Marketing department email?

[Dann]

This is not a bad idea, but how does UConn get involved without independent advertising? They do not own or operate Rentschler Field. They pay rent as the primary tenant. Isn't this like saying UConn should get a piece of the gate for the Springsteen concert?

Yea I'm not sure exactly. That was my point its half baked but has potential. It brings a event to the rent which is good from multiple aspects. It benefits uconn exposure wise just being where they play football. My thought was that uconn creates and runs the event somehow. So we rent the rent just like normal or something. Probably some 50/50 split of money could happen or whatever.

Dan - the point isn't to make money, its to get coverage.

So, do a car wash outside the Rent with cheerleaders on street corners with hand made signs etc.

Make it look like the typical HS/Middle School football team car wash.

Get a Giant check for $463 or whatever made out to the UCONN Football with "To make up for lost revenue from the BE" in the notation.

Have the band play. Turn it into a party. Get the local news there. Tell Dez that Jim Boeheim will be there so he'll cover it. Have HFD dunk pool (big money maker).

Here is the key - you have to spend more time/effort on getting local media coverage than anything else - once you have that, it can go national.

Or not. This stuff doesn't always work

U are right about the money. It's small potatoes, its about the exposure of being at the rent and getting uconn involved face value wise. Then it's about marketing the event. Imagine the information being "9am blah blah at the rent where uconn plays football". Done deal exposure wise right there. It's just another way of keeping the name fresh in minds.


Let Jonathan be a kids picture whore all day and put some cheerleaders at a tent advertising uconn tickets. Boom.

Playing 6 or 7 games at the rent isn't enough uconn events wise. Add the spring game. We need 10ish events where the fanbase yearly is at the rent. This could be one of those.

 

[Husky25]

A store or gas station near the rent would love the traffic.

What does that have to do with UConn? I thought the point was to gain UConn more exposure. You're the expert on marketing on a limited budget (this is not meant as a put down. From the tone of your posts and at where you indicate you work, you have ore experience than I). I'm just asking questions.

 

[sdhusky]

What does that have to do with UConn? I thought the point was to gain UConn more exposure. You're the expert on marketing on a limited budget (this is not meant as a put down. From the tone of your posts and at where you indicate you work, you have ore experience than I). I'm just asking questions.

I don't think this would sell any more season tickets or put any more fannies in the seats or get us in a new conference.

And I certainly don't think our AD is STUPID or IDIOTS or MORONs for not doing this...

But, getting the national media to talk about how UCONN fans are the ones royally screwed by CR gives us a chance to tell our story - ie: biggest market not in the power 5, biggest TV market without a pro sport etc.

It's not a big deal - it wouldn't change anything, but its something the boneyard could do with or without UCONN support (picture HFD in a cheerleader outfit) and wouldn't cost much.

And I promise and guarantee that no matter how much it succeeds or fails, it will deliver more than another 10,000 posts about how stupid, dumb, inadequate our marketing department is.

 

[CL82]

Would you be willing to pay 20% more for tickets if there was better/more marketing?

It's a false choice. With good marketing you get a 20% increase in attendance which solves your cash flow issue.

 

[jdb50]

Youth programs and high school programs, I'd go for getting an increase in group sales and hope when the time comes these folks can commit to season tx. We have a day where scout groups attend already, marketing to football programs shouldn't be that hard. With this years schedule and Boise and BYU next year we should be able to sell tx.

 

[sdhusky]

Youth programs and high school programs, I'd go for getting an increase in group sales and hope when the time comes these folks can commit to season tx. We have a day where scout groups attend already, marketing to football programs shouldn't be that hard. With this years schedule and Boise and BYU next year we should be able to sell tx.

Like that idea.

 

[formerlurker]

I haven't heard it mentioned here but does anyone else think The Rent's "security" needs to be addressed if we want a fan friendly experience?

Anyone who made the trip to ND knows most of the ushers there were senior citizen volunteers who made you feel like they were put on this Earth to help you. Security? Never noticed them but always felt safe.

I know we don't control the employees at The Rent but our stadium staff appear to be more work release program than major football program. I'm too antsy to sit in my seats and spend most of the games standing with a lot of player family members. I can't count the times our security has yelled at a player Dad or Mom just because they crossed the ________

 

[Carl Spackler]

Its my impression - and I could be wrong - that for years, men's and women's bb sold very well with limited marketing.

