B1G Blog: Michigan's AD on his brand

[GoAUpher]

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/29096/michigan-ad-dave-brandon-talks-branding

If there was ever a school that could afford to rest on its laurels it's Michigan. Instead, they've got an AD who keeps looking at how his department can improve the Michigan brand. This is same thing that Northwestern is doing. And it's what MN needs to be doing to compete for market share and ticket $$$ in a pro sports town. Obviously winning also needs to happen. But winning without a strong brand means the U will miss out on opportunities. Strong branding and the building of loyalty the Gophers "brand" will help during the inevitable down years too.

 

[dpodoll68]

Interesting article. I agree that the U's marketing is in terrible disarray and needs a major overhaul.

As a side note, it really bugs me (as if you couldn't tell) when people are allowed to spout factually incorrect things without being called on it. What does he mean, "Oldest football program"? There are several older programs still extant, including Rutgers and Princeton (obviously), as well as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Penn, and Brown, not to mention Amherst and Stevens Tech (now both D-III).

 

[Unregistered User]

Say something often enough and it becomes fact.

 

[matt]

Say something often enough and it becomes fact.

I will get with Jessica Alba.
I will get with Jessica Alba.
I will get with Jessica Alba.
I will get with Jessica Alba.
I will get with Jessica Alba.
I will get with Jessica Alba...

 

[Unregistered User]

I will get with a Jessica Alba poster.
I will get with a Jessica Alba poster.
I will get with a Jessica Alba poster.
I will get with a Jessica Alba poster.
I will get with a Jessica Alba poster.
I will get with a Jessica Alba poster...

There you go.

 

[RodentRampage]

We do need better marketing. Take Goldy's Kids Club for example. There's no web page, just a PDF file. It typically doesn't get updated until well after the school year has started. When I have e-mailed them, they say they are working on a web page. It doesn't take years to create a web page, it takes minutes. They don't have a dedicated e-mail for the Kids Club, just the e-mail of the person running it. Not having a dedicated e-mail makes it more likely that the e-mails will get lost in the shuffle. More people might sign up if they even heard of it.

I think the U should routinely put ads in small town newspapers all over the state. It wouldn't cost that much, would keep Gopher sports in people's minds, and would buy some good will from the editors of all the state's papers.

 

[supadupafly]

Interesting article. I agree that the U's marketing is in terrible disarray and needs a major overhaul.

As a side note, it really bugs me (as if you couldn't tell) when people are allowed to spout factually incorrect things without being called on it. What does he mean, "Oldest football program"? There are several older programs still extant, including Rutgers and Princeton (obviously), as well as Columbia, Yale, Harvard, Penn, and Brown, not to mention Amherst and Stevens Tech (now both D-III).

in terms of BCS-level programs, i believe it goes in this order (in terms of oldest football programs):

-rutgers
-michigan
-navy
-MINNESOTA
-etc.
-etc.

 

[dpodoll68]

Navy isn't in the BCS.