Marketing of a University

[cajun4life]

_ Agreed. And, we all know what city UL is in, so there is no need to put the Lafayette on the flag! Maybe the City of Lafayette could do it, so the university isn't forced to put the UL Lafayette on each flag. _

even better

[CajunSaint]

_ I used to live in Austin and about this time of year as we are approaching the start of football season, you can go to almost any college bar and at various times during the night, they will stop the music and play the Eyes of Texas. Everyone stops and puts up the Hook 'Em Horns sign. It is pretty nice to see. Just another reason why UT football has the following it does. And, UT is now double-decking and enclosing one end of their stadium to increase seating capacity to over 90,000.

I was just thinking how nice it would be to have that same kind of thing at the college bars in Lafayette. Stop the music, play the UL fight song and everyone puts up the UL hand sign. If anyone knows the bar owners downtown, ask them to start doing that. It is the UL students that keep them in business. They should be supporting UL. If we start doing things like that, playing pre-movie commercials at the movie theatre and running UL football commercials on tv and the radio along with billboards all over Lafayette, I-10 and Acadiana, more people will develop an interest in UL. Let's spend a little money on effective marketing and a ticket drive and turn this thing around. It has to start somewhere. _

this would be great, sugar. it goes back to what i posted previously when this subject came up: we need to develop a "culture of support" for our university.

[ShowDog]

_ Seems to me we should also have some key billboards within Lafayette, around Acadiana Mall, on Johnston St. around Pete's, around Blackham Collesium, around the Airport on Evangeline Thruway, on I-10 at Ambassador Caffery where people exit to go to the athletic complex, and somewhere around campus where students can see it. We need to advertise IN Lafayette as well as the surrounding area. We can't assume that just because people live within UL they don't need to be marketed as well. _

I'd have billboards in Shreveport, Ruston, Monroe, Alexandria, Hammond, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge,etc. Freaking do it right. Make the other parts of this state start thinking about UL and that we're going to be reckoned with.

Our new Pres. said we were too comfortable a school, it's time to make some noise. Well, let's do it.

[TillmansNumber1]

_ This article was in yesterday's Houston Chronicle about how universities in Houston are utilizing billboards and other media to market athletics and academics. It would be nice to see UL doing similar advertising around Lafayette and throughout Acadiana with things like billboards and pre-movie advertising at movie theatres. Imagine going to a movie and seeing a commercial for UL football with our fight song, pictures of the new field turf and IPF, highlights of Desormeaux and Fenroy and seeing billboards all over Lafayette and Acadiana with football action pictures about our coming season. A start to building ties between UL and the community (not just Lafayette but all of Acadiana) and getting fans excited about UL and UL football. With a new President, this is a new beginning for UL and we should have a full marketing campaign to proclaim it.

The idea of re-marketing a university, or re-branding the image of the Cajuns, has been taken up before on this board. In fact, the original post by SLC is almost a direct copy of the following posts. The Cajuns, regardless of the new president, always have an opportunity to get new fans, energize an uninterested fanbase, and attract new transfer or traditional students. But, the Cajuns can't assume everyone knows about the university.

Just this weekend, a friend was visiting and stopped to tour the campus. Most of the lights were out on the electrical boards on campus. It was a missed opportunity to drive an interested student to the website and university. The girls' basketball gym still has Southwestern above it. "Then why do they want to be called Louisiana//Lafayette or University of Louisiana?" he asked.

Last season, a phone called was placed to inform the athletic department of the interest to donate to the athletic department. The phone call was not returned. Even if the donation is just $100, not returning the call leaves a bad taste in the mind of a potential donor. Imagine if the donation were more? Imagine if the phone call came from a recruit's mom?

Every time a fan buys a ticket to any game, the Cajuns must get a phone number and contact that fan the Monday following the game saying: thank you for coming, asking about their experience and informing the fan of upcoming games and deals.

The Cajuns have a great product -- academically and athletically. And, as the following posts will show, very few people know about the product. And the Cajuns never take responsibility for their behavior, or lack thereof, and continue to blame LSU.

It's time to the Cajuns take control of their image.

This was posted just a week ago.

Tillmansnumber1:::

Throughout a segment of Lafayette, and a good portion of Louisiana, the Cajuns athetically and academically have a less than desirable reputation. Far too many incoming freshman or transfer students says, "Oh, I'm just going to UL" or parents say, "Oh, our son's just hanging at UL." The "just" signals a lack of prestige at UL, a dearth of excitement in their choice, all which make their decision driven only by proximity and availability.

