Marketing the Brand

[AfgHusky15]

UCONN v. Connecticut

I know a number of people prefer the full name of the state as opposed to "uconn", however I think in terms of marketing the school to areas outside of the state it would be more prudent if we went with uconn. We need to start thinking "B1G" (I had to throw that in there), and that means we need to start thinking of all of New England and NYC as part of our home turf. By sticking with "uconn" it makes it easier for fans who live outside of the state to cheer and become fans of the school. Connecticut as a state does not have best perception especially when it comes to NYC. By sticking with uconn it makes it easier for fans of college athletics to associate the school with the northeast not just connecticut.


Expanding our reach in New England:

I think we really need to start playing big time games in Boston. We should schedule at least one "home" game in the TD Bank Garden every year against a marquee opponent. And no one should ever even think of us playing BC in basketball, every year BC becomes more irrelevant (which you would think it pretty hard to do seeing just how bad they have been the past few years). This way we can reach out directly and connect with fans in the Boston area. People need to realize that UCONN is Boston's team when it comes to college basketball, as wayne selden once said in an interview (a top recruit from Boston) every young basketball player in Boston dreams of playing for uconn. The only reason we haven't been getting top recruits from New England the past few years is because of the whole APR fiasco, coaching change and all the other mess, but once KO establishes himself we should get rolling with recruits in Boston.


Expanding our Presence in NYC:

We need to schedule at least one if not 2 games every year in the city. It would be cool if we could get a game in MSG and the other in the Nets stadium. Now with the possibility that there may no longer be a tournament in new york for uconn, we have to make sure we still have games in the city to keep the connection and perception of uconn as NYC’s team.


Offer in-state tuition to all students from NYC and New England:

The school also should look into the financial feasibility of offer in-state tuition for students attending uconn from New England and NYC. I don't know how the undergrad system works but I know for the law school, students who do not residence can get in-state tuition after the first year, so if its the same case with undergrad, I think for the amount of money lost by granting in-state tuition will be made up for the dramatic increase in applications. In this economy more students will be looking at affordability when they choose where they attend. The increase in application will allow us to be more selective while increasing our student body, this in effect will lead to not only more alumni but in all likelihood more successful alumni who then will be able to donate more back to the school. There is a reason why top academic schools generally have larger endowments and receive larger research grants.


Keep the German Connection Going:

We have 3 German players on our team, and because of this I would assume we are gaining popularity in Germany. Germany is the 3rd or 4th largest economy in the world, so it would be great if we can establish a footprint there and build upon a growing fan base. In order to sustain a fan base we need to continue to recruit from Germany. This doesn’t mean we have to recruit 2-3 players from Germany every year but if we can get a player from Germany once every two years that should put us ahead of other teams in popularity. Not only can we be New Englands and NYC’s team but we can be Germany’s Team.


Speaking of Germany:

The AD (who I have no trust in whatsoever…unless its an eating contest) needs to push to make UCONN an annual participant in the airbase games that seems it will stay around for a while. We have the potential, the fact that our color is national flag blue, that we sing the pledge of allegiance before every football game, the fact that we won the first ever game played at an airbase, should be lobbied for hard in order for us to be the team that gets to play in the game every year. Oh and by the way we are usually a top ranked team every year and one of the most popular. To the AD: Do not just lay on your fat a** and wait for an invite. BE CREATIVE AND AGGRESSIVE! Push for everything there is nothing to lose in trying!


Potential:

UConn has a lot of potential in terms of marketing. Not only are we located in the 30th largest tv market, this figure also doesn’t include Fairfield county, CT’s most populous county, not only are we the largest market without a professional sports team, but we have the opportunity due to our proximity to represent the largest city in the US and the whole of New England. Our biggest competition is Rutgers for New York!!! And We have no other competition when it comes to representing New England! In terms of potential no other college team is in a position like ours. However we have failed to capitalize on it and its hurt us in this recent conference realignment.


Positive Signs:

I have noticed an appreciable uptick in advertising of Uconn sporting events both with billboards on highways near areas that experience high volumes of traffic (right before you get on the Q from the shore, when entering New Haven from 91 south, when entering and leaving Hartford) and on the radio waves, I’ve heard of a lot more ads on a number of stations. These are just baby steps however and we need keep pushing hard because after we have saturated the state with uconn ads we need to start pushing into neighboring states.


Few other notes:

We should look into recruiting players from China, they unabashedly and zealously cheer for whoever is Chinese. This is great if we can land the next Jeremy Lin (We should after the guy at Oak Hill; he can also ball). If we can get the next chinese basketball star, that’s a billion uconn jersey’s sold right there (a bit of a hyperbole but you get my point). China=Gold.

