Ideas to raise our visibility ?

Jacket in Dairyland

Jacket in Dairyland

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When I attended Tech back in the early 70s, we seemed to be at least holding our own in the state with our visibility and profile. However, since the Dwags won their NC in 1980 our paths have diverged. We had a " cup of coffee" in the limelight in 1991, but our inconsistent success since has not helped us build a long lasting fanbase.
Obviously winning 9+ games a year CONSISTENTLY is a must. But unless I am missing something we are going to get absolutely buried and left for dead by the avalanche building in Athens. If they get near the NC this year and we go 7-5 and a trip to Shreveport, or worse, we may never be heard from again ( kind of like Tulane vs LSU ).
It is urgent that we ( AD , the Hill, us fans ) pull out all the stops to raise our profile and visibility in the state and nation.
The AJC is only going to devote space to us in direct relation to how much we win vs how much the Dwags are winning. So presently that's next to nothing.
One idea that caught my eye around here. The Gophers are trying to raise their athletic profile and recently announced they had 5 commitments on one day for 2019 football. That got some attention. Could we arrange something like that ?
Anybody else have any ideas ??
 
GT_05

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Jacket in Dairyland said:
When I attended Tech back in the early 70s, we seemed to be at least holding our own in the state with our visibility and profile. However, since the Dwags won their NC in 1980 our paths have diverged. We had a " cup of coffee" in the limelight in 1991, but our inconsistent success since has not helped us build a long lasting fanbase.
Obviously winning 9+ games a year CONSISTENTLY is a must. But unless I am missing something we are going to get absolutely buried and left for dead by the avalanche building in Athens. If they get near the NC this year and we go 7-5 and a trip to Shreveport, or worse, we may never be heard from again ( kind of like Tulane vs LSU ).
It is urgent that we ( AD , the Hill, us fans ) pull out all the stops to raise our profile and visibility in the state and nation.
The AJC is only going to devote space to us in direct relation to how much we win vs how much the Dwags are winning. So presently that's next to nothing.
One idea that caught my eye around here. The Gophers are trying to raise their athletic profile and recently announced they had 5 commitments on one day for 2019 football. That got some attention. Could we arrange something like that ?
Anybody else have any ideas ??
Click to expand...

We need lots of positive things to happen over a long period of time. Maybe our new branding will help but it’s going to take winning an average of 9+ games per year over the next generation to make a big difference and we’ve got to make it cool to wear GT gear.

You know the Raiders embraced the idea of being the bad boys of the NFL and I think that earned them a lot of sidewalk fans - I remember seeing all kinds of Raiders gear in the 90s. Maybe GT needs to get a little edgy somehow. I’m not suggesting going off the rails but maybe finding a way of getting past the idea that we are just a bunch of nerds.


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MikeJackets1967

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GT_05 said:
We need lots of positive things to happen over a long period of time. Maybe our new branding will help but it’s going to take winning an average of 9+ games per year over the next generation to make a big difference and we’ve got to make it cool to wear GT gear.

You know the Raiders embraced the idea of being the bad boys of the NFL and I think that earned them a lot of sidewalk fans - I remember seeing all kinds of Raiders gear in the 90s. Maybe GT needs to get a little edgy somehow. I’m not suggesting going off the rails but maybe finding a way of getting past the idea that we are just a bunch of nerds.


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Click to expand...
GT could always pay TV producers to have their actors wear Georgia Tech gear on their programs...................................................................................just sayin;):D:cool:
 
GT_05

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MikeJackets1967 said:
GT could always pay TV producers to have their actors wear Georgia Tech gear on their programs...................................................................................just sayin;):D:cool:
Click to expand...

That’s a great idea with all of the filming that goes on in Georgia.


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TheTechGuy

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Notwithstanding egregious errors, I would utilize the University of Louisville model.

Louisville saw unprecedented success in many sports after the turn of the century and was able to negotiate its way into the ACC. The school accomplished this through an aggressive branding model that included:
1. Securing non-alumni, lucrative sponsorship deals with Papa Johns and Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell);
A. These deals led to several athletic facility renovations, including the football stadium and basketball arena that are named Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium and the KFC Yum! Center, respectively.
2. Utilizing the same logo and uniform scheme across all sports;
3. Agreeing to play wherever and whenever ESPN would put them on national television; and
4. Consistent messaging and lobbying on behalf of the university.

Since it seems that we cannot achieve necessary funding from alumni to compete in athletics, we must aggressively expand and focus our interests on alternative methods of fundraising. This includes corporate sponsorship opportunities to secure necessary funding to compete at a high level.

We have two choices: (1) Explore new opportunities for funding (including the sale of naming rights for stadiums) and play anytime we can be on national TV; or (2) Maintain our history, play on Raycom so that games can be on Saturdays, and watch other programs that are more aggressive and innovative surpass our athletic programs.
 