The Cajuns have an image problem. The assumption, sadly, is the education is second rate, the stuents are not prepared for life after college, and the athletics are equal to a junior college because the Cajuns never win in money making sports. Accurate or not, this presumed theory permeates a sizable portion of Lafayette and a vast majority of Louisiana. It's an image is desperate need of a makeover.

Who then is respondsible for re-shaping the Cajuns' image: The Cajuns.

The Cajuns need to promote themselves in their own city and region. Show commercials before movies at every movie theatre in Lafayette, Maurice, Abbeville, Alexandria and Baton Rouge for every movie. Make sure they change once a month, too.

The Cajuns need posters and merchandise in the Lafayette Airport (there currently is none.) The Cajuns need posters in terminals in the Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Shreveport, Monroe, New Orleans, Houston and Dallas airports. This is no longer a university only for people from Lafayette. UL serves an entire region. This is about changing the perception across the city, the state, region and about attracting athletes from Texas and Louisiana. In the Dallas-Love airport, Oklahoma State has a huge poster. It's been done before.

There need to be billboards immediately after entry into Louisiana on major highways promoting academic life and athletic success for the Cajuns. During the athletics seasons, the Cajuns need monthly billboards. For example, it's December, the Cajuns have games at this time on these days. Then, for January do the same thing. Allow fans to buy tickets online, or call to get tickets.

During games, the university must be promoted at all times during timeouts. Run commercials about improvements in academics, run commercials about new developments in the science department or new books written by a sitting English professor. This connects athletics with academics and shows donors where their dollars are going. Promote the former Cajuns athletes beyond Jake Delhomme and Brandon Stokely in every situation. Run video of former and current athletes saying why they chose UL, their experiences, and how they grew, personally and athletically, during their time at UL. Honor families during the games with a "family of the night" and give them gift bags for showing up and spending a lot of money on a team that's rarely consistent.

The Cajuns behavior often shoots themselves in the foot. Fans can't buy tickets online, they have to be purchased in person and from 8-4:30, a time when most fans are working. A student radio show in 2003 and 2004 called Louisiana Sports Review, which focused on UL athletics, once called the UL SIDs for information on J. Kelly Hall's contract, which is public information. Three messages were left. None were returned. What if the call didn't come from a fan connected with UL, but came from a recruit's mother?

In another situation, a friend and his wife had two season tickets during the Jesse Evans' years at UL. Assuming tickets were $10 a ticket, and there are 10 home games, that's 200 dollars supporting the Cajuns. After Evans was forced about, the friend wasn't sure about Robert Lee and his lack of experience leading a college basketball team (after 4 years and a record under .500, he seems to be right), the friend wasn't sure about re-newing his tickets. The Cajuns never called, signaling to the season ticket holder his 200 dollars and other money for goodies didn't matter to the Cajuns. If the fan had tickets for two of Lee's four relatively unsuccessful years, that's 400 dollars for the Cajuns. But, the Cajuns lost two fans and their 200 dollars all because they didn't keep a database on people's phone numbers of addresses.

The Cajuns can't complain about a lack of fan interest when the Cajuns refuse to take interest in their fans and their desires.

Much of the attitude toward Cajuns athletics is reflected in their ability to win, or in many cases, not win games. Winning breads interest which leads to more money. The Cajuns need to schedule winnable games in every sport. McNeese was a disaster, predicted here (https://forumeus.com/sh...3321#post83321) the summer before the game. NC A&T was great. Cajuns win by a lot, the opponent sucked, but most important fans are excited. There's no need to schedule Illinois or Kent State. The Cajuns can't win those games and recruits from those areas won't come to Lafayette.

Continue football games against TCU, Army (good crowd), Navy (good crowd), Rice, Southeastern Louisiana, Duke, Vanderbilt, Northwestern and Memphis. Some are winnable, some are not. But the Cajuns chances of beating TCU, Vanderbilt and Navy are higher than beating Illinois. The more wins the Cajuns get the easier it is to get to a bowl game and build a season ticket holder base.

