The owner of Royal Air shifted her mindset from seeking measurable ROI for their mascot and community events. Instead, success is tracked through "quiet notices": overhearing positive comments, seeing branded buttons on kids' backpacks, and being recognized at events. This highlights the cumulative, qualitative impact of brand-building.

Shift event ROI measurement from lead counts to "revenue in the room," a metric combining potential prospect revenue with the retention revenue of existing customers attending. This provides a more holistic view of an event's business impact, including crucial customer engagement and advocacy.

Gary Vaynerchuk observes that brands are now treating major events like the Super Bowl as efficient production opportunities. Instead of just hosting parties, they leverage influencers and on-site activations to generate a high volume of social content, maximizing ROI on expensive experiential marketing.

Frame business trips not by a single metric (like ticket sales) but as a portfolio of returns. This includes team-building for remote staff, deepening sponsor relationships, and community engagement. This multi-faceted view provides a more accurate picture of the trip's total value.

Brands maximize the ROI of expensive activations like those at the Super Bowl by reframing them as 'production days.' Instead of a one-off event, they become content engines for social media and creative campaigns, using influencers and programming to reach a much broader audience.

Instead of focusing on immediate ROI, structure events to foster genuine connections and goodwill ("karma"). This builds a stronger, more resilient brand over time, even if it means creating opportunities for competitors by inviting them.

Ramp's Super Bowl activation succeeded because it was a multi-touchpoint campaign, not a single ad. They combined the TV spot with on-the-ground events like a tailgate party, media outreach to Adweek, and viral social media stunts with celebrity lookalikes, creating multiple opportunities for engagement and impact.

Success is not a single metric. Kellogg uses a tiered model to evaluate its Super Bowl investment: 1) pre-game social media engagement, 2) post-game shifts in consumer sentiment towards the brand and category, and 3) the ultimate goal of increased cereal sales.

An effective Super Bowl presence isn't just about the TV ad. Ramp's successful activation included on-the-ground events, PR placements in outlets like Adweek, influencer collaborations, and social media engagement. This holistic approach creates multiple flywheels that amplify the initial ad buy, ensuring the investment generates buzz and impact far beyond the 30-second spot.