Let's say in 2000, how much did marketing impact ticket sales?

Now, in football, there was marketing but the big driver in sales was the move to BCS and the BE, right?

I imagine having Michigan on the home schedule this year will sell more season tickets than anything short of a massive, multi million dollar sales/marketing/media blitz.

Getting the BB team eligible for the post season will help sales more than billboards.

A better economy would help too.

So, we have a product that has been sold with a modest marketing budget... and we have had a couple of poor W/L years and a been handed terrible cards in CR.

If we want to have billboards on trains and TV commercials and full-time social media marketing and aggressive PR etc, its going to mean spending more money than they days the CC sold out just because Jim or Geno were rolling out the ball or the Rent was brand new.

So, here is my question - is it worth an extra 20% (which seems like a reasonable amount for a professional marketing program) to pay for all those things?

The issue I have with this thread is the thought that all these things can just be done without any thought to budget or management.

Would you really want HFD as an official representative of UCONN on twitter? How long before Warde and Susan would be doing damage control and maybe having to resign?

"Well, twitter is free and we figured we could just have someone do it without a plan or supervision" isn't going to save them.

Fine - I think that with everything that's been done in the past 2 years with UCONN athletics/marketing - that the money is already there in budget. Billboards have gone up. TV, radio ads have been made and put out. Facebook, twitter, all that stuff, is up and running. It's a matter of putting people in place and in decision making position that know WTF they are doing.

The one thing, in this thread, that you really nailed, is that it's insanity for people at UCONN to be advertising, building marketing plans, etc on the whims of posters on the boneyard. You never responded to me on that. Do you think that people up there have actually done that? Spend money based on reading the boneyard? Call me crazy, but I think they have, and if anyone is in position to make choices about how to spend money and build a marketing plan, is doing it based on the cross section of the population that is represented on this website, they should be fired immediately.

The views on this website are not an adequate sampling of the population that the UCONN athletics department needs to target. The cross section of the population that this website represents is a very small minority, insignificant, as to what they should be targeting.

We are 16 months now, into having an athletic director that at least has the experience of working within, and understanding a division 1A/BCS level athletic department. We are a little longer into having a university president and university governance that is hell bent on aggressive change and improving the university, and raising all kinds of standards.

16 months removed from 8 YEARS of an athletic director who repeatedly demonstrated that he was unqualified for the job of a division 1A/BCS football level athletic department. The events of today, around the release of a website, AAC conference, missing logo's etc. Symptom of a larger problem. When you are incompetent that long at the top, it goes to follow that you will be incompetent down the chain, because the people that really know what they're doing, are going to want to get the hell out as soon as they can. (i.e. Randy Edsall) How long did the UCONN press/sports info people have to prepare for today for the release of the AAC stuff? And you get a guy like McMurphy tweeting it. talk about mickey mouse operation.

there has been a level of incompetence that has been prevalent throughout the athletic department offices for a long time. I think that what Army did, with an advertising campaign, makes a whole hell of a lot of sense - as long as it's part of a larger plan. I think that UCONN has been trying in the past 2 years, more than ever, to do things to change public perception, and exposure, etc.....but I worry that the people that are trying, are not well qualified for what they are doing. How is it possible?

I mentioned this issue before, with tickets emails. There is absolultely no reason that a regular season ticket buyer, that has already purchased tickets for the 2013 season should be getting promotional emails to purchase season tickets (and promotions - means something extra kicked in - for a purchase)

Because the sports teams win, and win a lot. The old saying is that winning fixes a lot of problems. It's not accurate. What winning does, is cover up lots of problems, and those problems get exposed when you are not winning.

 

[Dann]

B
I
N
G
O

Come on sing along with me guys.

Nice post Carl. Be careful tho, u could get a label of lunatic like me.

I have a joke to tell, ready?

What kind of boat does the uconn athletic department own?

Answer- no c k I n g boat

 

[Carl Spackler]

B
I
N
G
O

Come on sing along with me guys.

Nice post Carl. Be careful tho, u could get a label of lunatic like me.

I have a joke to tell, ready?