In basketball, the Cajuns must stop scheduling out of conference home losses to big name teams. They bring in a large one time ticket sale, but like the McNeese football game, the Cajuns might lose and then the fans leave depressed and often never return. In 5 years, Robert Lee has shown tremendous difficulty winning out of conference games (14-29 or a mere 48%), especially those at home (9-6 or 60%, far below the 78% winning percentage for home teams), in part of the schedule crafted for him. No more Tennessee, Nevada-Reno, UAB, Charlotte, Oral Roberts. The games do nothing, and the Cajuns usually at home. The Cajuns have just four to five home games before conference. Make sure they are all D-1 wins. If few fans show up but the Cajuns win, the fans will return, and new fans might come to see a winning team. Games against Alabama State, Nicholls State, UT Arlington, and Texas Southern might not be sexy, but five straight home wins keep fans happy, raise the Cajuns RPI, and gets fans talking about their team.

But the Cajuns must get out there and define themselves. And the Cajuns must define themselves positively. Forget the "we hate LSU" message. Discuss studying abroad inexpensively, or studying in Lafayette inexpensively. Mention Lafayette is the only city in Louisiana increasing in population after Katrina and the growing 20 something population. Highlight new dorms, new classrooms, more teachers with Doctorate's in their field, a low student-to-teacher ratio and increased financial aid opportunities. Remind people how much fun UL is and the unique opportunities they have in Lafayette! This is a great chance to show off a university which could move in the right direction.

UL is a great university where if a students puts his mind to it and shows effort every opportunity will come his way. He can get a great education, study in France or Germany, meet new, life-long friends, and have great experiences at athletic events.

But very few people seem to know that.

And that's UL's fault entirely.

Unless, of course, they begin re-shaping their image....

now.


Before the previous post, the following was posted in January 2008. There was, typically, not response or change in behavior from the university.


Tillmansnumber1:::January 2008

The city of Lafayette, Louisiana and the state of Louisiana have a great university located in Lafayette. Unfortunately, outside of the athletes, fans, faculty, staff and former students, no one in Lafayette or Louisiana knows about the university in part because the university does not promote itself and allows a negative perception of itself to continue.

Perception of the university is directly tied to its self promotion. The university must take note and begin promoting itself. As such, at every point of entry into the state of Louisiana, on I-20 or I-10, for example, there ought to be a billboard saying, "Welcome to the state of Louisiana. Home to the University of Louisiana (if the university must put Lafayette, it's ok; move on), recently ranked in the top 350 cool schools by Princeton Review." Show photos of students (ethnically diverse, of course), show professors working with students, show dorms, and show fans going crazy at games. There could be many different billboards, each uniquely highlighting the best parts about the university (inexpensive costs, recently built dorms, study abroad opportunities, amount of money spent on scholarships) but each large city in Louisiana, including Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans, Lake Charles, Monroe, Alexandria and Shreveport need to have billboards promoting the university. After all, this is the University of Louisiana. The university needn't take shots at other universities located in other towns (that's not the point). They need to promote the university in a positive manner and encourage interest in the university.

There is precedent for universities promoting themselves all over the state and in other close by states. In the Dallas Love Field airport, there is a huge poster about going to college at Oklahoma State. In Pittsburgh, there are billboards about studying at The Ohio State University, there are billboards about UT Austin's MBA program in Waco and in North Texas, LSU has billboards encouraging Texans to study at LSU. The university needs to begin promoting themselves outside of Lafayette, including other parts of Louisiana and parts of Mississippi and especially Texas.

In addition to promoting themselves outside of Lafayette, the university needs to take itself seriously in Lafayette. Entering from I-49 and I-10, there are no billboards, no signs or anything that screams there is a 4 year university in this town. The university needs billboards and signs in its own town, highlighting, again, their recent accomplishments (making the list of 350 cool schools, building new dorms, new MBA program ranking, nursing school rankings, number of international students, etc.) The University of Louisiana signs on the streets where campus begins are rundown and chipped and missing letters. They need to have signs on city buses, around the university, around the town and especially near the athletic facilities. Most times, the visual signage near Blackham simply says the time and the date. It needs more: game times, game dates, Cajuns most recent game result. Buy a billboard for one month and list all the home football games for September. Do it again for October and for November. Do it for men's basketball games, too.

