We Fixed It. You're Welcome.

This year, companies spent $8–10 million for a single 30-second Super Bowl commercial, before production, celebrity fees, and amplification even begin. It’s one of the biggest marketing bets any company can make, and one of the few remaining moments of true mass, real-time cultural attention.
In this episode, the panel tackles the real question behind the hype:
Do Super Bowl commercials actually work, or are brands gambling millions on a flashy coin flip?
To answer this question, we're joined by featured guests and ad agency experts Anaka Kobzev (main episode and included post-show) and Amelea Renshaw (post-show) who have both been instrumental in shaping Super Bowl campaigns, among other things:
- Anaka has led global communications for legendary agencies like McCann and TBWA and is Founder and Principal of Through Line Advisory, helping brands to elevate their visibility through strategic communications and content.
- Amelea is Head of Strategy at Lucky Generals NY, spearheading brand positioning, award-winning creative campaigns, and comms thinking for brands such as Universal (with a 2026 ad spot), Ally, Google, Peloton, Pinterest, and Girls Who Code.
Recorded in two parts, the episode opens with a pre-game breakdown, where the panel evaluates the economics, risks, and strategic rationale behind Super Bowl advertising. After the game, the conversation continues with a bonus after-show, analyzing what actually aired, which ads cut through, which ones missed, and what patterns emerged across categories like AI, finance, health, food and beverage.
With perspectives from brand strategy, communications leadership, and deep agency experience, the group goes beyond “Was it funny?” and instead evaluates ROI, readiness, cultural fit, and long-term brand impact.

Key Topics & Takeaways
Why Super Bowl ads now cost 2–3× more than a decade ago
The difference between awareness, engagement, and actual business impact
When Super Bowl ads amplify strength vs expose weakness
Why creative misalignment can erase millions in value
The danger of confusing celebrity recognition with brand recall
How layoffs, market timing, and internal morale affect ad perception
Why some brands win with one ad and others disappear entirely
The rise of AI, health, and fintech themes in this year’s game
How pre-game leaks and post-game amplification now matter as much as game night

Strategic Frameworks Discussed
Readiness Test: If your operations can’t handle the spike, don’t buy the spot
Lifecycle Fit: Super Bowl ads work best at inflection points, not desperation moments
Creative Discipline: Entertainment alone is not strategy
Before / During / After: The ad is the spark, not the fire
Internal Alignment: Employees must understand the “why,” not just see the spend
Cultural Context: Tone matters as much as message

Who This Episode Is For
CMOs and brand leaders
Marketing and communications executives
Agency strategists and creatives
Founders considering big-budget awareness plays
Anyone curious why some Super Bowl ads become legendary and others become memes

The Big Question This Episode Answers
Is a Super Bowl commercial a smart investment or a very expensive ego play?

Final Take
Super Bowl commercials can work, but only when the entire business is ready to support the moment. Without operational strength, creative clarity, and strategic intent, the biggest stage in advertising doesn’t save brands, it exposes them.
The real win isn’t airtime.
It’s alignment, execution, and what happens after the confetti settles.

Main Panel
Aaron Wolpoff
Melissa Eaton
Chino Nnadi
Anaka Kobzev (Special Guest)
Anaka's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anakakobzev/

Bonus After-Show Panel
(Post-game analysis only)
Aaron Wolpoff
Melissa Eaton
Anaka Kobzev (Special Guest)
Amelea Renshaw (Special Guest)
Amelea's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amelearenshaw/

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.

• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends!
Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking, have an engaging conversation, and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pinterest was once the quiet corner of the internet. A place for inspiration, planning, and imagination. No shouting. No doom-scrolling. No constant pressure to buy. That version of Pinterest is now under threat.
In this episode, we unpack The Pinterest Paradox. Can a platform built on slow inspiration successfully pivot to fast commerce without breaking user trust? Pinterest is laying off staff, cutting costs, investing heavily in AI, and pushing aggressively into e-commerce. With TikTok Shop, Amazon, and Instagram all competing for attention and dollars, Pinterest is betting that inspiration should lead directly to purchase.
Joined by Leon Lin, former Head of Discovery Product at Pinterest and current CEO of 1stCollab, we go inside how Pinterest’s algorithms actually worked and why monetization is harder than it looks.