What kind of boat does the uconn athletic department own?

Answer- no c k I n g boat

Dan - difference b/w you and I - well one of many differences, is that I think that the people in charge, are actually well qualified for their jobs, and are approaching this all systematically, and appropriately. You cannot create the kind of change you want to see overnight in the real world, let alone in the academic world staffed with state employees, where things move exponentially slower. Y0u can only be systematic about your approach, have a deliberate plan of action, keep track of everything, and hold people accountable for their actions - and focus on moving forward, not constantly look in the rear mirror.

 

[mcs333]

Down here in the South everyone knows us as UCONN. If you say Connecticut, they will ask which school in CT. Did you go to. Also they never say I went to North Carolina. That would include Wilmington, Char., Asheville. It's always UNC Chapel Hill. Outside the state it's OK to say just UNC.

 

[sdhusky]

FI think that what Army did, with an advertising campaign, makes a whole hell of a lot of sense - as long as it's part of a larger plan. I think that UCONN has been trying in the past 2 years, more than ever, to do things to change public perception, and exposure, etc.....but I worry that the people that are trying, are not well qualified for what they are doing. How is it possible?

Two point.

First - Army's attendance sucks. It high 20's if I'm not mistaken. Do you really want to follow their lead? Would you rather have more fans or more billboards?

Second - I think it stupid to judge the marketing department without knowing exactly what their goals are, budgets and plans. And how they hit towards their plans.

If they hit their numbers, I don't care if they have or don't have billboards, have to don't have twitter, have or don't have only blue ties, have or not have logo's that look good on the first iteration of the AAC site etc.

Sometimes, its what you do with what you've got. I wouldn't slam Ollie because his team didn't rebound well last year. I like the W/L numbers more.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Sdhusky, you know all the answers to your own questions - maybe you are a lawyer, but I don't think so, but you're writing like one. Apparently, we are done here.

 

[sdhusky]

Sdhusky, you know all the answers to your own questions - maybe you are a lawyer, but I don't think so, but you're writing like one. Apparently, we are done here.

Yeah.

Because it is easier to b%tch and moan about a fantasy world with infinite budgets and no accountability than it is to step into the real world.

You, HFD and the boneyard crack boneyard marketing team are marketing experts when it's all based on the fantasies in your mind - I suggest you enjoy the view from there.

 

[Vuder]

Wouldn't this be parallel to us trying to "claim" New York? Imagine how New Yorkers feel about UConn and Rutgers trying to continually put a flag down on the NYC market.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Wouldn't this be parallel to us trying to "claim" New York? Imagine how New Yorkers feel about UConn and Rutgers trying to continually put a flag down on the NYC market.

No. Trying to claim NY - would be actually trying to claim NY - putting out advertisements that say "xxxxx - New York's college team".

Simply developing a good advertising of your image and product in a highly visible place for a very specific purpose to expose your product is entirely different.

 

[CL82]

Yeah.

Because it is easier to b%tch and moan about a fantasy world with infinite budgets and no accountability than it is to step into the real world.

You, HFD and the boneyard crack boneyard marketing team are marketing experts when it's all based on the fantasies in your mind - I suggest you enjoy the view from there.

Angry much?

 

[whaler11]

Yeah.

Because it is easier to b%tch and moan about a fantasy world with infinite budgets and no accountability than it is to step into the real world.

You, HFD and the boneyard crack boneyard marketing team are marketing experts when it's all based on the fantasies in your mind - I suggest you enjoy the view from there.

Well one can assume they have at least some budget. Whatever it is they have seems to be wasted. Still waiting on your comprehensive plan as an expert. It seems to be just give up.

 

[J187Money]

Yeah.

Because it is easier to b%tch and moan about a fantasy world with infinite budgets and no accountability than it is to step into the real world.

You, HFD and the boneyard crack boneyard marketing team are marketing experts when it's all based on the fantasies in your mind - I suggest you enjoy the view from there.

I will ask it this way. Are you saying you think they do a great job? Or are you saying we can't comment because we don't know what the internal metrics are?

Just like we don't do the recruiting. And we don't coach. And we don't play. So why are we here?

(Understand I'm in 100pct agreement with you on marketing metrics)

 

[sdhusky]

I will ask it this way. Are you saying you think they do a great job? Or are you saying we can't comment because we don't know what the internal metrics are?

