DB talks Branding with Adam Rittenberg

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July 13th, 2011 at 9:12 AM
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Yostal
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DB talks Branding with Adam Rittenberg

Not a whole lot of new ground here, but Adam Rittenberg gets an interview with David Brandon about "branding" and the Michigan athletic department.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/29096/michigan-ad-dave-brandon-talks-branding

Money quote for me:

People want Michigan to be on the national stage. They want us to be innovative. They want us to embrace our traditions -- and I do, I'm a part of that tradition -- but I also believe there's a lot of people that want us to be fresh and to be competitive, not just on the field through performance but also in the way we present our program to the nation.

Craig Barker || The Hoover Street Rag || Twitter

"The Michigan fanbase: a cynical, Eeyorish bunch even in the best of times."

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July 13th, 2011 at 9:14 AM | Exactly what I have been (Score:1)
Deep Under Cover
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Joined: 08/24/2010
MGoPoints: 797

Exactly what I have been saying he has been attempting to do!

Deep under cover in THE enemy's territory

July 13th, 2011 at 9:17 AM | DB is a man with a plan, it (Score:1)
Baldbill
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Joined: 04/09/2009
MGoPoints: 2002

DB is a man with a plan, it doesn't mean I always get it but I think it will work

Semper Fidelis

July 13th, 2011 at 9:21 AM | DB should probably hit up D & B's (Score:3 Funny)
pdgoblue25
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Joined: 03/03/2010
MGoPoints: 2640

And talk bonuses.

Janeane Garofalo (Film Actors Guild): "As actors it is our responsibility to read the newspaper, and then say what we read on television like it's our opinion"

July 13th, 2011 at 9:22 AM | (Score:2 Normal)
dothepose
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Joined: 12/30/2008
MGoPoints: 4256

I like the sunny reference.

You know, Dude, I myself dabbled in pacifism once. Not in 'Nam of course.

July 13th, 2011 at 9:23 AM | Hey (Score:5 Normal)
pdgoblue25
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Joined: 03/03/2010
MGoPoints: 2640

If you're looking for a better steak in an arcade setting, you are shit out of luck.

Janeane Garofalo (Film Actors Guild): "As actors it is our responsibility to read the newspaper, and then say what we read on television like it's our opinion"

July 13th, 2011 at 9:23 AM | I prefer this shot at Texas (Score:3 Normal)
Blue in Seattle
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Joined: 07/02/2008
MGoPoints: 1589

Would you ever envision a day when Michigan could have its own TV Network?

DB: No, I don't, only because the Big Ten Network has been so successful. And it was built on the same basic premise that has afforded the Big Ten Conference to be so successful for so long, and that is one of complete collegiality and teamwork. We all share and share alike in the Big Ten, we always have [my emphasis]. We don't create this competitive world where everybody's trying to grab what they think they're entitled to. We all work together well for the greater purpose, and we all share in the benefits that are created. That model, to me, makes a world of sense. For that reason, Michigan is very invested in and interested in continuing to build the Big Ten to continue to be the greatest conference in America.

"That's all there is...there isn't anymore"

July 13th, 2011 at 9:39 AM | But seriously... (Score:5 Normal)
Lets_Go_Blue
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Joined: 10/06/2010
MGoPoints: 1760

...you'd watch it.

Football is both an identity and a terminal illness. A rhythm and a chaos and an opiate for the mind all at once.

     -Johnny Danbury (umichedme.blogspot.com)

July 13th, 2011 at 12:56 PM | Agreed... less is more (Score:1)
Zonereadstretch
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Agreed... less is more

July 13th, 2011 at 4:03 PM | Hopefully that philosophy would hold true.. (Score:1)
justingoblue
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Joined: 11/16/2010
MGoPoints: 10879

for the cheerleader/dance tryouts.

Go Blue!

July 13th, 2011 at 5:15 PM | Extend That Thought (Score:1)
LSAClassOf2000
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Joined: 01/07/2011
MGoPoints: 8748

Then nothing is everything. Yes, I agree.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

Follow the random tweets of a Michigan alum - http://twitter.com/#!/LorneEC3

July 13th, 2011 at 9:55 AM | let's face it (Score:1)
TrppWlbrnID
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MGoBlog is pretty much UMTV, except instead of a scroll bar only at the bottom, THE WHOLE THING IS A SCROLLBAR!