At this point I’m tired of typing so I’ll stop here. But these are just a few ideas

 

[Adios]

I think UConn AND Connecticut should be used. Or perhaps leave UConn to the fans (as Alabama fans call their school "Bama") and just call us Connecticut.

 

[UC990411]

I was in Germany this summer. No one has ever heard of our three Germans

 

[AfgHusky15]

I was in Germany this summer. No one has ever heard of our three Germans

Yea but did you howl after you said Enosch's name?

 

[Nostical]

AfgHusky, I agree with you that UCONN is our most valuable brand. Getting a few foreign players also helps tremendously to stir interest in many heretofore casual fans---Nadav Henefeld comes to mind. As for playing in Boston and NYC, I went to watch the UConn v Gonzaga game a few years back at the Boston Garden. Lots of UConn fans and excitment. We had a pep-rally in one of the meeting areas of the Garden. I was also at the recent NC ST game at MSG and we had a dissapointing showing. No doubt the marketing has to be ramped up substantially and anytime we can market ouselves in other venues as the "big dog", I'm all for it.

 

[Adios]

AfgHusky, I agree with you that UCONN is our most valuable brand.

An example of that approach would clearly be UMass, as they market themselves as "UMass" in athletics. Only issue with that is it doesn't sound all too "classy". UConn vs Michigan? I think Connecticut vs Michigan has a better sound to it. Not only that, there are people who think the state of Connecticut is called "UConn". But on the other hand, "UConn" definitely would imply we are big time.

 

[zls44]

BC and the TD Garden have close ties. I truly doubt they'd allow a UConn game there, or that the TD Garden would be even remotely interested.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

'UConn' is our brand. Not saying the situation would be any different than it is now, but completely rebranding the football program as 'Connecticut' and the block C, while all the equity was with 'UConn' and the Husky dog was pretty stupid.

I can't even imagine what Hathaway, Edsall and company were thinking during the upgrade:

"Well, we're nationally known as the the UConn Huskies. Everyone in America has seen UConn and our Husky dog with his tongue out and associated that with a winning brand for years.....For our football team, that is going to have a hard time gaining credibility for years, let's go with Connecticut and make our logo a generic block C."

 

[Dann]

UCONN v. Connecticut

I know a number of people prefer the full name of the state as opposed to "uconn", however I think in terms of marketing the school to areas outside of the state it would be more prudent if we went with uconn. We need to start thinking "B1G" (I had to throw that in there), and that means we need to start thinking of all of New England and NYC as part of our home turf. By sticking with "uconn" it makes it easier for fans who live outside of the state to cheer and become fans of the school. Connecticut as a state does not have best perception especially when it comes to NYC. By sticking with uconn it makes it easier for fans of college athletics to associate the school with the northeast not just connecticut.


Expanding our reach in New England:

I think we really need to start playing big time games in Boston. We should schedule at least one "home" game in the TD Bank Garden every year against a marquee opponent. And no one should ever even think of us playing BC in basketball, every year BC becomes more irrelevant (which you would think it pretty hard to do seeing just how bad they have been the past few years). This way we can reach out directly and connect with fans in the Boston area. People need to realize that UCONN is Boston's team when it comes to college basketball, as wayne selden once said in an interview (a top recruit from Boston) every young basketball player in Boston dreams of playing for uconn. The only reason we haven't been getting top recruits from New England the past few years is because of the whole APR fiasco, coaching change and all the other mess, but once KO establishes himself we should get rolling with recruits in Boston.


Expanding our Presence in NYC:

We need to schedule at least one if not 2 games every year in the city. It would be cool if we could get a game in MSG and the other in the Nets stadium. Now with the possibility that there may no longer be a tournament in new york for uconn, we have to make sure we still have games in the city to keep the connection and perception of uconn as NYC’s team.


Offer in-state tuition to all students from NYC and New England:

The school also should look into the financial feasibility of offer in-state tuition for students attending uconn from New England and NYC. I don't know how the undergrad system works but I know for the law school, students who do not residence can get in-state tuition after the first year, so if its the same case with undergrad, I think for the amount of money lost by granting in-state tuition will be made up for the dramatic increase in applications. In this economy more students will be looking at affordability when they choose where they attend. The increase in application will allow us to be more selective while increasing our student body, this in effect will lead to not only more alumni but in all likelihood more successful alumni who then will be able to donate more back to the school. There is a reason why top academic schools generally have larger endowments and receive larger research grants.


