Can Monmouth Hawks basketball grow from a triple dose of big time exposure?

BY JOE FAVORITO

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

ON N.J. SPORTS MARKETING

Back in 1986, when then-Monmouth College tasted the fruits of Division 1 play for the first time, writers ventured to the campus and the Shore Area and saw a school that could become "the Pepperdine of the East Coast." The Pepperdine Waves, after all, had taken a mid-major conference, a campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean and a very small gym and turned themselves into a giant killer in men's basketball, rivaling programs in the area like USC and UCLA for attention and recruits.

Could the Hawks do the same as they moved up the competitive ladder, and take advantage of schools in the area and the fertile recruiting area of the Jersey Shore?

Although the time since the move has been a roller coaster, with NEC championships and 20-loss seasons mixed in, Monmouth University has grown by leaps and bounds. And the Shore Area remains an area with some very fertile marketing opportunities.

One only has to look to Lakewood and see the potential of marketing success — where the Blue Claws are the envy of most minor league baseball teams for innovation and brand activation.

So, can the Hawks, now with a jewel of an arena and a month's worth of exposure — from the visit of Isiah Thomas' Florida International team to another visit by state rival Seton Hall to the early morning national exposure against St Peter's on ESPN at 6 a.m. (albeit on the road and in a loss) — take collegiate branding in New Jersey to a new level; one filled with corporate partners, group sales and added revenue?

It seems like many of the tools at last are in place. The other Division 1 state programs remain in transition, and although Rutgers still is able to generate excitement and fill the RAC in the uber-competitive Big East, there is no one who is really a consistent strong second. Seton Hall at the Prudential Center has its issues despite growing interest in the last few years. FDU appears to be on the downside. Princeton and Rider have competitive programs and campus support but not the fervent community businesses, and no one has a jewel of a new arena like the Hawks do.

Still, it takes commitment from an administration to become a solid brand that transcends the campus and goes into the community, and in these challenged times that commitment may be hard to find. However, the potential is ripe for Hawk branding success and community support, which can now be a great rallying point for those in the area who love spending summer nights with Blue Claws. Could a strong winter/summer partnership between the two develop — one where partnerships are developed and programs implemented which send folks to Monmouth hoops ... men's and women's (and other sports as well) in the winter and the Blue Claws in the summer? Why not. Both have smart leadership and solid facilities and great branding potential year-round to keep the other relevant.

Now we know looking back that Malibu and West Long Branch are not exactly alike in January, and Pepperdine's hoops and branding opportunities have faded with the cyclical goings of college sports (not to mention a conference now dominated by Gonzaga University). However, Monmouth has a chance to stand up and claim a hoops and branding niche that is certainly wide open in New Jersey and the metropolitan area now. For the first time in decades there is no dominant collegiate hoops program for men and women in the area, outside of the work of C. Vivian Stringer and the Scarlet Knights.

So Monmouth's answer? Great arena, beautiful university, growing and diverse student body, solid business community and recent national exposure.

Time for the Hawks brand to fly.

Joe Favorito has over 23 years of strategic communications/marketing, business development and public relations expertise in sports, entertainment, brand building, media training, television, athletic administration and business. Visit him at JoeFavorito.com.