2013 resolution - make it onto the 2014 favorite MGoPosters post, not ironically
July 13th, 2011 at 9:25 AM | Ok, that's fine DB (Score:3 Normal)
JCV16
Joined: 06/29/2011
MGoPoints: 456

But please no hideous wolverine mascot or maize jerseys with hip blue lightning bolts, k thx

Tremendous!

July 13th, 2011 at 10:06 AM | please no hideous wolverine mascot (Score:1 Overrated)
Don
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MGoPoints: 19220

How would you feel about a wolverine mascot that wasn't hideous and that was only active on the grounds right outside the stadium and never got onto the field itself? That way, kids could get their photos taken with Willy or whatever the hell it would be called, their parents could buy a stuffed animal replica, but traditionalist fans would never have to see it once they take their seats inside. Would that compromise work for you?

As a father, I can guarantee that little kids would be lining up thirty yards long to have their photos taken with the mascot. And the girlfriends of UM sophomores. And the wives of middle-aged UM fans. They wouldn't be able to keep the stuffed animals on the shelves.

I agree on the maize jerseys with lightning bolts. Never, ever.


July 13th, 2011 at 10:29 AM | Still Nope (Score:4 Normal)
philgoblue
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Joined: 07/09/2008
MGoPoints: 47

Once you let Willy inside the gate, you won't be able to keep him out of the stands and after that you won't be able to keep him off  the field.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:33 AM | Willy truly sucked (Score:1)
jmdblue
Joined: 12/01/2010
MGoPoints: 652

nm

We're gonna play with toughness, we're gonna be responsible and we're gonna play with toughness.  This is Michigan.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:47 AM | Sure, kids would love it (Score:1)
JCV16
Joined: 06/29/2011
MGoPoints: 456

But I guess I just don't really trust corporate types (even DB, who I like overall), to not completely botch something like this.  The mascot would almost certainly be hideous.  Also, I was once a kid, and loved Michigan football passionately without there being a mascot.  Maybe it would make some money, in which case it's probably happening, but otherwise I don't see the benefit.  

On the other hand, I like the concept of a live wolverine because it would be so unnecessarily dangerous. 

Tremendous!

July 13th, 2011 at 1:23 PM | You still would have probably (Score:2 Normal)
goblue20111
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Joined: 10/31/2010
MGoPoints: 1512

You still would have probably liked a mascot as a kid.  Most kids do these days.  Can someone please explain why Brandon's corporate background would lead to this being botched up? Or why hiscorporate background (how we forget that he's from Dearborn, MI and played under Bo...ya that background) is bad in general? Doing somethings that some people don't like=bad evil corporate machine?

July 13th, 2011 at 3:31 PM | not evil (Score:1)
JCV16
Joined: 06/29/2011
MGoPoints: 456

just out of touch.  sitting around with lots of other old rich guys makes you out of touch and say "I love it!" when presented with a ludicrous proposals like a maize halo around the stadium.  Yes I realize that was not Brandon, but he did approve the stupid hockey jerseys and the soccer-jersey looking things for the night game. 

Tremendous!

July 13th, 2011 at 10:03 AM | I hate the transparent branding... (Score:1)
jmdblue
Joined: 12/01/2010
MGoPoints: 652

I thought the "Big Chill" was one of the best sporting events I've ever attended, but now the night game with ND is being "branded" the same way with a near duplicate logo and a custom jersey.  The problem is that this branding is doing nothing to further the tradition.  The Red Wings used to roll out the playoffs every year with a theme and a logo and a song.  I don't even know if they still do because what was good became so damned stale.  DB better be careful he doesn't let his kitsch interfere with the real tradition that has kept 110 K coming to watch some pretty shitty football for the last 3 years.

We're gonna play with toughness, we're gonna be responsible and we're gonna play with toughness.  This is Michigan.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:24 AM | I agree. I just don't like (Score:2 Insightful)
Louie C
Joined: 11/16/2009
MGoPoints: 2014

I agree. I just don't like that word "brand". It sounds rather impersonal to me. This is a well respected and revered  university, not some kind of franchise.  I am totally for updating facilities, night games, and whatnot, but there is a such thing as doing too much. I don't want Michigan to be one of those schools that says "Lookit me! Lookit me!" I think being the total opposite of that is one of the many things that makes Michigan one of the most respected institutions in the country. The pride, traditions, and academic and athletic success speaks for itself, and when that is coupled with wins on the court or field, that is all the advertising you need IMO.