The university is a viable academic option for any student -- in Lafayette, in Louisiana, in the US or in the world -- but the university seems to assume -- arrogantly and dismissively -- everyone knows about the university. At Comeaux High, there is a board of college options for seniors and inspired juniors. The University of Colorado Boulder had a gigantic eye grabbing poster, Centenary had a pamphlet which caught attention, Rhodes had take home sheets of information which could be detached from a poster and the local university had a photo copied yellow sheet of paper. Where do the eyes of prospective students immediately go? Why must the university assume every student at Comeaux knows about the university?

The university was recently listed in The Princeton Review's 350 Cool Schools. No article ran in The Vermilion, the student newspaper. No story ran on KRVS, the student radio station. This fact was NOT featured at a recent college day in Ft. Worth, Texas, where a table for the university was located. The table or the people personing the table did not say, Our nursing school is top 10 in the nation, or 60% of our college seniors have jobs before graduation and nowhere did the table or people say, "Come study abroad in France and Italy and view new cultures." The table, people at the table and student newspaper seemed to do exactly what the university does with important information: assume you know. The university can no longer assume everyone knows. On the contrary, it must assume no one knows and promote itself and the information accordingly.

The university needs to be promoted in the movie theatres (run ads before the previews), in newspapers in every large city and, most important, at its own athletic events. The university cannot assume every fan at the game knows about the university. Run stories during timeouts about former players in the pros (Ike Taylor, Tillman, Brian Hamilton, etc.), run stories about the newest dorm being built and student reactions, run stories about academic progress (rise of difficulty to get into MBA program; selectivity attracts some students), and run stories about the change occuring on campus, or three fans driving all night to Mobile to see the Cajuns taking on South Alabama (positive story, connects fans with team), and the academic success. This is done for two reasons: 1, donors who attend games can see where their money goes and 2, fans not associated with the university see the progress the university is making and hopefully are attracted to the university.

By promoting itself effectively, the university can take hold of and shape its reputation. Stay positive, stay progressive (always building, always modernizing, always increasing, always changing), focus on important issues (safe, inexpensive, wise professors) and never compare the university to another one.

Susan Gonzalez's 5 Reasons to Hate LSU was terrible; it made the Cajun family look like a bitter ex wife. Get over it. Promote the great things about the university and stay positive and spirited. Get rid of the "If you don't support the Cajuns, move to Baton Rouge" attitude. Why not say, come to one game, attend one semester, give the university and atmosphere a shot, and you'll be forever positively changed. There's no need to bring negativity into the college choosing or college experience.

Lafayette has a great 4 year university. The students who go know, the faculty and staff know, the athletes know, the former students know, but no one else knows. Only the university and the way it promotes itself can change that.

If the university chooses not to promote itself or chooses not to shape and decide its own reputation, it has only itself to blame.

[CajunAmos]

I also agree we need to do a better job of promoting UL both locally and nationally. As covered by CajunFun on ULToday.com, we have great programs in a number of areas that will do nothing but get better in the years to come, but we need to let people know about it. We've done a very poor job of making our areas of excellence known. We also need to provide a living environment conducive to attracting the best and brightest, hence living spaces and additional on campus parking options need to be the highest priority, as this affects not only athletes but the out of town/state students we want to attract.>>
>>
Athletically, we need to do a better job of acknowledging our fan base, and this can be done in a number of ways. As stated in an earlier post, getting contact info from persons purchasing tickets and following up with thanks/offers is a great idea. I emailed the department a number of years back about a little thing that stuck in my mind following the renewal of season tickets in basketball about five years ago. I've been having them for about 25 years, but wasn't sure exactly how long, so I asked when I was paying for my renewal. The person at that time (wasn't Shivaun) told me they didn't record that information. To be honest, I was somewhat shocked. I thought at the time that this was something we were keeping up with electronically for a long time. I sent an email following that event to the athletic director stating that this might be an opportunity to thank long term fans for continuing support of a specific sport. They typically thank fans in the ticket renewals every year, but on 5, 10, 20 or whatever chosen timeframe anniversaries, send them out a special note in their renewals saying you're aware of their long term support, and giving them a special thank you, possibly actually signed by the coach of the associated team. To me it seems a little thing, except in recognition of their support, and costs the school virtually nothing. It shows that you’re acknowledged them individually, and not part of a mass mailing renewal program. I think when you're trying to build successful programs in a number of sports, and the department as a whole, small things matter. I’m sorry to say I never received a response.>>

[wisconsincajun]