Just like we don't do the recruiting. And we don't coach. And we don't play. So why are we here?

(Understand I'm in 100pct agreement with you on marketing metrics)

Because a college athletic program shouldn't be world-class in marketing. We aren't selling dog food. I'm not outraged we aren't as good at it as some people.

So, it's boring and depressing to hear our athletic program run down for mistakes (real, imagined and others that are clearly NOT mistakes and other that are trivial) by some people who are complete idiots and don't know anything about the subject.

Fact is that having Michigan on the schedule sells more tickets than the boneyard and a million dollars of marketing.

Warde got Michigan to honor their contract. That's better than billboards.

I would judge his ticket selling more by how he builds future schedules than posters on trains or logo's on web sites.

 

[Dann]

Because a college athletic program shouldn't be world-class in marketing. We aren't selling dog food. I'm not outraged we aren't as good at it as some people.

So, it's boring and depressing to hear our athletic program run down for mistakes (real, imagined and others that are clearly NOT mistakes and other that are trivial) by some people who are complete idiots and don't know anything about the subject.

Fact is that having Michigan on the schedule sells more tickets than the boneyard and a million dollars of marketing.

Warde got Michigan to honor their contract. That's better than billboards.

I would judge his ticket selling more by how he builds future schedules than posters on trains or logo's on web sites.

this year michigan plays @ psu and @uconn and you think just magically michigan i s going to fill this place up? most fans will autoatically go to psu over uconn.

i cant wait till the seasn tix numbrs come out. will you e on BY acation that day?

how many bcs games has warde schedued so far as ad? It not like temple, usf an cincy are having issues doing this task.

#bleedred

 

[Dann]

You are saying we won't sell out for the Michigan game?

I'm not sure. Tell me what proof you have that sales are going well?

 

[Dann]

I have none.

I'll make a deal with you - if Michigan games doesn't sell out, i won't post for a month. If it does, you don't post for a month.

No. The game will eventually sell out. They had the choice of putting up to 4k bleachers in front of the scoreboard and only went with 2500 because they felt that's all they could sell by the time the game starts. They will sell it out.

My point is that the game should be sold out accept for a select group of tickets already. And since we have no news on it surely it hasn't happened. If we did have it sold out already we should be pumping that to the hills and back. So it's either we have not sold it out, or the marketing dept is so bad they are not bragging about selling out early wi the largest crowd ever at the rent blah blah. You take your pick of which. Either stinks.

If for some crazy reason Michigan does not sell out, then everything you defend is a joke and I'm freaking right about all the garbage I spew out. Sucks to be in that position as u huh?

Tell me again, how many BCS games has warde added to the schedule? Nova and stony brook! No silly BCS not fcs....

If sales were going well them how come no one knows about them? Either they are going bad or this school can't market or pump itself for the life of it.

We should have those bleachers for md and Rutgers also. Maybe even Lville. But we won't because besides the Michigan game if we don't win early this year the rent will be a 20-25k ghost town at best. NCST was a prime example and that was early in p's second year not latter. It hadn't fully set in yet with most how bad it was.

 

[Dann]

Just as I figured.

Big talk. Little follow through.

Oh please. I have done bets on here and followed thru win or lose. I went quiet and was completely in line when whaler and fishy donated to buy my posting time.

Taking a bet on a Michigan sellout is a joke. Find something legit to bet on and I'll play for a donation to something.

Your a clown.

 

[CTMike]

HFD on the Michigan game:


5 hours later:

You are an idiot. He never once said that it wouldn't sell out. What he's saying is that UConn is content to do the bare minimum for it. Yes, we'll sell it out. Maybe a week in advance, and maybe with some handouts that we give Rutgers for. Maybe not. But without buzz/momentum/MARKETING... we are in danger of barely getting it over that finish line. And that is NOT ACCEPTABLE. We should have droves of people who WANT to go who can't find a ticket. We should have people complaining about the prices on Stubhub. You know why? Because those are better problems to have. They show some commitment to football, some desire to survive, to say "Yeah, that's what's up B1G. We sold it out months in advance, people of CT and the surrounding area are very interested in your product - and we'll do the same if we are in your league."