Keep the German Connection Going:

We have 3 German players on our team, and because of this I would assume we are gaining popularity in Germany. Germany is the 3rd or 4th largest economy in the world, so it would be great if we can establish a footprint there and build upon a growing fan base. In order to sustain a fan base we need to continue to recruit from Germany. This doesn’t mean we have to recruit 2-3 players from Germany every year but if we can get a player from Germany once every two years that should put us ahead of other teams in popularity. Not only can we be New Englands and NYC’s team but we can be Germany’s Team.


Speaking of Germany:

The AD (who I have no trust in whatsoever…unless its an eating contest) needs to push to make UCONN an annual participant in the airbase games that seems it will stay around for a while. We have the potential, the fact that our color is national flag blue, that we sing the pledge of allegiance before every football game, the fact that we won the first ever game played at an airbase, should be lobbied for hard in order for us to be the team that gets to play in the game every year. Oh and by the way we are usually a top ranked team every year and one of the most popular. To the AD: Do not just lay on your fat a** and wait for an invite. BE CREATIVE AND AGGRESSIVE! Push for everything there is nothing to lose in trying!


Potential:

UConn has a lot of potential in terms of marketing. Not only are we located in the 30th largest tv market, this figure also doesn’t include Fairfield county, CT’s most populous county, not only are we the largest market without a professional sports team, but we have the opportunity due to our proximity to represent the largest city in the US and the whole of New England. Our biggest competition is Rutgers for New York!!! And We have no other competition when it comes to representing New England! In terms of potential no other college team is in a position like ours. However we have failed to capitalize on it and its hurt us in this recent conference realignment.


Positive Signs:

I have noticed an appreciable uptick in advertising of Uconn sporting events both with billboards on highways near areas that experience high volumes of traffic (right before you get on the Q from the shore, when entering New Haven from 91 south, when entering and leaving Hartford) and on the radio waves, I’ve heard of a lot more ads on a number of stations. These are just baby steps however and we need keep pushing hard because after we have saturated the state with uconn ads we need to start pushing into neighboring states.


Few other notes:

We should look into recruiting players from China, they unabashedly and zealously cheer for whoever is Chinese. This is great if we can land the next Jeremy Lin (We should after the guy at Oak Hill; he can also ball). If we can get the next chinese basketball star, that’s a billion uconn jersey’s sold right there (a bit of a hyperbole but you get my point). China=Gold.

At this point I’m tired of typing so I’ll stop here. But these are just a few ideas

nice job. many thoughts i have and some great new ones. everything in that type of work is worth the idea and look into before it either goes thru or not. one day when i take over uconns ad, i want u on the uss ct with me!

 

[AfgHusky15]

nice job. many thoughts i have and some great new ones. everything in that type of work is worth the idea and look into before it either goes thru or not. one day when i take over uconns ad, i want u on the uss ct with me!

If you land in uconn's AD, hit me up asap and i'll quit whatever job I have. A job in uconns ad would be my dream job (I mean this sincerely; not pulling an Edsall)

 

[Dann]

If you land in uconn's AD, hit me up asap and i'll quit whatever job I have. A job in uconns ad would be my dream job (I mean this sincerely; not pulling an Edsall)

ahh see, you shouldn't have gone there. thats a huge red flg to me. it means longterm you will do a nice solid job. nothing special but a solid job but the first couple years your going to burn the place down so anything is a improvement. ahh, you just made it tough for me to hire you. oh and being the uconn ad is my dream job, oh wait.

 

[uconNYC]

 

[UC990411]

Few other notes:

We should look into recruiting players from China, they unabashedly and zealously cheer for whoever is Chinese. This is great if we can land the next Jeremy Lin (We should after the guy at Oak Hill; he can also ball). If we can get the next chinese basketball star, that’s a billion uconn jersey’s sold right there (a bit of a hyperbole but you get my point). China=Gold.

At this point I’m tired of typing so I’ll stop here. But these are just a few ideas

What? China?

 

[Adios]

Is it a reasonable idea to market ourselves as representing the Connecticut River? lol

 

[RegisteredUconn]

I was in Germany this summer. No one has ever heard of our three Germans

Right. You were in a country of 80+ million for what, a week or two, and managed to speak to every person.

