“Branding” and “Marketing” ...

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

We have a long-standing tradition of getting pissed off anytime someone refers to us as a University...

No, what we get pissed of at is when someone calls us Georgia Tech University. Even if we are considered a university, that is not our name.

 

[GTRambler]

Hello? Anyone interested in Goals, Objectives and Strategies as I described them previously?

I’m not talking about mascots, the car, the colors, the outside perceptions. I’m talking about real goals, objectives, and strategies to accomplish the “brand” we want: a nationally renowned college football power.

 

[RonJohn]

Agreed. I’ve always thought it could be pushed as the schools nickname. We all know “The” Ohio State University and “The U.” There are a lot of schools that are referred to as tech, but there’s isn’t an “Institute.” Maybe this goes against tradition...Idk

I wouldn't mind GT being called "The Institute" in that same way. I have no idea how it could be spread. Getting the AD, coaches, and players to use that term during interviews?

 

[Supersizethatorder-mutt]

I wouldn't mind GT being called "The Institute" in that same way. I have no idea how it could be spread. Getting the AD, coaches, and players to use that term during interviews?

That would work.

 

[Animal02]

Hello? Anyone interested in Goals, Objectives and Strategies as I described them previously?

I’m not talking about mascots, the car, the colors, the outside perceptions. I’m talking about real goals, objectives, and strategies to accomplish the “brand” we want: a nationally renowned college football power.

Unless everyone is willing to sacrifice academic integrity and personal intergrity and become an Alabama, FSU, or another UGA......it is not going to happen.
We will have years that Jupiter aligns with Mars and end the season highly ranked, but we will not be a football powerhouse year in and year out with both the internal Tech structure and external NCAA/ESPN structure remaining as is.
Personally, I would never want Tech to sacrifice it's integrity for any sports program.

 

[Vespidae]

I believe Kim King had it right: Football today makes it nearly impossible to win an NC. But Tech could be a perennial Top 25 program.

Still, Tech suffers from too much variation. I think your recommendation is a good one to help reach that goal.

 

[knoxjacket]

Unless everyone is willing to sacrifice academic integrity and personal intergrity and become an Alabama, FSU, or another UGA......it is not going to happen.
We will have years that Jupiter aligns with Mars and end the season highly ranked, but we will not be a football powerhouse year in and year out with both the internal Tech structure and external NCAA/ESPN structure remaining as is.
Personally, I would never want Tech to sacrifice it's integrity for any sports program.

Every school offering scholarships to athletes that wouldn’t otherwise be admitted is sacrificing academic integrity.

 

[Em_Jae20]

Branding and building relationships

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

I hope not. Shades of Butch Jones.

Very true. What matters is winning the game on the field - then and only then will gimmicks work.

Show the people first, then talk.

 

[TheSilasSonRising]

Tech needs to work on establishing our brand both on and off the field at a national level. We all cringe when we hear recruits and announcers referring to us as Georgia Tech University. We are one of four division 1 football programs that is not a university (army, navy, Air Force academies) and we are the only school that is an Institute. I believe we can leverage this into our brand. (Ex: Welcome to THE INSTITUTE ). If we can get recruits and announcers referring to us as The Institute it should help us establish/brand what makes us different.

Will it help win games? THAT is the first step in “branding” that will impact the entire school in the most economical way.

 

[TechPhi97]

As you understand (but another poster above does not) the branding that Collins and Stansbury are talking about is more than words and logos. It's selling what Georgia Tech is--and to some degree--what it isn't. It's selling where we are--Atlanta, and the advantages of Atlanta. It's selling academics in a positive way. It's making the great things about Tech known to the public and getting the relevant consumer to buy in--whether that consumer is an alum, a recruit, or a potential fan. That's branding.

I get SO frustrated with folks on this board who repeat the tired excuses as to why we can't compete and why we should settle for mediocrity. They point out how we are different from other schools, but they only look at the differences from a negative point of view. I am glad they don't work for me, but frankly, they never could or would.

As a parting comment, I haven't seen this kind of enthusiasm since Homer was AD. Homer knew Tech was different, he saw it as an advantage, and he sold it. Stansbury was here when Homer was here, and I believe he learned a thing or two.

Value proposition is what you're talking about. Simple concept but can be very hard to articulate. Collins has his pitch figured out already, he probably brought it to the interview. Which is how you get the job.

 

[☠CaptainBuzz☠]

Will it help win games? THAT is the first step in “branding” that will impact the entire school in the most economical way.

