While I’ve previously posted about the recruiting issues, I believe another component is our Athletics Department completely dropping the ball when it comes to marketing the Final Four.
Back in March and April I was very impressed with the marketing efforts. I attended all 5 tourney games and the fan support and energy was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. SC fans truly took over Greenville, NYC, and Phoenix.
However, since then I’ve been shocked at how our university has dropped the ball when it comes to marketing these great accomplishments. I first noticed this during the summer when I went to a few Gamecock bookstores around Columbia looking for some apparel. Upon perusing these stores, I found it shocking that there was not a single item of clothing, memorabilia, framed prints, etc. that mentioned that we’d gone to the Final Four just months earlier. Not a single item. I also did not see a single article of clothing or memorabilia that mentioned that our ladies had won the national championship.
I have a Final Four Under Armour polo that I had to contact multiple folks in the AD office to obtain. In Phoenix I noticed this polo was selling like hotcakes and they quickly ran out. I contacted a bunch of people in Gamecock retail as well as the athletics department about where I could find this shirt. I was told by just about everyone that the shirt wasn’t going to be available, which was an answer I refused to accept. Eventually I badgered a few folks in the AD’s office long enough so that they included me on an email they sent to our campus apparel partner, and they agreed to make more polos upon hearing the level of interest in these shirts. It shouldn’t have been this hard to buy a Final Four polo! Fans shouldn’t have to beg for this stuff.
As for this season, we end up handing out our Final Four rings in a pregame ceremony before a damn exhibition game, and the ring ceremony was announced only 2 days beforehand. And we raise the Final Four banner in a game vs Western Michigan, with virtually no fanfare and little-to-no promotion. Essentially no marketing was done to get the word out that these events were taking place. The Final Four banner for God’s sake... raised against Western Michigan in front of an empty arena... with an athletics department too lazy to build any hype. Unbelievable!
For comparison, take a look at how Nebraska promoted the announcement of Scott Frost as HC at a recent basketball game. Just watching a clip you can sense the energy and the fact that it’s a packed house. We should’ve marketed the hell out of the Final Four banner being raised, and should have saved it for an SEC game and given fans advanced notice months in advance so we could guarantee a packed house.
Back in March and April I was very impressed with the marketing efforts. I attended all 5 tourney games and the fan support and energy was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. SC fans truly took over Greenville, NYC, and Phoenix.
However, since then I’ve been shocked at how our university has dropped the ball when it comes to marketing these great accomplishments. I first noticed this during the summer when I went to a few Gamecock bookstores around Columbia looking for some apparel. Upon perusing these stores, I found it shocking that there was not a single item of clothing, memorabilia, framed prints, etc. that mentioned that we’d gone to the Final Four just months earlier. Not a single item. I also did not see a single article of clothing or memorabilia that mentioned that our ladies had won the national championship.
I have a Final Four Under Armour polo that I had to contact multiple folks in the AD office to obtain. In Phoenix I noticed this polo was selling like hotcakes and they quickly ran out. I contacted a bunch of people in Gamecock retail as well as the athletics department about where I could find this shirt. I was told by just about everyone that the shirt wasn’t going to be available, which was an answer I refused to accept. Eventually I badgered a few folks in the AD’s office long enough so that they included me on an email they sent to our campus apparel partner, and they agreed to make more polos upon hearing the level of interest in these shirts. It shouldn’t have been this hard to buy a Final Four polo! Fans shouldn’t have to beg for this stuff.
As for this season, we end up handing out our Final Four rings in a pregame ceremony before a damn exhibition game, and the ring ceremony was announced only 2 days beforehand. And we raise the Final Four banner in a game vs Western Michigan, with virtually no fanfare and little-to-no promotion. Essentially no marketing was done to get the word out that these events were taking place. The Final Four banner for God’s sake... raised against Western Michigan in front of an empty arena... with an athletics department too lazy to build any hype. Unbelievable!
For comparison, take a look at how Nebraska promoted the announcement of Scott Frost as HC at a recent basketball game. Just watching a clip you can sense the energy and the fact that it’s a packed house. We should’ve marketed the hell out of the Final Four banner being raised, and should have saved it for an SEC game and given fans advanced notice months in advance so we could guarantee a packed house.
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