When Pigs Fly

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I don't think the gopher media department are quite aware of the connotations of the idiom "when pigs fly." if they did, they wouldn't be quite so quick to be talking about pigs flying, winning and ticket sales in the same breath.
 


After the last 40 years. Beating Michigan this year would fit the "When pigs fly".
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
I don't think the gopher media department are quite aware of the connotations of the idiom "when pigs fly." if they did, they wouldn't be quite so quick to be talking about pigs flying, winning and ticket sales in the same breath.
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Sort of like when the student shirts said, "The Furs Gonna Fly".
 


bigtenchamps1899 said:
I don't think the gopher media department are quite aware of the connotations of the idiom "when pigs fly." if they did, they wouldn't be quite so quick to be talking about pigs flying, winning and ticket sales in the same breath.
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Actually, I think they do know what it means (see field rushing b/c of the upset immediately following the graphic).

They aren't dumb. They know they don't have the guarantee of winning season quality product to sell. They also have a "meh" home schedule when it comes to opponents with name recognition. So they're selling 3 things in that ad: loyalty/school spirit, improvement by the team, and the excitement of potential upsets. #3 is a little bit tougher to justify b/c of the lack of name recognition schools, but this angle lets them play up the best moment from last season's home schedule. In fact, that's the only moment from last year (or the year prior) on the home schedule that you could sell as a moment people would have wanted to see.

Frankly, I don't think it's a horrible strategy. Getting bothered by the connotations of "when pigs fly" kind of ignores the fact that this is where the team is right now. We won't (and shouldn't at this point) be favored in a large number of our home games. It is what it is and I think the marketing team is actually doing a decent job in that commercial given what they have to work with.
 

I never saw the commercial, but didn't need to in order to pick up my tickets. I'm going to the Michigan game (and New Hampshire) and want to see some payback for the last Michigan game I attended, 2003. As they say, payback is a b!tch. :)
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
I don't think the gopher media department are quite aware of the connotations of the idiom "when pigs fly." if they did, they wouldn't be quite so quick to be talking about pigs flying, winning and ticket sales in the same breath.
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They knew exactly what they doing, and it was quite intelligent. It's called "playing it as an underdog".
 

GoAUpher said:
Actually, I think they do know what it means (see field rushing b/c of the upset immediately following the graphic).

They aren't dumb. They know they don't have the guarantee of winning season quality product to sell. They also have a "meh" home schedule when it comes to opponents with name recognition. So they're selling 3 things in that ad: loyalty/school spirit, improvement by the team, and the excitement of potential upsets. #3 is a little bit tougher to justify b/c of the lack of name recognition schools, but this angle lets them play up the best moment from last season's home schedule. In fact, that's the only moment from last year (or the year prior) on the home schedule that you could sell as a moment people would have wanted to see.

Frankly, I don't think it's a horrible strategy. Getting bothered by the connotations of "when pigs fly" kind of ignores the fact that this is where the team is right now. We won't (and shouldn't at this point) be favored in a large number of our home games. It is what it is and I think the marketing team is actually doing a decent job in that commercial given what they have to work with.
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Lot times the Gopher marketing takes a hit, but this time they nailed it.
 



GoAUpher said:
Actually, I think they do know what it means (see field rushing b/c of the upset immediately following the graphic).

They aren't dumb. They know they don't have the guarantee of winning season quality product to sell. They also have a "meh" home schedule when it comes to opponents with name recognition. So they're selling 3 things in that ad: loyalty/school spirit, improvement by the team, and the excitement of potential upsets. #3 is a little bit tougher to justify b/c of the lack of name recognition schools, but this angle lets them play up the best moment from last season's home schedule. In fact, that's the only moment from last year (or the year prior) on the home schedule that you could sell as a moment people would have wanted to see.

