What's with SU Athletics Marketing?

[JeremyCuse]

We were flat-footed for the VT thing.

And when #12 was needed we were flat footed against BC. Would the NYC / NYS campaign have helped then?

Impossible to say no or yes, but we got where we needed to be, so I wouldn't belittle the efforts.

I am not belittling the efforts I just find it hard to believe Swafford pushed for Syracuse because of a marketing push from Syracuse a few years before that no one but syracuse fans really even noticed. Well I understand what your saying about the VT thing I am not sure exactly what you wanted Jake and SU to do about it at that point. Once the government got invovled our hands were pretty much tied, should we have called up our senators or Governor to start lobbying on our behalf or arguig with the Va Governor? The bottom line is Syracuse was a top candidate for the ACC and would have gotten in among there top 3 or even 2 choices if not for Va Governor. All of that despite having zero marketing efforts in NYC at the time. I know people want to think our push to make SU NYS team or NYC or whatever played some role in us getting a good seat in re-alignment but I just dont see it and 03 bears that out.

 

[JeremyCuse]

Once again..i don't see how anyone is belittling the NYC efforts..we are simply saying..ok, wonderful it worked for some things. Now its time to move on to other ventures.

Agreed, I had no issue with Syracuse spending some time, energy and money in NYC to increase our exposure there but at what point do we say OK and start t0 move on. There aren't many non Syracuse fans in NYC seeing su ads going 'hey that looks good, I think I will drive four and a half hours to catch that Tulane game Saturday."

 

[Rocco]

Winning is the only marketing strategy. True story.

Ok, good talk.

 

[Legendof44]

I think the NYC marketing has helped us be more attractive for the MetLife series we have scheduled. I think it may have put a slight voice in the ear of the ACC that they are getting the NYC market with us coming..but as jeremycuse said...we didn't really need that to get us in the second time..when in reality they wanted us the first time.

 

[Legendof44]

Winning is the only marketing strategy. True story.

Ok, good talk.

whoa whoa..dont forget boobs.

 

[Bayside44]

I am not belittling the efforts I just find it hard to believe Swafford pushed for Syracuse because of a marketing push from Syracuse a few years before that no one but syracuse fans really even noticed. Well I understand what your saying about the VT thing I am not sure exactly what you wanted Jake and SU to do about it at that point. Once the government got invovled our hands were pretty much tied, should we have called up our senators or Governor to start lobbying on our behalf or arguig with the Va Governor? The bottom line is Syracuse was a top candidate for the ACC and would have gotten in among there top 3 or even 2 choices if not for Va Governor. All of that despite having zero marketing efforts in NYC at the time. I know people want to think our push to make SU NYS team or NYC or whatever played some role in us getting a good seat in re-alignment but I just dont see it and 03 bears that out.

If the NYC thing meant nothing why did the ACC do their whole coming out party for us (not like that Chip) there and not somewhere else?

Back to 2003, not to reopen wounds, but those Jake and Buzz and SU had plenty of ties to UNC and Duke, and seemingly did nothing with them. Mark Warner could've huffed and puffed all he wanted and it would not have mattered.

As far as now and the Clemson game, once a time is established I am sure attendance will be good and the school will do their usual push.

 

[JeremyCuse]

If the NYC thing meant nothing why did the ACC do their whole coming out party for us (not like that Chip) there and not somewhere else?

Back to 2003, not to reopen wounds, but those Jake and Buzz and SU had plenty of ties to UNC and Duke, and seemingly did nothing with them. Mark Warner could've huffed and puffed all he wanted and it would not have mattered.

As far as now and the Clemson game, once a time is established I am sure attendance will be good and the school will do their usual push.

I think the ACC did there marketing/unveiling of the new schools because A. Two of the three new schools are NE schools and B. NYC is the media capital of the world and they could get the most exposure there. Doing it in raleigh-durham or Tallahasse probably wasn't going to generate the same buzz.

At this point I think we lost sight of the topic, if SU wants to keep wasting money in NYC I have no issue with that as long as there keeping up there efforts at home. To this point the marketing efforts in Syracuse and the surrounding cities for the program, the season and the upcoming games has been abysmal and thats putting it lightly. As for the CLemson game, if SU wins Saturday and the game isnt a 12:30 start we should be able to get somewhere between 40 and 43K for the game. If SU loses this week ( I dont think they will) and the game is at 12:30 the place is going to be lucky to get 35K. I like your positive outlook but attendance for a big game hasn't been "good" for years (We had maybe 40K for undefeated Lville last year) so I am a bit more skeptic then you.

