word” is actually our number one value verbatim and our team has agreed on three behaviors to aspire towards in honoring it:
- Make your commitments realistically.
- Follow-through on your promises completely.
- Display integrity and accountability to the extreme.
We thoroughly believe that our word to our community is the bond of our business and we urge other companies to consider the same. Keep your word and you’ll keep your fans whether you win the Super Bowl or don’t even make the playoffs. From partners to prospects, private life friends to public eye observers – it's the true players who persevere with poise that don’t lose in the perception of their people.
As voiced by Vince Lombardi, legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers and expert keepsake of words: “ I would say that the quality of each man’s life is the full measure of that man’s commitment of excellence and victory – whether it be football, whether it be business, whether it be politics or government or what have you.”
Kristen Zatina is a writing specialist who scours worldwise business news for corporate inspiration.
(*Information Sources:
"Which Team's Fans Are More Super?" by Jared Diamond. The Wall Street Journal. Wednesday 2 February 2011.
"Two Tradtions, Zero Inhibitions" by Nando Di Fino. The Wall Street Journal. Thursday 3 February 2011.)
