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BY JOE FAVORITO
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
ON N.J SPORTS MARKETING
The Rutgers football team will take on Florida International University Saturday, Sept. 19 in Piscataway but despite the result, the two biggest gains in grassroots popularity for the school may have been made away from any playing field this past week.
First, on Tuesday night's Jay Leno Show on NBC, award winning documentary film maker Michael Moore sported a Rutgers hat during his time on stage with Jay. Then later in the week, urban designer Mark Ecko announced that he was creating a line of Rutgers-themed apparel in honor of his alma mater.
Moore has been wearing the Rutgers caps as a tribute to Scarlet Knights grad Ann Sparanese, who started the letter writing campaign to save his first book "Stupid White Men," which criticized President Bush.
Meanwhile, the limited edition Ecko line pays homage to the designer's time spent in New Brunswick on the Rutgers campus (he is an alumnus) and will be sold online at Shopecko.com.What does this mean in terms of exposure for the Rutgers brand? Lots. As Rutgers fights for attention on the sports pages, the ability to reach even the casual fan and keep its athletic product in the spotlight is key.
In past years the schools athletic marketing department has gone all out with "State of Rutgers" brand awareness campaigns, but in these challenged times the campaign has been scaled back. Therefore the exposure that a national TV appearance generates, and the guerilla support and recognition that can be created by a pop culture brand like Ecko, is invaluable for the school.
Will it put more butts in seats or increase donations to athletics or academic programs like highly visible and successful men's and women's athletic programs will do? No. But what this type of exposure does is create buzz and watercooler talk for a school which doesn't have a great deal of social media spin these days, and the buzz is created for free.
Can Rutgers capitalize on the buzz with some fun promotions geared toward students with the Ecko gear, or find a way to lure Moore to a football or hoops game for more attention? That's probably worth pursuing.
However, one thing is for sure, the State University of New Jersey got an unexpected double pop of casual consumer promo this week, and in these challenging times, that type of pop is great.
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.
By the way, regarding the Rutgers "brand" when it comes to sports, I've been enjoying watching pro football lately and seeing how well past Rutgers players are doing (or the fact that they're playing for pro teams). Always fun to hear the announcers make a big deal when Ray Rice makes a big play for the Ravens or when Brian Leonard is interviewed after a great performance with the Bengals or Kenny Britt makes a big catch with the Titans, etc., etc. While they may be players for the NFL, they'll always be carrying the "Rutgers" brand with them which goes back to their training under Coach Greg Schiano...keep choppin' RU!
-Erik Kent, RU '92