Marketing

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Marketing

OK,
I am not doubting your expertise in this area as a journalism professor and professional you have much more experience than anyone on the board.  However, i doubt NDSU is tossing their money in the air and lighting it on fire.  I would guess they produce results, and monitor those results, from their advertising (namely a sold out Fargodome, the lecacy of NDSU football, increased fan support, excitement, etc).  I know not all of these thing are solely, or even partly a result of increased marketing, but it must not hurt or they wouldn't do it.  Just like NDSU, our AD has people directly responsible for marketing and promotions for a reason.  i would hope and assume these people are fully capable of strategically planning, monitoring, and researching the results of any ad campaign.  
 Like i said, don't spend hundreds of thousands on marketing...but give the general public something else to hear and see besides "South Dakota's Team".  Maybe it would result in 500 more at every home game.  Eventually it pays for itself.  
Hopefully  you can ween yourself away from putting money into marketing and rely more on word of mouth from the extra people who have experienced an exciting athletic event.  

I agree completely. What I was saying is that you need a strategy like NDSU has. They're obviously after something other than filling up the Fargodome, because that hasn't ever been a problem. Just getting something on the air so we all feel good about it isn't a strategy.

[filbert]

Re: Marketing

Winning consistently for a couple of decades makes marketing a heck of a lot easier . . .

[Jacks99]

Re: Marketing

There are many fans that are aware of the DI move but don't know the caliber of teams we are playing. Most have heard of the Men's team playing Illinois and Kentucky but they don't all know about the FB game in SF or the Manhattan BB game at the Arena.

I know a few guys that were die-hard fans while in school but haven't made it back to Brookings for a game in 2 years and they even live in SF. These are the targets for our marketing.

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Marketing

There are many fans that are aware of the DI move but don't know the caliber of teams we are playing.  Most have heard of the Men's team playing Illinois and Kentucky but they don't all know about the FB game in SF or the Manhattan BB game at the Arena.

I know a few guys that were die-hard fans while in school but haven't made it back to Brookings for a game in 2 years and they even live in SF.  These are the targets for our marketing.  

Exactly what i was trying to get at.  In a perfect world Coughlin Alumni would be the place to be on a Saturday instead of something you do when you have no other plans.  It would be the destination of your plans rather than a casual event.  I think the bison home games have this feel and there is no reason why SDSU football and bball can't as well.  We need to have those casual alumni from Sioux Falls drive to Brookings for the games because they don't want to miss them.  I would assume good marketing could help this...Hopefully the game and events in Sioux Falls this fall will be a big step towards accomplishing this goal.


Having a well supported program and a great game day atmosphere could very well improve the program in the eyes of incoming recruits and lead to a string of successful seasons as was mentioned above.

[91rabbit]

Re: Marketing

I believe that the city of Brookings is a very necessary component of this marketing/game as destination package. Brookings must be made into and promoted as a fun combination of D1 sports and good dining/partying atmosphere. In my opinion, the city, while reaping the enormous benefits of having SDSU in town, has been less than tolerant of a vibrant student culture (e.g. draconian keg laws, city monopoly of off-sale alcohol). It is not my intention here to debate the minituiae of alcohol sales. But making Brookings into a fun venue AFTER the game will make the game all that much better.

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Marketing

I believe that the city of Brookings is a very necessary component of this marketing/game as destination package.  Brookings must be made into and promoted as a fun combination of D1 sports and good dining/partying atmosphere.  In my opinion, the city, while reaping the enormous benefits of having SDSU in town, has been less than tolerant of a vibrant student culture (e.g. draconian keg laws, city monopoly of off-sale alcohol).  It is not my intention here to debate the minituiae of alcohol sales.  But making Brookings into a fun venue AFTER the game will make the game all that much better.

Amen. Let's start with the lack of quality restaurants in Brookings. When Applebee's is your best restaurant, there's something wrong.

[jackmd]

Re: Marketing

I believe that the city of Brookings is a very necessary component of this marketing/game as destination package.  Brookings must be made into and promoted as a fun combination of D1 sports and good dining/partying atmosphere.  In my opinion, the city, while reaping the enormous benefits of having SDSU in town, has been less than tolerant of a vibrant student culture (e.g. draconian keg laws, city monopoly of off-sale alcohol).  It is not my intention here to debate the minituiae of alcohol sales.  But making Brookings into a fun venue AFTER the game will make the game all that much better.