 

[thatguyed]

In-state tuition for others will not increase the numbers, though it may increase the average SAT scores a little through selectivity. We already turn away a good percentage of applicants. And, even if we did want to grow, there's nowhere to house them. Maybe we'll have a large enough academic staff with the hiring plan to cover more classes in a couple of years but we'd need more dorms if we want more kids at the school.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

In-state tuition for others will not increase the numbers, though it may increase the average SAT scores a little through selectivity. We already turn away a good percentage of applicants. And, even if we did want to grow, there's nowhere to house them. Maybe we'll have a large enough academic staff with the hiring plan to cover more classes in a couple of years but we'd need more dorms if we want more kids at the school.

Or a larger off campus component of student housing. Or both.

 

[RegisteredUconn]

Offer in-state tuition to all students from NYC and New England:

The school also should look into the financial feasibility of offer in-state tuition for students attending uconn from New England and NYC. I don't know how the undergrad system works but I know for the law school, students who do not residence can get in-state tuition after the first year, so if its the same case with undergrad, I think for the amount of money lost by granting in-state tuition will be made up for the dramatic increase in applications. In this economy more students will be looking at affordability when they choose where they attend. The increase in application will allow us to be more selective while increasing our student body, this in effect will lead to not only more alumni but in all likelihood more successful alumni who then will be able to donate more back to the school. There is a reason why top academic schools generally have larger endowments and receive larger research grants.

Some good ideas in your post. In-state rates for out-of-staters might be a bit of a tough sell because it calls upon residents of the state to subsidize those who don't pay taxes here. A compromise might be to offer a three tiered structure in which CT residents pay the lowest rate, New England/NY residents some middle rate, and students from others states the highest rate. Another option would be to give New England/NY residents higher priority for assistance than those of other regions. There might be a backlash from other New England universities at a blatant grab by CT for their students. Perhaps a consortium of the six flagship state universities to offer in-state rates to all residents of the region might have some appeal.

 

[Dann]

I like the grab idea. Screams new englands school if done right.

 

[pepband99]

Of all of the things we have to complain about, our academic "brand" is not one of them - we're at our competitive zenith, and getting better daily! Why the $%@#@#$^&#$^ would you discount tuition to anyone when you have a high application / low acceptance rate? It's insanity.

The athletic brand, on the other hand, is an underutilized gem. I'm tired of shopping for UConn merchandise on bigger cross-school sources, and seeing very little, when compared to peer schools. Why can't I get a simple block C flag, anywhere? Why can't I get a portable bar/stool set for Connecticut, but I can for WAKE FOREST?

We should be able to compare ourselves to either geographical or athletic peers, when it comes to merchandise availability. We're pitifully behind both. There is no, zero, nada excuse why I should have greater access to merchandise for BOSTON COLLEGE than UConn. Their athletic brand has been in decline for at least 20 years.

 

[thatguyed]

Or a larger off campus component of student housing. Or both.

I should've included a note on off-campus housing. UConn has, I believe, the highest proportion of students living on-campus across all state universities nationwide. Or something like that. There's very little. Storrs Center is adding some but there's not much beyond that and I doubt the economy will support much private funding.

 

[Dann]

Of all of the things we have to complain about, our academic "brand" is not one of them - we're at our competitive zenith, and getting better daily! Why the $%@#@#$^&#$^ would you discount tuition to anyone when you have a high application / low acceptance rate? It's insanity.

The athletic brand, on the other hand, is an underutilized gem. I'm tired of shopping for UConn merchandise on bigger cross-school sources, and seeing very little, when compared to peer schools. Why can't I get a simple block C flag, anywhere? Why can't I get a portable bar/stool set for Connecticut, but I can for WAKE FOREST?

We should be able to compare ourselves to either geographical or athletic peers, when it comes to merchandise availability. We're pitifully behind both. There is no, zero, nada excuse why I should have greater access to merchandise for BOSTON COLLEGE than UConn. Their athletic brand has been in decline for at least 20 years.

U should read my duct tape rant in the tailgate thread on the fbsll board. 100% agree.

 

[pepband99]

I did, I just chose to highlight something other than duct tape, as I'm sober.

 

[auggie22]

I like the idea of adding a new ("In region") tier to tuition pricing. It would be a really powerfull way to build the brand in New England and even Tri-state. Not to mention the benefits to selectivity and overall enrollment size. However, just a back-of-the-napkin calculation shows this to be infeasible given our small endowment and dependency on the state (you KNOW that CT taxpayers would not like the idea of subsidizing the tuition costs of RI or NJ students). We would need a major, private donation that is set up specifically to fund such a program. And by major I mean enough such that it would fund a perpetuity of approximately $54M annually (assuming 20% of students are out of state, and approximately 90% of those are "in region", on a 30K enrollment, assuming a $10K discount). In other words, a private gift(s) of $1.2B.