We explore:
Browsing vs buying and where Pinterest truly belongs
When monetization feels helpful vs exploitative
Why affiliate links and sponsored content can break authenticity
How timing and intent matter more than ad volume
Why small and local businesses are Pinterest’s biggest opportunity
Inspo Mode vs Shop Mode as a potential product fix
How Pinterest can evolve without losing its soul

This is not an anti-commerce conversation. Pinterest is a business. But the real question is whether platforms can monetize without alienating the very users who made them valuable in the first place.

If Pinterest gets this right, it doesn’t just become another shopping app.
It becomes the most trusted bridge between imagination and action.

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.
• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends!
Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

LEGO built one of the most iconic brands in history by standing for children, creativity, and open-ended play. But in recent years, a major shift has taken hold. The company is increasingly chasing adult fans with premium, expensive, highly detailed sets, licensed IP, and collector-focused experiences.
In this episode, the panel is joined by toy industry veteran Leo Battersby to examine whether LEGO’s pivot toward adults is a smart growth strategy or a dangerous drift away from the very thing that made the brand legendary.
The conversation explores the deep tension between imagination vs instruction, open-ended creativity vs rigid build-by-numbers kits, and long-term cultural pipeline vs short-term revenue growth. With declining birth rates, rising screen time, and changing childhood behavior, LEGO is navigating a radically different world than the one it helped shape.
The group debates whether LEGO is slowly turning from a system of play into a premium model-building brand and what that means for future generations of builders.

Key Topics & Takeaways
Why adult collectors now make up ~25–30% of the toy market
How LEGO’s “Adults Welcome” strategy and 18+ sets changed the brand
The shift from imaginative play to instruction-following construction
Why modern LEGO sets leave less room for creative reinterpretation
The impact of screens, media, and IP on how kids play today
Declining birth rates and what that means for toy company pipelines
The difference between “paint by numbers” and a blank canvas
Why nostalgia is powerful but not a long-term growth strategy
How LEGO risks losing the next generation of builders
The hidden danger of optimizing only for adult money
The Strategic Tension
Is LEGO still teaching kids how to imagine… or mostly teaching them how to follow instructions?
The panel argues that LEGO is not wrong to pursue adults and licensed IP. The real risk is over-indexing on precision, perfection, and display pieces at the cost of the messy, experimental, imaginative play that originally made LEGO magical.

The Big Fix Proposed
A “LEGO for Life” ecosystem, including:
A subscription-based building journey that grows with the child
An “Anything Box” starter kit with no instructions, just imagination
Age-and-stage based kits that evolve from free play → STEM → advanced builds
A community layer where kids and families share creations and challenges
A “Pass the Brick” system for reused bricks to improve accessibility
Clear separation between:
Kid-first creative play LEGO
Adult premium collectible LEGO
The goal:
Use adult profits to subsidize kid-first innovation and rebuild the long-term pipeline of LEGO fans.

The Big Question This Episode Answers
Is LEGO building the future of imagination, or just really expensive shelf art?

Final Take
LEGO doesn’t have an adult problem.
It has a pipeline problem.
The brand must protect the emotional and creative experiences that make people become adult LEGO fans in the first place, or the nostalgia engine eventually runs dry.

Panel
Aaron Wolpoff
Melissa Eaton
Chino Nnadi
Guest
Leo Battersby Former Mattel executive and co-founder of Mattel Creations, the adult collectibles business that scaled from zero to $110M. Currently founder of Midnight Rally Club and VP of Brand Creative at Fluid Logic.

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.

• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends!
Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Season 3 kicks off with a timely and culture-shifting question: Is Dry January actually good for business, or is it a self-inflicted economic slowdown?
Every January, millions of people across the U.S. and the world voluntarily press pause on alcohol. What started as a small UK health initiative has become a global behavioral shift, with nearly 1 in 5 adults now participating and overall alcohol consumption at its lowest level in nearly 90 years.
But this is not just a personal wellness trend. It’s a market disruption.
In this episode, our panel explores how Dry January impacts bars, restaurants, beverage brands, corporate culture, and consumer behavior. We break down whether this movement is just a temporary reset that snaps back in February or a signal of a much deeper shift toward mindful consumption, wellness, and long-term habit change.
From inventory planning and staffing challenges to the rise of non-alcoholic beverages, sober-curious culture, and experience-driven hospitality, the conversation reframes Dry January as not just a month, but a strategic testing ground for the future of food, beverage, and social culture.
Key Topics & Takeaways
Why alcohol consumption is at a 90-year low and what that signals
Is Dry January a meaningful reset or just behavioral whiplash?
The business impact of 20% of customers disappearing for a month
How Gen Z and wellness culture are reshaping social drinking norms
Why “mindful consumption” is becoming mainstream
The rise of non-alcoholic, zero-proof, and better-for-you beverages
How bars and restaurants should rethink menus, experiences, and inventory
Using January as an R&D lab instead of a dead month
Corporate culture, team bonding, and moving beyond “happy hour culture”
The danger of over-indexing on one month instead of building evergreen options
Strategic Business Ideas Explored
Treating Dry January as a season, not a stunt
Designing non-alcoholic experiences that feel premium, not like an afterthought
Using January to test new menus, pairings, formats, and partnerships
Diversifying revenue beyond alcohol without alienating core customers
Reframing internal culture toward wellness, inclusion, and balance
Building experiences around activities, not just drinking
Avoiding the January 1st / January 30th consumer behavior whiplash
Who This Episode Is For
Consumer brand marketers and strategists
Operators dealing with seasonality and demand swings
HR and culture leaders rethinking workplace social norms
Food & beverage brand leaders
Bar, restaurant, and hospitality owners
Anyone interested in how wellness trends reshape entire industries
The Big Question This Episode Answers
Is Dry January something businesses should fight, ignore, or design for?
Final Take
Dry January is not the problem.
Ignoring the long-term shift in consumer behavior is.

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.
• Website – www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/wefixeditpod
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/@WeFixedItPod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends!
Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.

Disclaimer
A quick disclaimer. We are going into this somewhat cold and nothing we say should be construed as legal advice, financial advice or anything that would get us in trouble. These are our views and opinions. We're here to ask the kinds of questions everyone's thinking. Have an engaging conversation and maybe come to some conclusions that we feel are worth exploring. By the end, if we fixed it, you're welcome. All trademarks, IP and brand elements discussed are property of their respective owners.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this special episode of We Fixed It, You’re Welcome, the team welcomes back financial expert Lukas Sundahl to put real numbers behind our hypothetical business fixes.
What’s the actual value of “fixing” a struggling company?
Lukas analyzes three big names—Southwest Airlines, Party City, and Jaguar—and shows how our proposed strategies could have meant millions in revenue, survival, and long-term brand strength.

Expect insights on:
Why Southwest’s baggage fees could still work without killing loyalty?
How Party City could have survived with community-driven retail?
What Jaguar missed in its EV pivot and how to reclaim brand trust?

This episode blends strategy + financial modeling, proving that fixing companies isn’t just theory—it’s measurable impact.

Listen, learn, and maybe rethink how YOU approach business pivots.

We dive deep into the real numbers behind our “fixes.” With returning guest Lukas Sundahl (CFO, financial strategist, LinkedIn thought leader), we analyze three case studies:

Southwest Airlines: Would baggage fees really alienate customers? Or could they generate $350M–$450M while keeping loyalty intact?
Party City: How localized inventory and community tie-ins might have saved them from bankruptcy—potentially adding $43M–$130M in value.
Jaguar: The pitfalls of abandoning brand heritage in the EV race—and how aligning EVs with Jaguar’s legacy could mean $35M–$179M in gains.

Chapters
0:00 – Welcome to We Fixed It, You’re Welcome
1:20 – Meet our guest: Lukas Sundahl
2:40 – How we quantify “fixes”
4:20 – Case Study 1: Southwest Airlines
8:00 – Case Study 2: Party City
14:40 – Case Study 3: Jaguar
18:20 – The power of the pivot
23:00 – Why grounding fixes in real companies works
25:45 – Closing thoughts & where to find Lukas

Key Themes:
The financial impact of strategic pivots
Brand loyalty vs revenue growth
The “power of the pivot” in corporate turnarounds
Why storytelling + numbers matter in fixing companies

Key Pull Quote
“The numbers—whether worst or best case—prove the power of the pivot. Even small strategic shifts could have meant hundreds of millions in value.” – Lukas Sundahl

Subscribe for more deep dives where we fix big business problems with fresh perspectives.

Links:
• Website - www.wefixeditpod.com
• Follow us on:
Instagram: @wefixeditpod
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wefixeditpod
YouTube: @wefixeditpod

If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your friends! Keep listening to find out how we fix companies and put them back better than we found them.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.