I agree. There are opportunities to be had and the city of Brookings must support those interested. If that means more liquor licenses, outdoor dining/drinking, improved parking, etc.. someone with vision needs to be in place on the decision end.

[1stRowFANatic]

Re: Marketing

Well, it is going to be a little difficult for Brookings to compete with Fargo in somethings for the simple fact that Fargo has close to 5 times the population (approximately 100K to 20k). Some of the variety of after game establishments is due to the fact that there is enough business "off season" to keep them going. As for more on-sale liquor licenses, I think that is set by state law and based on population.

As for marketing, I'm not so sure that they are not working a campaign at their target audience - donors to get money for scholarships to get players to get winning teams. I believe it was Milwaukee who basically said it was the coaches recruiting that was most important in deciding where a potential athlete commits too. (correct me if i'm wrong). Marketing to key donors can happen in a wide variety of ways, and some that don't cost a lot of money.

Thinking back, I'm not sure what they would have marketed in a thought out campaign. The football team's success surprised far more than it did not, so they didn't have time for a plan for last year. The men's basketball team was worse than most expected, but I think everyone knew going in it wasn't going to be a great marketing tool. Those are the sports that drive revenue, and while women's bb team was great (and the one that I made extra-efforts to see), at this stage a break even campaign would be far beyond expectations.

Since we've only got a small amount of money to spend, I think investing it in ways to generate the most long-term revenue, is the best way to go. Does that mean we won't see 30 sec commercials in prime time, probably. But it doesn't mean that a campaign is not being run.

[OK_Jackrabbit]

Re: Marketing

I agree.  There are opportunities to be had and the city of Brookings must support those interested.  If that means more liquor licenses, outdoor dining/drinking, improved parking, etc.. someone with vision needs to be in place on the decision end.

Vision?

First a fact: Members of the Brookings City Council (with two exceptions) are fixated on big box retailers. The city council voted to give Lowe's a gift of $2.5 to $3 million to locate in Brookings, an action that will certainly be referred to voters because there is significant opposition in town.

This part is my opinion: If you're asking whether the city has a vision that includes promoting restaurants, etc. ... I think not. Those kinds of things don't fit the narrow vision of those running our city whose idea of progress only includes stopping people from driving to Sioux Falls to go to Home Depot or Watertown to go to Menard's. Never mind that Lowe's would undoubtedly put one or two of the FOUR hardware stores currently operating in Brookings out of business.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Marketing

We are getting off topic here. But I agree with OK's comments and facts on the big box retailor scheme confronting Brookings city government that is likely to be referred to the voting citizens. It does not make any sense to me and since I relocated outside the city limits, I can not vote.

This matter really stinks, since one developer is going to get rewarded for bad decisions with city tax money.  

Why the 3.5 million was not used to develop the industrial base or even support the D1 move is beyond me.  I believe Troy, Alabama, smaller than Brookings, saw the U of Troy's move to D1AA and D1 as economic developement and may have supported it with tax dollars. Not sure, but that seems to be what I recall when reading in the Fargo Forum some time back.
Gene Taylor the NDSU AD spent some time with the AD from Troy.

Big box retailors have all sorts of marketing plans and government influence to overseas markets and what have you.  What's going on in Brookings right now is beyond stupid.  I hope the voters will stand up and be counted and make the majority of city council through their actions work for the betterment of the community. What is needed in Brookings is more restaurants, more residential and student housing are also badly needed.

Finding a home in some place special is not easy, when you are constantly bidding against 4 or 5 people who have 5 times the  equity funds  that you have.  Not complaining, just pointing out reality.

A larger and stronger industrial base will help Brookings catch up with Fargo in terms of population. Compared to the Brookings I left in 1965 when I went into the US Navy, the hugh difference today is the industrial base that has kept more SDSU grads around than it did 40 years ago.  Most people dont go to college to learn how to be retail greeter. ;D

The retailors know So Dakota and the market potential, they dont need a subsidy.  I think many good points have been made on this thread.

