What Marketing Tells Us About Expecations
12 comments so far
June 1, 2009 by
I've been thinking about Missouri a lot lately. Seriously. Their returning starters, their departed coordinators, their schedule...I'm just trying to figure out how it all might fit together for the Tigers. What can I say? I'm a bit sick with football fever.
My Missouri fit is also the byproduct of two other specific causes. One is Phil Steele's prediction of a significant drop in the Big 12 standings for the Tigers in 2009. Fifth? Really? Shocking.
The other reason for my fixation is...marketing. You see, the wife and I recently spent a good bit of time in the "Show Me State". We saw quite a lot of it, really. In the car, we heard many, many ads for Missouri football tickets. The tone and topic of those ads reminded me just how rare and precarious Missouri's current hold on the Big 12 North really is, at least in the minds of the people marketing tickets to Missouri fans.
Sell It, Don't Smell It
There is a saying that goes when you have a lot of crap to get rid of...sell it, don't smell it. The University of Missouri was hocking football tickets (hard) in May. We heard their radio ad several times as we drove. It said roughly... "after two straight years of winning the North division, which players will step up to continue the tradition?" It went on to say that ticket packages are available, and hype the "showdown with Nebraska" and the Texas game.
First, please don't get too carried away with the use of the word "tradition", okay? It takes three points to create a "trend", let alone a tradition. Next, when they have to hype some of the individual conference games, that tells me a lot. First it says that fans don't buy season tickets. Marketing around oppoents' names also tells me there is not enough love for the primary product, which is their own team...their own name. That can't be a good sign for MU. Do they have so little faith in their own fan base? I suppose so. Or, worse, do they fear for the quality of product they are about to put on the field in 2009? You could make an argument that they are trying to capitalize on the success in the last two seasons. But, the way last year's "history-making season" sort of fizzled out, this feels more like putting your fingers in the dam.
Then, there is the very fact that they are in full on marketing mode at all. Big 12 fans have just witness two of the most fruitful years in Missouri football history, and it's still just a start. Do they have so little faith in their own fan base? I suppose so. Or, worse, do they fear for the quality of product they are about to put on the field in 2009? You could make an argument that they are trying to capitalize on the success in the last two seasons. But, the way last year's "history-making season" sort of fizzled out, this feels more like putting your fingers in the dam.
The whole thing just strikes me as odd, or some how foreign. Their need marketing spends to drive fan interest and enthusiasm year round is pretty much the opposite of Nebraska. As noted in many places, NU tickets are not only a constant seller, they are - in fact - recession proof.
Comparisons Around the Country
Hearing the Missouri ads got me to thinking about comparable programs around the country. The surely don't push dollars at radio spots during May and June in places like Oklahoma, or Florida or Michigan. Do they crank up the hype machine this early in Wisconsin, Tennessee or South Carolina? Somebody help me out with a comparison.
Where does Missouri football lay on the sports continuum? The comparable programs that spring to mind are Kentucky, Purdue, or Oregon State. These are teams with names you recognize and would be interested in seeing your team play in an out-of-conference game. But, not schools with terribly much tradition. Sure, there are plenty of wins over time and bowl games and such. But, more than enough losing seasons to make them utterly forgettable on the national scene if they aren't having a good year. That's Missouri.
Yep, pouring over the MU roster and reviewing their schedule told my head certain things about how the Tigers may fair in 2009. But, a 30 second radio spot told my heart a lot more about sentiments for MU football in 2009, reminded me of how to view the Tigers in the bigger nationwide college football landscape.
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Dwayne Jun 01 09
Missouri is to the Big XII like Iowa is to the Big 10.
Brandon Jun 01 09
For reference:
In terms of all-time Win% Mizzou falls in the range of Oregon, Air Force, Purdue, Maryland & Virginia.
Win% over the last 30 years: Cal, Baylor, Illinois, Miss. St. & Kansas.
Last 10 years: Cal, Virginia & Purdue again, A&M, and NC State.
So Purdue might not be a bad analog overall and Cal looks like a more recent contender.
dan Jun 01 09
You guys think about missouri too much.