 

[Bayside44]

I think the ACC did there marketing/unveiling of the new schools because A. Two of the three new schools are NE schools and B. NYC is the media capital of the world and they could get the most exposure there. Doing it in raleigh-durham or Tallahasse probably wasn't going to generate the same buzz.

At this point I think we lost sight of the topic, if SU wants to keep wasting money in NYC I have no issue with that as long as there keeping up there efforts at home. To this point the marketing efforts in Syracuse and the surrounding cities for the program, the season and the upcoming games has been abysmal and thats putting it lightly. As for the CLemson game, if SU wins Saturday and the game isnt a 12:30 start we should be able to get somewhere between 40 and 43K for the game. If SU loses this week ( I dont think they will) and the game is at 12:30 the place is going to be lucky to get 35K. I like your positive outlook but attendance for a big game hasn't been "good" for years (We had maybe 40K for undefeated Lville last year) so I am a bit more skeptic then you.

The WV game was good, anything crossing 40K looks pretty good,,,I also think we're gonna be surprised by what Clemson brings up there.

 

[Jeepers]

I have no problem with marketing NYC. But I'm not even local and I can see how some of the local fans don't feel appreciated.

And no, giving away "free" tickets is not the way to go.

 

[Timonen]

Sorry but how is it a digression from the point. You brought up not getting in 03 and said it had to with us not showcasing ourselves or something like that. I pointed out that wasn't true and if not for some unforseen circumstance Syracuse would have been in the ACC a decade ago. I also dont know how we "weren't interested" when we accepted the invite and were ready to go. I still fail to see how a few ads in NYC lined us up perfectly for re-alignment this time around.

Digression because the thread is about local marketing and this is about the program's strategic positioning. When a deal fails in business, you look in the mirror to find out the reason why. We weren't as prepared as the other entities vying for the spot, so they got it.

 

[OttoForLife]

"They market the hell out of NYC but can't do anything here in Syracuse area."

I have to be honest there really isn't the push I would expect locally and CUSU is right we might get 10 fans a game that come up from NYC we already nabbed the ACC bid with the NYC marketing, now lets pour those ad dollars back into the local community and get the attendance up, Syracuse, Rochester, Utica, Binghamton, Albany, Oswego, Auburn, Cortland and Watertown should be getting blasted with football Ads.

THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!

Less reputation/smoke & mirrors bull and more get butts in the damn seats.

 

[Full_Rebar]

SU should spend some time with minor-league baseball execs (not those in Syracuse) for innovative marketing ideas. We can't expect people to show up because it's the only game in town, or the program needs the support. They need to make home games an event- a pre-game concert, giveaways for every home game, etc.

I mean how much would it cost SU to get Holy Shirt to make a commemorative orange t-shirt for McNabb or McPherson's ceremony? Also, it might sound cheesy, but work with Fuccillo and do a car giveaway one game. Even a drawing for SU-Duke hoops tickets would attract casual CNY fans to get to the Dome.

I mean the Red Sox are selling $1 tickets tonight to anyone with a beard, so it's not like it's just colleges who suffer attendance issues. It's time to get outside the box and get some fans in the stands.

 

[Stern]

The NYC marketing is a bigger picture issue of trying to just expand the brand overall. But when it comes to marketing football...I firmly believe after talking to a few people in the athletic department in recent years that Syracuse looks at itself as a basketball school that happens to have a football team that plays a few Saturday's a year. If you are waiting for SU to put time, money, and effort into marketing the football program you might have a very long wait. I don't see it happening anytime soon.

That's the impression I get from the few people I talk to up there. They view it as two seasons up there... Basketball season being one and the other season being the lead-up to Basketball season.

 

[rocklloyd]

Lets call it what it is. NYC marketing is to attract donation dollars from well heeled alumi. It raises awareness and involve from an previously untouched alumni base

 

[orange79]

this is a digression from the point, but the bottom line is that we didn't close...and frankly didn't even appear interested in moving, which is certainly reflective of the leadership then. our case should have been made then as a no-brainer for the conference. we failed to make that happen. this time, our ducks were in a row and we were comfortably in over the other options.

And there was nothing we could have done. Politics reared its ugly head. If you want to believe that was our fail, then go ahead. But you'd be wrong.

 

[Timonen]

And there was nothing we could have done. Politics reared its ugly head. If you want to believe that was our fail, then go ahead. But you'd be wrong.

Your pov has us outside the politics. This is precisely the point.

 

[MadNY3]

The worst marketing was starting off 0-2 and getting shellacked at Northwestern embarrassingly.

The NYC initiative is so completely different from Dome football ticket initiatives.