Frankly, I don't think it's a horrible strategy. Getting bothered by the connotations of "when pigs fly" kind of ignores the fact that this is where the team is right now. We won't (and shouldn't at this point) be favored in a large number of our home games. It is what it is and I think the marketing team is actually doing a decent job in that commercial given what they have to work with.
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if that's what you got out of it, fine.

i didn't say anyone was dumb. i didn't say it was a horrible strategy. i don't even think i was all that bothered.

you spent 200 words to get me to believe that it was a better-than-horrible strategy. i simply said: to sell tickets: winning and pigs flying might not be a winning strategy when the majority of the people who they are trying to sell the tickets to don't have school spirit, will believe the improvement when they see it and are more apt to leave before the fourth period starts than stay for an upset.
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
if that's what you got out of it, fine.

i didn't say anyone was dumb. i didn't say it was a horrible strategy. i don't even think i was all that bothered.

you spent 200 words to get me to believe that it was a better-than-horrible strategy. i simply said: to sell tickets: winning and pigs flying might not be a winning strategy when the majority of the people who they are trying to sell the tickets to don't have school spirit, will believe the improvement when they see it and are more apt to leave before the fourth period starts than stay for an upset.
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Which is just the kind of fan we are trying to rid ourselves of. We are trying to sell tickets to just the opposite.
 

My impression is that the ad is saying that fans should be there when the Gophers "make pigs fly" (do the impossible). And the players holding Floyd of Rosedale over their heads is a symbol of them making pigs fly.

Sometimes a good ad it one that gets people talking about it.
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
if that's what you got out of it, fine.

i didn't say anyone was dumb. i didn't say it was a horrible strategy. i don't even think i was all that bothered.

you spent 200 words to get me to believe that it was a better-than-horrible strategy. i simply said: to sell tickets: winning and pigs flying might not be a winning strategy when the majority of the people who they are trying to sell the tickets to don't have school spirit, will believe the improvement when they see it and are more apt to leave before the fourth period starts than stay for an upset.
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This is exactly what they're trying to address. It's no secret that the primary problem the U faces is 40 years of mediocrity (or worse). As someone who makes a living in marketing, I really like the approach of addressing that head on and saying, "We know you're skeptical ... but we believe."
 



It is a perfect, beautiful way to describe what happened. In this town of (horrific) professional sports teams, only the Gophers made pigs fly.

This is what I disliked about Maturi’s “selling hope” position. It isn’t valid for college athletics. That is how you sell professional sports. In amateur athletics you are selling something else… memories, perhaps. People don’t watch college football for the same reason that they watch pro football. They watch more for the sort of reason they watch the Olympics.

The public sentiment over the last two years is that Gopher football was horribly bad. Yet, in that time, the team has maintained Floyd and Iowa has never won a game at TCF. These are just the sort of things that make the college game so compelling. Hoisting Floyd the last two seasons were among the most significant moments in Minnesota sports.
 

I think it's great. It reminded me of when Barry said "Get your season tickets now, because in a couple of years you won't be able to." Everyone likes to be on the ground floor of a revival.
 

bigtenchamps1899 said:
i didn't say anyone was dumb.
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You certainly implied it when you suggested the marketing folks didn't understand the meaning of the idiom.

bigtenchamps1899 said:
i simply said: to sell tickets: winning and pigs flying might not be a winning strategy when the majority of the people who they are trying to sell the tickets to don't have school spirit, will believe the improvement when they see it and are more apt to leave before the fourth period starts than stay for an upset.
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Really? Where did you say any of this in your first post? Maybe in your mind you think you said all this in the 2nd sentence of that post. To the rest of the world you simply said that tying pigs flying to winning and ticket sales didn't make sense without attempting to explain why (like you do now).

Looking at the new points you make...Are you suggesting the marketing department do nothing? Because what you put saying is essentially "win and they will come." I agree completely, but that's not a marketing strategy for this season. And oddly enough, the marketing team still has to market right now, in advance of any winning. Do you have a constructive suggestion for how that happens?
 

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