"It's the only place to get the inside story on Wolverine football, so blee bluhh tahh!" - Bo

July 13th, 2011 at 11:04 AM | This is the exact same (Score:5 Normal)
Michigan Arrogance
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MGoPoints: 4299

This is the exact same argument people had against Canham in 1969.

Canham: Whoring out the university with his 'marketing.'

 

Brandon: Whoring out the university with his 'branding.'

Harvard: The MICHIGAN of the East

We're not arrogant, we're just better.

July 13th, 2011 at 11:39 AM | Interesting.... (Score:1)
jmdblue
Joined: 12/01/2010
MGoPoints: 652

Not saying you're wrong.  I was 2 in '69 so I certainly have no direct memories.  I do remember specifically the mid-1970s offense at Canham's $1 coke (you also got the reuseable plastic cup - a pretty new fangled idea at the time).  Do you have any examples of Canham's "marketing" that was considered distasteful or "whoring" at the time that either 1) went away? or 2) is now established?  BTW this is not meant to be an aggressive response and I'm not calling you out.  Just looking for something tangible.

Also, to be clear, I don't think DB is "whoring" Michigan. Overall I believe in the guy despite a few reservations.   I do think he is maximizing profits/exposure/reputation/coolness  for the short term at the mild risk of the long term product.

We're gonna play with toughness, we're gonna be responsible and we're gonna play with toughness.  This is Michigan.

July 13th, 2011 at 12:44 PM | Per Canham's Book (Score:4 Insightful)
lexus larry
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MGoPoints: 1218

title of which escapes me here at the moment, he slapped a "Block M" or "Block M/Michigan bar" on anything and everything (as noted way below, toilet seats included).

Also highlighted in his career as Michigan AD included flying banners over Tiger Stadium to appeal to fans to come out, direct mailings and aiming the football Saturday events at wives/mothers, to make the game a family event.

I agree with several commenters about "brand."  The Michigan brand, as well as the Michigan Athletic Department brand, are very robust and very well-known.  Which is why it becomes a bit of a headscratcher to mention branding at every turn, when in effect, you're either exploiting the good brand, or attempting to maximize the breadth of exposure.  Aiming at teens, I don't know that they really need shizzle in their "throwback-style" jerseys.  Or that my self-satisfaction of gaining my degree at U-M is based on the $80 jerseys or $35 T-shirts.

Larry

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV

July 13th, 2011 at 12:51 PM | From the Inside (Score:3 Normal)
Michigan Arrogance
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From the Inside

Harvard: The MICHIGAN of the East

We're not arrogant, we're just better.

July 13th, 2011 at 1:13 PM | Indeed (Score:1)
lexus larry
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Indeed it was...

Canham also mentioned that most of the logos we know today (and love) were scratched out on the backs of napkins, etc.  Just what they (don't remember who "they" were) thought looked good, and registered, then sent off to be embroidered/imprinted and mass-produced/mass-marketed.

Larry

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV

July 13th, 2011 at 1:17 PM | I think you're right on this one. (Score:1)
jmdblue
Joined: 12/01/2010
MGoPoints: 652

I think you're right on this one...not the book name, the debate.

We're gonna play with toughness, we're gonna be responsible and we're gonna play with toughness.  This is Michigan.

July 13th, 2011 at 1:45 PM | For what it's worth... (Score:3 Interesting)
Yostal
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MGoPoints: 2785

I was always jealous of the people in Plymouth, Michigan in 1971 who got the chance to buy season tickets because their city was randomly selected as the direct mailing experiment.  How many people in Plymouth still have their season tickets, without a PSL, because of that random mailing?

Craig Barker || The Hoover Street Rag || Twitter

"The Michigan fanbase: a cynical, Eeyorish bunch even in the best of times."

July 13th, 2011 at 7:49 PM | If only I were 45 years (Score:1)
jpepper23
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Joined: 10/08/2010
MGoPoints: 366

If only I were 45 years older...

