CRONS prepped for the spotlight…and got a part of it…

March 19, 2010 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

It almost happened Thursday…almost.  Robert Morris University almost threw Villanova a knockout punch in the first round of the NCAA Regionals in Providence, but in the end too many close calls gone the other way and one shot too few sent the Colonials back to suburban Pittsburgh.  However, as pointed out in Thursday’s New York Times, the apparel brand coach Mike Rice’s team brought to the Dunkin Donuts Center may have been one of the bigger winners in the first round.  CRONS, which stands for Come Ready Or Never Start, was one of a handful of teams not to wear Nike or adidas in the field o0f 65 and is the only brand not available at retail.  It was also the only brand to not just score coverage with its unique story, but in delivering all the right messages and merchandising the story (a newsletter to all its coaches and partners that followed an email with a link and call to action earlier in the day) to give the story legs well beyond wtaherver RMU did on the opening day of the tournament.  The brand also positioned itself for followup with partners should RMU have pulled the upset, which would have given CRONS at least two additional days to re-tell the story, which links Rice, a former assistant at Pitt to company founder Pat Cavanaugh, who played for the Panthers and runs the company from Pittsburgh. The value of the story as a launch point for the brand to grow will be intriguing and seems like the next logical step in their growth process…from a grassroots brand to finding a niche with small colleges to Robert Morris to a deal with the Big South Conference…all the while occupying the same space that many of their clients also fill…that of the underdog.  It’s a great example of Cinderella showing up and bringing along a friend, and after her ball ends, the friend continues on thanks to a very nice boost.  A good story amongst many for the first round, and perhaps one of the better off-court collegiate branding stories in a while.

CRONS, Big South Makes Good Sense For Brands…

November 1, 2009 by Joe Favorito · Leave a Comment 

Many times we all get caught up in the hype…the necessity to make sure our athletes. schools and teams are associated with the big names to gives us “street cred.” However in these challenged times, the mainstream names and providers…from the drink category to media companies to apparel…are struggling to make ends meet even with the most mainstream of partners, so expecting the dollars and promotional pop for second tier partners is even more of a struggle than it has been before. More importantly, add-ons to gain marketshare that major brands interested in athletics needed in the past, second tier or mid-major conferences, niche sports, rising athletes, are not as viewed as important on ROI anymore because of the economy, because the time invested in building or capturing success just takes too long. So what can mid-major schools or niche sports do? Look to build business relationships with new brands looking for the same type of exposure, and finding creative ways to build economies of scale and creative programs that may not put dollars in the coffers up front, bit will generate interest and buzz and help reduce existing costs for the bottom line. One recent example of was highlighted in this week’s Sports Business Journal, a just announced partnership between the apparel brand CRONS and the Big South Conference. CRONS, which stand for “Come Ready or Never Start” is as much a lifestyle credo as it is an apparel brand, since the company does not yet have a retail presence. What it does have is the ability to address a conference like the Big South as a partner and work with those schools to supply product which they may have been buying for athletes and build out affiliate and community based marketing programs that can help the schools with fundraising, brand awareness and social responsibility, all important messages for today’s challenged times in athletics. Even more important, CRONS gets to treat the Big South as a test case for other potential mid-major partnerships, and the Bog South gets some great exposure with little downside in being a test case for a rising brand. Would it be better for a Mid-Major to have cash flow from a large apparel brand? Of course. However in today’s marketplace having brands that work as partners on many levels and can provide best in class service may be better than taking a small check for a big name and not seeing a longer term, across the board return. Interesting move by both and worth following going forward.