BCJacket

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I've always suggested that Tech should take advantage of our location in ATLANTA as a big part of our branding.

I firmly believe more than half the folks walking around in uGA sweatshirts couldn't care 2 cents about uGA football. They live in Georgia; and the "Georgia" sweatshirts for sale at Walmart just happen to be red and black.

How many more white and gold shirts/hats/jackets could we sell if they said "ATLANTA - Georgia Institute of Technology"? Atlanta has cultural cache that Tech doesn't. We're the P5 school in the city. Why not piggyback on that?
 
Supersizethatorder-mutt

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TheTechGuy said:
Since it seems that we cannot achieve necessary funding from alumni to compete in athletics .....
Click to expand...
The problem is that nobody ever asked the alumni for appropriate and necessary funding until TStan came along. We've already seen that the alumni actually WILL RESPOND when asked. Now why it had to take being asked to get us to give, and why it took so long for anyone to actually ask is a BIG QUESTION.
 
dressedcheeseside

dressedcheeseside

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TheTechGuy said:
Notwithstanding egregious errors, I would utilize the University of Louisville model.

Louisville saw unprecedented success in many sports after the turn of the century and was able to negotiate its way into the ACC. The school accomplished this through an aggressive branding model that included:
1. Securing non-alumni, lucrative sponsorship deals with Papa Johns and Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell);
A. These deals led to several athletic facility renovations, including the football stadium and basketball arena that are named Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium and the KFC Yum! Center, respectively.
2. Utilizing the same logo and uniform scheme across all sports;
3. Agreeing to play wherever and whenever ESPN would put them on national television; and
4. Consistent messaging and lobbying on behalf of the university.

Since it seems that we cannot achieve necessary funding from alumni to compete in athletics, we must aggressively expand and focus our interests on alternative methods of fundraising. This includes corporate sponsorship opportunities to secure necessary funding to compete at a high level.

We have two choices: (1) Explore new opportunities for funding (including the sale of naming rights for stadiums) and play anytime we can be on national TV; or (2) Maintain our history, play on Raycom so that games can be on Saturdays, and watch other programs that are more aggressive and innovative surpass our athletic programs.
Click to expand...
Replacing BDS@HGF with JLS@WF (Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field with Jiffy Lube Stadium at Walmart Field)
I'll pass.
 
GT_05

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dressedcheeseside said:
Replacing BDS@HGF with JLS@WF (Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field with Jiffy Lube Stadium at Walmart Field)
I'll pass.
Click to expand...

JLS@WF (revenue) sounds better than the Joke by Coke (no revenue), which is what the folks in Athens call us.


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TheTechGuy

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Supersizethatorder-mutt said:
The problem is that nobody ever asked the alumni for appropriate and necessary funding until TStan came along. We've already seen that the alumni actually WILL RESPOND when asked. Now why it had to take being asked to get us to give, and why it took so long for anyone to actually ask is a BIG QUESTION.
Click to expand...
I am always happy to see more money going to our athletics and it is great that we raised $600,000 for recruiting efforts and a few million for the locker room from an anonymous donor.

However, Louisville just raised $47 million for a new renovation and expansion of the football stadium and training facilities, including major donations from Pepsi and $5 million from Norton Healthcare, two of their corporate sponsors. Link

We need more than private donors; we need corporate sponsors.
 

TheTechGuy

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dressedcheeseside said:
Replacing BDS@HGF with JLS@WF (Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field with Jiffy Lube Stadium at Walmart Field)
I'll pass.
Click to expand...
The University of Washington is paid $4.1 million a year by Alaska Airlines for naming rights to the field: Alaska Airlines Field at Husky Stadium. Our locker room renovation costed $4.5 million and that was a huge deal. UW gets that money every year, just for the right to name 120 yards of grass. Link

As an athletic program that struggles monetarily, I do not understand why we would not explore our options.
 
RonJohn

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Jacket in Dairyland said:
The AJC is only going to devote space to us in direct relation to how much we win vs how much the Dwags are winning.
Click to expand...

In 1990 GT was either under the fold or on the second sports page each Sunday. The mutts were on the top of the sports page fold and many times on the front page. GT can get national press attention, but will never get highlighted local media attention no matter how well the football team does. Too many press people in Atlanta graduated from the cesspool to allow GT to get top billing in the local media.
 
GT_05

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tmhunter52 said:
Well, we call them The Cesspool of the South...
Click to expand...

True. My point was that WE are probably the only ones that call our complex Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. If selling the naming rights, even temporarily, will help the program succeed or just keep up, as some have asserted, then I’m all for it.


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RonJohn

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GT_05 said:
True. My point was that WE are probably the only ones that call our complex Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field. If selling the naming rights, even temporarily, will help the program succeed or just keep up, as some have asserted, then I’m all for it.
Click to expand...

The TV people call it that during the game broadcasts. They typically mention that it is the oldest on-campus stadium in FBS.
 
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