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

July 13th, 2011 at 7:51 PM | Accidental reply FTW (Score:1)
jpepper23
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Accidental reply FTW

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

July 13th, 2011 at 1:26 PM | From John Kryk's book Natural (Score:5 Normal)
The Barwis Effect
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MGoPoints: 2244

From John Kryk's book Natural Enemies: 

 

The Wolverines had been drawing poorly, a result of their mediocre exploits over the previous decade. When the 1968 season ended, the average home attendance was only 67,000--some 34,000 short of a sellout.

Canham the businessman knew how to fill it up: by marketing the product and improving the product.

He devised extreme means to achieve these ends, comparatively as radical as anything else occurring on the Michigan campus in 1968--and that meant radical, man. This bold, self-sure 49-year-old wasn't just going to nudge Michigan football out of hibernation, he was going to jolt it out of bed upright with sirens blaring.

To market the poduct, Canham mailed out one million ticket applications and placed ads in Sports Illustrated, Time, and Fortune.

Ads in magazines!

Didn't Canham know this was staid old Michigan? What would Fielding Yost have said? What would Fritz Crisler say? Canham didn't care, just as Yost and Crisler hadn't cared what anybody thought of their actions.

"[T]here were a lot of people predicting glorious heights for Rich; mostly the same people who are predicting doom and gloom [for Hoke]. Excuse me if I doubt their prognostication skills." -- M-Wolverine

July 13th, 2011 at 4:10 PM | That's the paradox.  On the (Score:2)
jmblue
Joined: 11/07/2008
MGoPoints: 28971

That's the paradox.  On the one hand, you have the notion of Michigan as this staid, unchanging place, but on the other, we've often been at the forefront of dramatic changes in collegiate athletics, marketing included.  We built a 72,000-seat stadium (with footings put in to allow it to double in size) at a time when Ann Arbor had a population of 30,000 and interstate highways did not exist.  We basically invented collegiate marketing under Canham.  Our football and basketball programs signed deals with Nike relatively early on, our basketball and hockey programs were among the earliest to introduce alternate uniforms, and so on. 

Brandon has to tread the line between the two.  He has to raise revenues to fund a massive, 27-team sports system, and he has to keep the loyalty of the fanbase, which has a reputation for being resistant to change - though history has often shown that it has ultimately accepted change when it's happened (as in the case of the stadium renovations).  He has to decide which innovations are likely to be accepted and which (e.g., the halo) aren't.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:19 AM | posted from iPhone (Score:2)
dennisblundon
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MGoPoints: 6631

I know some people weren't really crazy about the night game jerseys but recruits were and that is the target age group for these types of things. Growing the fan base is a juggling act between appealing to the youth without alienating the traditionalists. DB is a little too front and center for my taste but all in all, his heart is in the right place and he is doing a pretty damn good job.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:41 AM | I agree... (Score:1)
Blue in Yarmouth
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MGoPoints: 2335

I am not going to say I think DB is a great AD at this point. I think he has made some great decisions and some very questionable ones. All in all I think he is doing a decent job at this point, but my main problem is he is just keeping too high a profile for me.

I don't think an AD should necessarily never be seen and always be behind the scenes, but DB gets more TV exposure than our players do for pete sake. I just think he needs to dial it down a notch.

 

July 13th, 2011 at 5:40 PM | Plus somehow Denard managed (Score:1)
PurePetron
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MGoPoints: 9

Plus somehow Denard managed to make them look good.

July 13th, 2011 at 10:48 AM | I generally like DB and think (Score:1 Normal)
dmozz
Joined: 07/13/2009
MGoPoints: 59

I generally like DB and think he is good for UM football, and the school in general. But he really scares me when he starts talking about branding and the Michigan brand, especially in the context of updating/innovating the brand. 

Branding is about positioning, your position within your market & in your customers mind.  DB's experience at Dominoes was not with a brand like Michigan.  Michigan is timeless, its tradition.  To go all Al Reis and Jack Trout, we have the leadership positioning.  Michigan a Mercedes, Dominoes was/is a Ford. (I reserved Bently and those for the Ivy leagues).  Ford is respectable, but you do not brand or market them the same way as Mercedes.

The brand itself doesn't need to be updated, you don't need to innovate the Michigan brand into the new century.  You don't need gimicks and flash.  Leave that to Oregon (Scion anyone? Kia?).

Show me a Mercedes commercial with giant rats driving...