[91rabbit]

Re: Marketing

Good points, SDSUFAN, with one small issue: Do we really want Brookings to catch up with Fargo. One thing that (IMO) that Brookings has as an enormous advantage is its small size. That is a key component of any marketing campaign/strategy: Come see great D1 athletics in a relatively calm environment re: parking and transit to and from CAS or Frost. On this point I have Ann Arbor and Michigan Stadium in mind. Traffic grinds to a halt before and after the game as 110,000 people are on the move. Granted, comparing A2 to Brookings is unfair as A2 has a very vibrant selection of world-class restaurants and all the amenities that a Big Ten city has to offer. But Brookings has a lot to offer as well, albeit much different than a major metropolis. With a concerted effort to enhance the restaurant/bar scene coupled with an inviting atmosphere to attract good crowds.

As to the business environment in Brookings: a few years back there was an ad in some publication from the Brookings Economic Development people desiring a downtown pharmacy that would also have SDSU items and some unique retail as well. I responded via email that in 1990 (when Wal Mart arrived) Brookings had 3 downtown pharmacies and that this should have been considered prior to letting Wal Mart come into town. They all folded in the face of the onslaught. As you can imagine, I did not get a very decent answer. Following what jackmd said about Lowe's/current hardware stores in town, Wal Mart decimated the independent pharmacy environment in Brookings. So, given the apparent bigbox bias currently in vogue in Brookings, we may have an uphill battle in getting the city powers-that-be to fully understand/embrace the need/potential the exists to fully capitalize on the D1 move.

[SDSUFAN]

Re: Marketing

91 rabbit:

Growth in Brookings seems to be happening. To list or identify all the factors would require a study.

As far as Brookings catching up with Fargo, I would not hold my breath on it happening. Would I like to see that happen? Maybe not, but if you spent time over on the UND board www.siouxsports.com like I did when the D1 decision was first made, you got many takes on Brookings by the UND fans.  One redundant comment was that "Brookings does not have the population to support a D1 school".  So certainly some growth is needed but it should be good positive community growth that would make one want to raise a family or one to retire and live in.

[filbert]

Re: Marketing

Topic drift has gone from SDSU marketing to Brookings marketing--that's OK, the two are interrelated . . .

Midwestern role models for Brookings would be Manhattan, KS (K-State) or Ames, IA (Iowa State). Both towns are 40-50,000 population but are very much college towns.

I think Brookings needs to add at least 10,000 permanent residents (i.e. around 30,000 total population) to have a really stable, vibrant commercial community. That would be big enough to have many major retailers in town (reducing the need to go to Sioux Falls), but still small enough to retain that "small town/college town" atmosphere.

It goes without saying that more people in Brookings enlarges the potential fan base for SDSU.

Brookings will always be in some respects just a very distant suburb of Sioux Falls, much like Lawrence, KS is of Kansas City or Ames of Des Moines. The college town aspects of Brookings need to be emphasized, not minimized, in order to differentiate Brookings from Watertown to the north and (especially) Sioux Falls to the south. That means encouraging the kind of quirky restaurants and shops you find in a healthy college town, not big boxes.

There's also a common saying in urban planning/development circles: retail follows rooftops. In other words, housing comes to an area first, and retail follows. I think Brookings would have been much better off spending that $3 million on housing and infrastructure developments than on a single retailer (and I happen to like Lowe's better than Home Depot, its primary competitor).

[91rabbit]

Re: Marketing

I largely agree. As to the UND fan comments, I think that Brookings' proximity to SF provides a decent population base with an attractive small town atmosphere. "Good positive community growth" is key. Unfortunately, that is difficult to accomplish. Either it is stagnation or rampant big-box/cul-de-sac development that does nothing to enhance a decent way of life.

A possible comparison to Brookings might be Pullman, Washington (Wash State). That is a comparable city (pop. 25,000) that contains a major D1 university.

I do think that some enhancements are very realistic and would go a long way to assist the university in the long haul to D1 respectability.

[Texas_Jacks_Fan]

Re: Marketing

No parallels can be drawn between size of a city with a D1 school and the succcess or attendance at division 1 schools. To do so shows one's ignorance (und & usd fans). The list of cities is long that have a division 1 school and are the same size (or smaller) than Brookings. I could list several but will use Oxford, Miss. as an example. Oxford (pop. 10,000) home to the University of Mississippi Rebels SEC confrence. is more than an hour from any population base. yet sells out it's 65,000 seat stadium with regularity.  Fans will travel a very long distance to watch the JACKS (just ask 89rabbit, filbert and myself about that)  There is no connection!!!

91rabbit has another excellent example above.