Katie Jun 01 09
Dan:
It's the offseason - why not talk about the team that currently holds the title that Nebraska fans need to win year in and year out?
Missouri will be an interesting team this year and a MUST win for the Huskers on a Thursday night in Columbia.
Good Post.
Shawn Jun 01 09
We appreciate the time & energy the Husker faithful spend on Tiger Football. We do not have the history of Big Red, but will look forward to pushing the win streak against NU to (3) this year. Go Tigers!
darren Jun 01 09
Dan - I appreciate that thought. You might be right...until I realized that I tend to obsess about ALL Husker conference opponents like this. This week, just happened to be MU b/c of our recent travels there. Sorry if I didn't make that clear in the post.
Shawn - yep, okay. Same as above, I spend time and energy on everyone. Glad you appreciate it. Thanks for dropping by. :-)
Also, right now you are calling 2 wins in a row a "streak". Fine. Technically that is correct. So, way to go. Enjoy. Though...it doesn't go to darn far to leveling out the (((63-36))) all time record, does it. Looking forward to October.
bnahusker Jun 01 09
As a Missouri resident, let me offer a few insights.
1. The tradition that we are blessed with just isn't here. Their best era ever would be labeled as "Above Average" in Lincoln. Tradition cannot be created in two years. Only time will tell if this is the beginning of something big of just a blip.
2. The competition for sports dollars is FAR more intense here. The Royals, Chiefs, Cardinals and Rams are just the pro tip of the iceberg. Fans split their college sports dollars between Missouri State, UMKC, UMSL, St. Louis U. and countless other regional schools.
3. The fan base is more diverse due to transplants or "Come heres" as we are referred to. I have lived here since 1991 and literally know more Die Hard Husker fans than Die Hard Tiger fans. (I won't comment on the bandwaggoners that never owned black and gold clothing before 2007.) In Springfield and the Southwest corner of the state, there is also competition from Arkansas, OU, OSU and Tulsa. Southeast Missouri has Memphis near by.
The fact that running ads for football tickets seems odd to you is more of a testament to The Power of Red than anything real negative about Missouri.
GBR!
Bob
Brent Jun 01 09
So funny, if Mizzou didn't do any marketing you'd say we didn't care. Since we are doing marketing you blast that. Also bnahusker don't forget to add the NHL Blues to the list and KC is looking to add either a NHL or NBA team in the Sprint Center. I'm sure you'll think this is a flame but anyway....in Nebraska you guys focus on the Huskers year around because it's all you have. That's one of things that has helped NU have such a great fanbase. NU fans aren't caught up in Pujols and Greinke like we are right now. As for our team next year I'm thinking we'll get 7 wins and hoping for 8. Not a great season but we need to get Gabbert and the rest of the young players feet wet and continue to be a winning program. The NU - MU game in Columbia should be fun, see you there.
tom Jun 02 09
Here in the Kansas City area, I haven't heard a single commercial for MU tickets or the Tigers season. And I listen to sports talk radio all the time, where I would think they would advertise the most. In fact, most years I hear ads for KU football.
Most fans of the regional teams in this area just kind of have to pick one to root for. Most Missouri fans that I know didn't actually go there - they went to UMKC, or Northwest Missouri State, or Western Missouri State, so they just kind of root for the Tigers.
If Nebraska has nothing else, Missouri has too much stuff. MU has had a representative in the Big 12 Championship game in football, basketball, and baseball this year. If that happened in Nebraska, people would be going crazy up there year 'round. Since it happened in Missouri, there's too much other stuff to care.
bnahusker Jun 02 09
Brent........
I didin't take your remark as a flame. It was pretty accurate. We know that Big Red is about all that we have.
I don't think that Darren was blasting Missouri about the ads, just pointing it out. The staff here rarely "Blast" anyone.
Also, please forgive the brain cramp that led me to omit the Blues. I know that they have a great fan base. I catch them on FSN once in a while.
GBR!
Bob
James Moore Jun 02 09
To all in Husker Nation,
"Also, right now you are calling 2 wins in a row a "streak". Fine. Technically that is correct."