No.... but I don’t think winning is the first step. It is important, but the “brand” should be solidified and promulgated within our organization before it can really spread via winning. I didn’t know jack about Oregon until they started winning a few years ago. The winning is what spread the brand, but the brand was already in place.

 

[GTRambler]

No.... but I don’t think winning is the first step. It is important, but the “brand” should be solidified and promulgated within our organization before it can really spread via winning. I didn’t know jack about Oregon until they started winning a few years ago. The winning is what spread the brand, but the brand was already in place.

Exactly. Create the brand by winning first, and then maintaining it.

Which is the way I suggested (and recommended) it in my organizational Goals, Objectives and Strategies post articulated earlier above.

I’m not talking about social media gimmicks and fluff.

 

[GTRambler]

I’m talking about real, meaningful, and concrete internal organizational change.

Commit. Plan. Strategize. Implement.

And then maintain by repeating the above process, over and over, for continuous excellence.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Some version of it is in use at several schools

One of the things that always sticks in my mind was Homer's comment that "Georgia Tech is about quality, not quantity." Translated: we have a small fan base but a high quality fan base. He leveraged that quality in a very effective way. Branding.

Now we are just small. Maybe the new regime will generate excitement to get BDS rocking again. I doubt it though. I’m pretty sure the last scheme isn’t responsible for the wet blanket present on the b-ball crowds.

 

[Whiskey_Clear]

Let’s try this tack:

Goals, Objectives, and Strategies

Goal: Make Georgia Tech a nationally known and respected Division 1 college football power that annually contends for ACC and CFP championships.

Objective 1: Recruit, on a consistent annual basis, the top high school football players in the nation for each and every position on the football team.

Strategies to Meet Objective 1:

• Strategy 1: Raise $1 million from GT alumni worldwide each year, beginning on January 1, 2019, and sustained each January thereafter on an annual basis, to procure and maintain a staff of 10 high school football talent scouts, at an annual salary of $100,000 per scout.

• Strategy 2: Raise $500,000 from GT non-alumni football fans nationwide each year, beginning on January 1, 2019, and sustained each January thereafter in an annual basis, to implement and maintain a data-driven, computerized Sabermetrics program for the use of the 10 high school football talent scouts in their evaluations and rankings of potential high school football recruits. This Sabermetrics program will take into account each high school football player’s academic qualifications for entrance into the Georgia Institute of Technology.

(The above is an hypothetical example of a Goal, an Objective, and Strategies. Any ideas and/or suggestions for any other goals, objectives and strategies? Or modifications/revisions of the above?)

Regarding strategy 2. I don’t see any way me and the 12 other non alumni football fans are going to be able to raise $500,000 annually.

I hope one of you is rich as hell.

 

[Backstreetbuzz]

Integrity is a great word. There is no way to measure it and everyone, from Democrats to Republicans to Alabama to GT, can claim to have it.

 

[GTRambler]

Regarding strategy 2. I don’t see any way me and the 12 other non alumni football fans are going to be able to raise $500,000 annually.

I hope one of you is rich as hell.

Hahahahaha

Gotta raise the money to implement the plan, though.

A Georgia Tech IPTHAY (I Pay Three Hundred A Year) program can achieve it.

Under an IPTHAY fund-raising program, it will only take 1,667 GT non-alumni fans (i.e., sidewalk fans) to achieve this goal on an annual basis.

 

[Vespidae]

Value proposition is what you're talking about. Simple concept but can be very hard to articulate. Collins has his pitch figured out already, he probably brought it to the interview. Which is how you get the job.

Sometimes, value propositions take millions of research. Others are surprisingly simple.

Every Bama game I watch with my family, the question is always “How did the Smart Kids do?” When asking the GT score.

Some think we should run away from being elitist. I think we should embrace it. Moreover, we can back it up. JMO

 

[TechPhi97]

Sometimes, value propositions take millions of research. Others are surprisingly simple.

Every Bama game I watch with my family, the question is always “How did the Smart Kids do?” When asking the GT score.

Some think we should run away from being elitist. I think we should embrace it. Moreover, we can back it up. JMO

Yep. I think we use it, but we need to do better.

Edited to add:
You're right that sometimes it takes millions; but that's usually because you have to do 1,000 interviews, then do a bunch of analysis work. That's the cost in the business world. In college football, you've got a walking VOC collection machine - coaches on the recruiting trail. You're already paying them to do it.