One of our two “rock star” speakers this Thursday in Morgantown is WVU Assistant Athletic Director Brad Howe. He took time out of his day…er night, that is, to answer some questions to give potential attendees an idea of what he’ll be speaking about. Just as in Charleston last week, attendees will get the chance to ask Brad questions as well. Go Mountaineers!
1. What has been the biggest change you’ve seen in how universities market and promote their sports programs since you started out at UConn?
The internet is biggest change. When I started at UConn in ‘93 the internet/email was in the very early stages (if we even had it all - I can’t remember ever using it at UConn in the beginning). Now, it is generally the first medium we think of when deciding how to best promote one of our games/events.
We still promote our events through traditional vehicles, but the internet is the one we think of first. It allows the most flexibility and the best opportunity to hit the most people during the course of a day.
2. How are you moving the WVU athletic department forward in terms of new methods of advertising, marketing, public relations, and measuring their effectiveness?
We are constantly looking at new ideas for our web site. Recently, we have started adding more video features to the site. We receive instant feedback with our web site via the traffic. We can see right away if something we did on there was well received. That is tougher with traditional television, radio or print advertising.
Continue reading ‘Brad Howe Interview: In Morgantown this Thursday’
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Pictured above (left to right): Justin Seibert - President, Direct Online Marketing, Wheeling, West Virginia; Skip Lineberg - Chief Creative Officer, Maple Creative, Charleston, West Virginia; and Jeff James - CEO, Mythology, Charleston, West Virginia.
Photo courtesy of Jason Keeling, photographed at Next Generation Marketing, Huntington, W.Va. May 13, 2008.
A couple weeks ago I attended a presentation on ethics in business in Charleston, West Virginia. The presenter, a tenured professor from a respected local university, was commenting on how consumers are justified to expect honesty in corporate communications. Telling the truth was right and just and a mark of corporate integrity, he explained. Then, recognizing the need to clarify his statement, he paused to note the following exception: “Well, except for marketing and advertising. We all know that marketing communication is inherently full of lies.”
I almost fell out of my chair. What was plain to him was entirely troubling to me. He was inferring that marketing is devoid of ethics.
Maybe I should not have been so shocked. After all, Seth Godin, one of America’s most popular and respected marketing gurus, published a book entitled, All Marketers Are Liars. (And he’s a marketing guy!)
It troubles me that marketing is plainly perceived to be full of lies. How did we get to this point? More importantly, what can we do about it? Help me out with your thoughts and suggestions, my dear marketing geniuses.
This is what development looks like in the environment of a vibrant economy. The photo at left is the Boathouse Bistro in Morgantown, West Virginia. Sure, one might say, "anyone can build a new restaurant." But if I had turned around and snapped another photo, you would have seen a shot of the new, under-construction Marina Tower office building. Connecting all of this is the Morgantown Riverwalk path. It is undeniably cool and convenient to be able to set out on foot from the Waterfront Place Hotel and walk to several appealing destinations, such as the ampitheater, the rail trail, Oliverio's (and several other eating/drinking establishments) and around a dozen office locations. In addition to the capital injection downtown, there's a $1.2 billion capital investment underway in the county with the new Longview Power plant.
Continue reading 'Development and Capital Investment in Morgantown'
West Virginia University's athletic department and its head football coach have decided to actively promote Pat White as a Heisman Trophy candidate. White, the Mountaineer's talented and accomplished quarterback, has all the right stuff. He's a great kid with a wonderful attitude, plus phenomenal athletic skills. Perhaps most importantly, he is a proven winner.
Details of the University's decision (a no-brainer in my opinion) and Pat White's credentials are well documented in today's Daily Mail column by sportswriter Jack Bogaczyk.
Here's my question to all of you marketing geniuses: What would you to generate publicity and create buzz in support of Pat White to maximize his chances of winning the coveted Heisman Trophy, college football's top individual honor? Put your sports information director (or athletic director) hat on ... and let's have some suggestions. Please post your suggestions as a comment below.
By the way the award is decided by a voting process by the members of the Downtown Athletic Club of New York. It will be awarded in early December of 2008. More about the award here.
Cross-posted from the Maple Creative Marketing Genius Blog
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