Coach Mazeitis (volleyball) has plans to remove the "Southwestern" sign on Earl K. Long Gym. They are completely redoing the inside of the facility. New banners, paint, locker rooms. They are even transforming a room upstairs that was previously a storage room in to a study/gathering room for the girls volleyball and basketball teams. The outside of the building is being power washed and repaired. She is hoping on building community support for the program and increased marketing will help greatly. So this thread is great!
Our daughter decided to play 18 hours from home (Wisconsin) for Coach Mazeitis for a couple of reasons. # 1 and formost is the Ragin Cajun' name recognition. That needs to be promoted more. #2 is the support that Coach has said is being given to the sports programs by the new administration. The redoing of Earl K. Long Gym is attractive to outside of the state recruits.#3 is that we felt that the Ragin Cajun' sports as a whole is a upcoming program that she wanted to be a part of. It appears that things are moving forward in the right direction. Geaux Cajuns'

[rhineaux]

Before the previous post, the following was posted in January 2008. There was, typically, not response or change in behavior from the university.

Why would you expect a change to be made if you posted your ideas on a message board instead of calling Ray Authement, David Walker, Scott Farmer, etc? Those people don't read these boards. By posting something here, you (we) are all just preaching to the choir. You generally have some pretty thoughtful comments, but I think they would go a lot farther if you directed them to someone else. Trust me, everyone here more or less agrees with everything you're saying. It will just take more of an effort from all of us to quit _____ing and moaning here ONLY, and start communicating to the AD, Assoc AD, President, etc that we want something to change and we want it now.

[NOCajun]

_ Coach Mazeitis (volleyball) has plans to remove the "Southwestern" sign on Earl K. Long Gym. They are completely redoing the inside of the facility. New banners, paint, locker rooms. They are even transforming a room upstairs that was previously a storage room in to a study/gathering room for the girls volleyball and basketball teams. The outside of the building is being power washed and repaired. She is hoping on building community support for the program and increased marketing will help greatly. So this thread is great!
Our daughter decided to play 18 hours from home (Wisconsin) for Coach Mazeitis for a couple of reasons. # 1 and formost is the Ragin Cajun' name recognition. That needs to be promoted more. #2 is the support that Coach has said is being given to the sports programs by the new administration. The redoing of Earl K. Long Gym is attractive to outside of the state recruits.#3 is that we felt that the Ragin Cajun' sports as a whole is a upcoming program that she wanted to be a part of. It appears that things are moving forward in the right direction. Geaux Cajuns' _

We always like to hear from players' parents on this board. Thanks to you and your daughter for helping to make the future of CAJUNS athletics even BRIGHTER!!!

[Clutch0364]

_ The idea of re-marketing a university, or re-branding the image of the Cajuns, has been taken up before on this board. In fact, the original post by SLC is almost a direct copy of the following posts. The Cajuns, regardless of the new president, always have an opportunity to get new fans, energize an uninterested fanbase, and attract new transfer or traditional students. But, the Cajuns can't assume everyone knows about the university. . . .

Lafayette has a great 4 year university. The students who go know, the faculty and staff know, the athletes know, the former students know, but no one else knows. Only the university and the way it promotes itself can change that.

If the university chooses not to promote itself or chooses not to shape and decide its own reputation, it has only itself to blame. _

[Hammer58]

Currently, there is an advertisement for UL and the "Geaux Cajuns" sponsorship campaign on the electronic billboard at the corner of Kaliste Saloom and Amb. Caffery.

[DestinCajun]

"Susan Gonzalez's 5 Reasons to Hate LSU was terrible; it made the Cajun family look like a bitter ex wife. Get over it. Promote the great things about the university and stay positive and spirited. Get rid of the "If you don't support the Cajuns, move to Baton Rouge" attitude."_ _

I thought the whole thing was indeed hilarious - a great piece of humor - but in the real world I also agree with you that we need to stay far more focused on the positives and build upon them. There's far,far less bad than good going on at UL and harping on it most all of the time serves no constructive purpose.

[Turbine]

Well message boards do help to sharpen ideas.

The alternative is everyone idividually bombarding the aministration with half cocked, not very well rounded concepts. This can only lead to a deaf ear.

I know I won't have much credibility saying this, but message boards should be an important first step, and a prudent administrator would do well to skim them for ideas.

jmo
igeaux.mobi