I had similar procedure about five years ago, and that resulted in my being able to do nearly all of the athletic things that I enjoy—running, swimming, golfing, and working out—but actually going through the procedure was not easy. I was a little nervous when I arrived at the hospital, although some of my shaking and shivering was due to the cold New York weather.

I went through the checking-in process and all the usual red tape—it seemed the only words with which the receptionist was familiar were “insurance card”—and eventually, I ended up in the operating room, face down, looking at a TV screen to my right. Dr. Subhedar used a fluoroscopy system to guide him in giving me an injection in my spine. So far so good … but then it happened. The doctor said words that I really did not need to hear as I was in that incredibly vulnerable position: “Give me the dirty great needle.”

At that moment, according to the nurse, all of the blood drained from my face, leaving me—me, with the Caribbean tan—looking quite ashen. “Mr. Sims, are you okay?” she asked. My barely audible response was, “No, I am not.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, to which I replied, “I don’t like what the doctor just said.” Now, you have to understand that Dr. Subhedar is from India, and he has a very strong accent. So although I thought he said “Give me the dirty great needle,” what he actually said was “Give me the thirty-grade needle.” (This story would have worked better if I could have inserted an audio file!)

The good news is that Dr. Subhedar  managed to do a great job on my back again. (Unfortunately, this means that my golfing buddies will not give me extra strokes anymore!) 

Back to the world of branding … this will continue to be the focus of the newsletter, but I have received a lot of questions from readers that apply to other areas of business growth. So this year, I will periodically throw in some articles on marketing, business growth, sales, and other areas that have an impact on the bottom line. Please keep sending me your questions at info@jacksims.com. It’s great hearing from you, and I will always do my very best to answer them.

As it is January, I’m assuming that you have enacted your 2008 marketing plans. (You’re not still in the preparation stage, are you?) Regardless, I would like to offer you a couple of items that just might help you move your brand upward.

If you have not yet completed your marketing plans, I have a gift for you. As part of a new business program I’m working on, I have produced a white paper, “How to Write a Marketing Plan, which you can receive by sending me an e-mail at info@jacksims.com. (I hope the only reason that you will request it is because you are thinking about 2009 already! Nudge, nudge!)

Next, it is time to take stock of your brand again. I would suggest that you take part in my annual Brand Strength Test event. If you have not taken my Brand Strength Test, I promise it will be enlightening for you. It will take about 20 minutes, but you will learn more about your brand in those 20 minutes than you can ever imagine. If you have taken the test previously, I hope you kept the results so that you can do a comparison test against last year and determine the gainers or decliners.

To take the test, go to my Web site, www.jacksims.com, and scroll over to “One Sheet & More” on the top. You’ll get a drop-down menu, with “Brand Strength Test” at the top of the list. Be sure to print out the results. You see, my take on business is that it’s all about measurement of success. What’s your measurement of success? The Brand Strength Test is just one strong marketing tool that you can put into your business measurement system.

The Super Bowl

It’s that time again—the single biggest TV event of the year will hit our screens on February 3; it’s the advertising community’s biggest show-off day of the year. It’s when companies spend ridiculous amounts of money to get their TV commercials aired. (Oh, yes—they also play a game of football between the commercials, and quite frankly, it’s usually fairly boring and not nearly as good as the commercials.)

The question of the day is: Is it worth it to place an ad on the Super Bowl? This year you would have to sign a check for $2.7 million for a 30-second spot—can you imagine that?

The demographics of the audience, however, are quite amazing. For instance, more females watch the Super Bowl than any other sporting event of the year. Does that mean that more manufacturers of women’s clothing, makeup, and hair care should advertise? Or would those ads get lost in the shuffle of the big boys, like Coke and Budweiser, who always step up to the plate? If you owned a company with products geared toward women, would you even think about advertising on the Super Bowl?

Food for thought!

This year, I would like you to offer your opinion on the TV commercials that run during the Super Bowl. Click here to go to the survey, where you’ll see the list of this year’s 25 contenders. (I will try to update the information on each of the commercials as it gets closer to game day.) After viewing the commercials, please rate each one with a score of 1 to 5. The commercial that get the most votes wins—it’s that simple. And the winning commercial will receive the BRAND NEWSY award!

I am convinced that my readers are smarter than the general public, so it will be interesting to compare our numbers to the general marketplace.

Last year’s commercials, as usual, were dominated by the big boys with the bug bucks, but the ad that arguably got the most value for the money was the one that was unanimously voted, by most standards, as the worst commercial on the Super Bowl: the spot for Salesgenie.com (and it’s back again this year). Vin Gupta, founder and chairman of Salesgenie.com, thought of the idea for the commercial and actually wrote the ad copy himself. Gupta says that while other brands battle for accolades and awards, Salesgenie.com isn’t fazed by jeers from the audience. “It was judged to be the best by the real pros,” says Gupta. “Our ad was one of the few to feature a call to action, driving more than 25,000 people to the Salesgenie.com Web site. If it positively impacts business like it did last year, we’d be thrilled to be the worst again.”

Half Time: Extra Special

Tom Petty is going to be the half-time entertainment for this year’s Super Bowl. I think he is a great selection—all-American and just perfect! (By the way, fans of Petty’s Traveling Wilburys now can download a collection of the group’s albums from iTunes and get a bonus of a 30-minute video documentary. I highly recommend it!)