Well, well, well said Darren. There is really no further need to worry about Missouri. Since on face value such a comment would smack of disdain and smugness I'll explain. It takes a special bunch of men to change the attitudes, cultures & off-the-field habits of a program. In basketball the corner can be turned with just one player. Just one. Football, it is 2, maybe 3 years of work, work, work and at least 20-30 grade-A leaders on and off the field. Winning is NOT an entitlement. The Devaney/Osborne span was BUILT on work. The foundation was sweat, iron, muscle & merit. The legacy of Daniel, Coffman, and this senior class as a whole? Failure to defeat Oklahoma & Texas (benchmark games when you have aspirations of a top-10 team or more) punctuated with an extremely lax and poor effort against Northwestern by friends who had spent 4 years together in a program who didn't seem to care to much to fight for the guy next to them when it would be their last time playing football together, and for many, forever. . .
Freshmen look up to ALL upperclassmen. Ask anyone who has ever played collegiate sports. They ARE the leaders. Effort in drills, weights, sprints, class, meetings, are all truly enforced on good teams by winners, please see Grant Wistrom. What did Missouri's freshmen these past two years learn from this past bunch of seniors? Beating Oklahoma? Texas? Oklahoma State? Can you say that this is a tough, disciplined, assignment-oriented football program after this senior class? What is the legacy of THIS senior class for Missouri?
I'll part with this. We all know that when you're in college, you pin the ears back, have some crazy weekends, and get it all out. Some have better character than that don't get into the nightlife that college can offer young men. But when you have a FRESHMAN QB, get caught at a traffic stop and he is drunk behind the wheel, with weed, perscription painkillers, etc., well that FRESHMAN is partying with someone. Quite probably teammates because he does not want Joe Student to rat him out. The implication is, they have some wild souls in the Tiger program at the moment. Whatever character you have off the field will most certainly show on it. . .
Enjoy your fake FG from 2006, enjoy last year's trip to Lincoln. They'll be few and far between Tiger fans. You will most certainly find out how hard it is to win, consistently, year-after-year. Winning, is NOT an entitlement. You should have learned that last year against Oklahoma State and with absolute clarity in Austin the following week. You didn't. You're leaders (Daniel and the Tiger seniors)continued week after week to turn off the effort, slip execution wise, until by the end of the year you just wanted to show up and outscore people. Do you really think that you're going to out-recruit us in the long run? Do you really think that your facilities will catch up with ours in the blink of an eye? Do you really believe that Missouri will be going to California, Louisiana or Gaithersburg, MD (Jason Ankrah, 4-stars) and get quality talent? Do you belive that it is healthy sign of the Tiger program that Gabbert's younger brother will be in a second time to visit? We owned the state of Missouri for their football talent for decades, you really think that we won't be back? We are the Big Red Machine of the Big 12 North. Our shadow casts over everyone, always. Even when in 2007 when you beat us in Columbia you had to tear down the goalposts. Never mind the fact we weren't that good. Tiger fans didn't care, they beat Nebraska. 76 in Lawrence against us? Goalposts down again, forget if Nebraska is good or not. Boulder? After giving up 51 then of course, the t-shirts saying "The Real Blackshirts." We're an institution. When you mention prominent names in college football, we're there. It is NOT a matter of IF but WHEN for us. For Missouri it's far less certain to see looking out. . .
Finally as someone who double majored in college and History being one of them let me take a last shot at Missouri. Poland was a mighty Kingdom who once thought nothing of invading Russia as an abject of outright conquest. Well anyone familiar with a mighty Polish Kingdom? No, and nobody is going to be looking at a mighty Missouri either. . .
(To ANY individuals of Polish ancestry I apoligize for ANY offenses taken, the comment was not mean in ANY way to be offensive. . .)
GO BIG RED!!!
James Moore Jun 02 09
"To all in Husker Nation,"
Was supposed to be followed up with, "Don't focus too much about Missouri anymore. . ."
To Tiger fans, you know which parts of the post were addressed to you. . .