I guess I am saying, if he's talking about innovating or updating the brand itself, I am against it.  If he is simply talking about innovation in communicating the brand, WITHIN the context of what the brand already is, then I am for it.

This is why I was/am for B10 network, for respectible alternate/throwback jerseys, stadium updates, but against something like a mascot.  IMHO, its not the Michigan brand, against our tradition. Its simply a me-to tactic, a copy cat move... and leaders don't do me-to.  If DB wants to stay true to our brand, our position within the market, its clear NO MASCOT. 

Hoke is proving that he can sell Michigan just fine based on its traditional brand.  I doubt he gives a stadium tour and talks about the awesome RAWK music on game days (and I am for RAWK music in moderation).

I am sure DB knows this, I am sure he gets it more than I do, but it still worries me.  A hammer sees only nails, and I worry a lifelong innovator who innovated completley different brands in completely different positions in their market will instinctually innovate in the ways he is accustumed to.

And we will get glowing yellow jerseys once a year, commercials not talking about our astronauts but our RAWK, and JOJO the mascot patroling our tailgates and games.

July 13th, 2011 at 11:54 AM | I agree, no mascot. Unless (Score:1)
skunk bear
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Joined: 03/09/2010
MGoPoints: 1969

I agree, no mascot.

Unless maybe a way can be found to have a real wolverine on the sidelines.

July 13th, 2011 at 3:00 PM | (A mascot) its not the Michigan brand, against our tradition. (Score:3 Normal)
Don
Don's picture
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 19220

Like everybody else, you're cherry-picking what you consider to be acceptable changes to Michigan "tradition," and what you consider to be unassailably impermissible.

There are plenty of die-hard, loyal UM fans who are dead-set against everything you pronounce as acceptable: throwback jerseys, the stadium expansion, night games, and any form of RAWK music. You think they're all OK, but deem the mascot as a bridge too far. There's no essential, quantifiable, scientifically-provable difference between a hypothetical mascot and RAWK music. It's simply your opinion of what you personally want to see. There are no stone tablets engraved with what is acceptable Michigan tradition sitting in David Brandon's office.

I'd rather see a mascot on the field than listen to ear-splitting crappy RAWK music, but I admit that's simply my personal preference, as is my opposition to the throwback football jersey but my enthusiasm for the night game they'll be worn in.


July 13th, 2011 at 3:36 PM | ;) RAWK OUT WITH YOUR CAWK (Score:1)
MGoVillain
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;) RAWK OUT WITH YOUR CAWK OUT MICHIGAN FANS

MUAHAHAHAHA!  MUAHAHAHA!

July 13th, 2011 at 3:38 PM | I agree (Score:1)
JCV16
Joined: 06/29/2011
MGoPoints: 456

That things should be opposed just because "TRADITION!", but that's not why I'm against a mascot - it's because a mascot would most likely be stupid and inspire mockery. 

Tremendous!

July 13th, 2011 at 7:50 PM | Agree. I've said this several (Score:1)
BlueHills
Joined: 10/31/2010
MGoPoints: 704

Agree. I've said this several times: "Branding" is the wrong idea for a great university.

Consequently, I'm agin' anything intentionally related to it.

However, there are things that make sense that aren't blatantly about "branding." For example, the night game isn't about branding, it's about having some fun at night. No problem, for me. The non-throwback, non-legacy jerseys? All BS and DB. Not needed.

Better stadium experience? We've made many upgrades to the stadium and other facilities over the years, so no problem.

I think it's possible for most of us to differentiate between upgrades that are meaningful within the context of the university and its traditions, and things that are simply being done to "brand" the school. I'm all for the former, not so much the latter.

And yes, I am concerned that DB is not so able to make that differentiation.

July 13th, 2011 at 11:37 AM | high horse (Score:1)
timot
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Joined: 06/07/2011
MGoPoints: 19

Let's not get too high on our horse fellas. As I recall we were the first University to market an offcial toilet seat repleat with a block M in maize and blue.

-tlc

July 13th, 2011 at 1:07 PM | OSU's Branding Is Maybe Not So Good in Comparison (Score:1)
MGoBlue95
Joined: 11/27/2008
MGoPoints: 63

http://www.lostlettermen.com/on-campus-fans-take-o-h-i-o-to-grave/ 

 

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