And the fan based is perhaps best mirrored by how the P-S staffs the two major sports:

- Cohen and Mink on football
- Mike Waters and Donna on basketball

Marketing football is not so simple just because you and everyone else on this forum love and support it.

 

[cusefan88]

People have more sports choices on the weekend and many other entertainment options. Is a free shirt really going to get people to come to the Dome? The product on the field is still mediocre and SU has been slow to find "events within events," to engage people. Syracuse especially is an event town and the decision makers to need to find compelling ways to get people up to campus. I'm sick of 30-35,000 crowds. It sucks, the program and players deserve better.

 

[AZOrange]

Lets call it what it is. NYC marketing is to attract donation dollars from well heeled alumi. It raises awareness and involve from an previously untouched alumni base

Its also done to get butts in front of tvs...

 

[AZOrange]

People have more sports choices on the weekend and many other entertainment options. Is a free shirt really going to get people to come to the Dome? The product on the field is still mediocre and SU has been slow to find "events within events," to engage people. Syracuse especially is an event town and the decision makers to need to find compelling ways to get people up to campus. I'm sick of 30-35,000 crowds. It sucks, the program and players deserve better.

How much would it cost a family of four to attend Clemson game? Assume average seats, parking, concessions...300? 400? Big chunk of change for prime in a town like that. I think that's always been an issue with the school and the local populace...it's a completely different demo.

 

[llandz]

So this weekend all students get in for free. It is a start.

They need to fill more seats with deals. Like AZ said the cost for a family of four is staggering to many in that area. I have lived in major sports markets, and many do deals with McDonalds or other such venues where you get 4 seats, 4 hotdogs, 4 drinks, a popcorn and coupons for 4 free meals at McDs or something for some bargain price. The coupons are at all the McDonalds. They need these kind of deals for lower attended games.

I will also go back to my idea of some sort of ticket give away to inner city youth groups, or youth football teams. This is a group that will really appreciate being at the game, and will also grow the brand locally by good will, and growing young fans. Young fans grow up to be Chancellors of your University, lol!!! But seriously, there will always be empty seats, so give some away to young people. I know this board did something like that a couple of seasons ago. I think we donated money for free tickets to youth groups.

 

[SmilinBob]

Rakers gunna rake.

The best way to get people to come to the dome is win. What has to be done is this staff has to pull some rabbits out of their hats and recruit, recruit recruit and then the wins and then the people will follow. It's rather sad a lot of people don't realize that if they showed up and we had 40+ how much that would do to help this team but for too many it's a show me first and then they'll go.

This is a tough area to market. A lot of posters have had good ideas and I have no clue what SU does to get people in, especially the younger crowd to make them fans for life.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

Getting a good start to the season would help quite a bit, say 3-0, 4-0 and then some solid home games that we actually win. We had some people getting fired up in Marrone's second season ( three years ago) but then we just kept getting waxed at home, Pitt game comes to mind, the WVU game on Friday night two years ago was a great night to be a Syracuse football fan, good crowd, great game. When you start like garbage the casual fanbase says same old same old. We were in a pretty good spot after the WVU game two years ago and then just absolutely the bed, we were 5-2 and looked like we were building something after the 7-5 season. That was a very rough stretch, wasn't my finest hour

The last 6-7 games of last year was the best stretch of Syracuse football played in 12 years and nobody cared because we started like such . Somebody would have a hard time convincing me we weren't a legit top 25 team the last6-7 weeks of the season, the problem is nobody cared because of the start. People still view Syracuse as a perennial loser, its crazy and very frustrating. I Live it everyday at my office, etc as I am sure many do. I have three of my old trucks that are still with the company (delivery beaters) they all have Syracuse football stickers on the bumper, I will not let anyone take them off no matter who asks. People just arent interested in Syracuse football anymore as they are basketball, the people at my company think I am crazy

Schedule the right way, 2 cream puffs, create the buzz with a good start not some and mirrors. If Syracuse started with a 61-0 win versus Wagner and then a 42 -13 win versus Tulane things would feel and look a hell of a lot better.

It's all in the scheduling, as far as the casual fan base is concerned the season was over in Evanston, beating PSU would have been nice too! SU would have t0 beat Clemson and get to say 4-2 or 5-2 to create any type of buzz and those odds aren't 2:1

 

[Stern]

Is a free shirt really going to get people to come to the Dome?

As sad as it is...YES! Look at the Chiefs. The only time that stadium is packed in the summer is on nights where they are giving something away for free

 

[alphaorange]

SU is nearly an invisible presence outside of the University area. Very little radio or other media. Hell, Cornell is a much bigger presence as far as promos go. Certainly at least from south of Syracuse to PA.